Kaepernick? It’s Trump supporters who routinely disrespect the American flag!

I wrote an article on Saturday on Donald Trump and his comments about the NFL. As expected, I got a lot of responses; it seems that discussing the president’s draft dodging past pisses off his patriotic supporters. Most comments I received were negative, with Trump supporters dutifully saying that I should respect this country and our flag.

The big problem I have is that none of these people will answer one simple question: Is kneeling during the anthem worse than dodging the draft? The only answers I ever hear from people are along the lines of “That was a long time ago.” Really? That’s all you can come up with?

What is disrespecting the flag?

I figured we should go straight to the U.S. Flag Code to see what it is determined as respectful of the flag by federal dicta. I found some amazing things out. Let’s take a look at the flag code and see who’s being disrespectful…

Take the flag off apparel

Someone please tell Trump supporters to stop wearing MAGA caps that have American flags on them. According to code, the “flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery.” That would seem to include those Make America Great Again, or MAGA, caps worn by many of the Trump faithful.

The flag is not a marketing tool

“The flag should never be used for advertising purposes in any manner whatsoever,” reads The Code. Trump should advise sellers of MAGA merchandise and other businesses using the flag in their ads to find other eye-catching ways to promote their wares.

Aloft and free

The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally—as is sometimes done during football games, including this weekend. On September 24, a huge flag was held over Soldier Field in Chicago, as that city’s team, the Bears, interlocked arms. Trump approved of the locked arms practice in a tweet, but failed to remind the NFL that the flag should be held aloft. Why would Trump ignore the horizontal flag? My guess is he has never read the Flag Code; my other guess would be he doesn’t even know it exists!

So many questions
When you look at the Flag Code, you realize that almost everybody disrespects the flag at one time or another. On July 4th, you see paper plates with the American flag on them and that, by the Flag Code, is disrespectful.

So why are people so upset by these NFL player protests? Mainstream media beats this to death and spins it as one side against the other – Let’s face it: Confrontation gets ratings for these news organizations.

Why does the President care about his? Simple: He won a presidential election by appealing to the lowest common denominator in society and he will continue to rally his base of ignorant followers who will blindly defend anything he says.

Is Donald Trump a racist? Who knows? Though nobody really knows what’s in a man’s heart, I do know that a lot of his followers are, and those people are the main reason he won.

Are all Trump supporters racist? Of course not: A lot of people are looking for a real person in American politics and it’s been a long time since there has been one. Too bad these people can’t see that Trump is very good at deceiving people – Remember that he used to be a Democrat, that he used to believe in gun control and abortion. Now he is a supposed Republican who believes the exact opposite! Come on people, wake up! Trump grew up entitled, which allowed him to get out of serving in a war that so many people without rich parents had to go die in.

So throw on that disrespectful MAGA hat with your American flag T-shirt and go complain about people who are rightfully protesting injustices they see in this country. Just remember the soldiers of the past fought for our right to protest, and taking the right of protest away would be what I would call being disrespectful to the soldiers that died for our freedoms.

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