Kaepernick in the News

A few days ago Colin Kaepernick, a benched quarterback for a mediocre team in the NFL, made big news by denouncing the United States as oppressive to  minorities and by refusing to stand during the playing of the national anthem at the beginning of a football game.  Since then the news has been full of articles and commentaries defending or denouncing him. While I found nothing worth noticing about either Kaepernick or what he might say about  this or any other topic, I did find something  a little interesting in  some  of the reactions.  

The most amusing thing to me was the phony basis for the  praise he got for being brave, daring, and controversial. In  fact he took no risk at all with anyone who matters, because his actions fell within the boundaries of what is acceptable by the rules  of political correctness.  The officials of the NFL whose usual demands for total uniformity have had them in  tizzies over  such things as slightly deflated footballs,  someone wanting to wear  high  top football shoes to honor a deceased player, and stickers honoring dead cops,  said this  was just fine.  The officials of his team did the same. Many in the establishment media were effusive in supporting  him, and many others were at least appreciative of his “message”, if not his methods.   What he did seems no more brave or daring  than speaking out in favor of dolphins or puppies.  (Now if he had, for example, waved a little rebel battle flag while running onto the field and rhapsodized to reporters about the Lost Cause, that actually would have been bold, risky, and controversial, albeit bizarre.  It would also have gotten him fired, exiled from the league,  and left without support or sympathy  in the media.) It may even have saved him from being cut from the team for incompetence, since his bosses  may now be afraid to let him go.