Comments@THE GUSS REPORT-Trump and Nazis and Kaepernick, oh my! As deeply flawed and forever tarnished as Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and many of their contemporaries were on the subject of slavery (Adams didn’t own slaves and was opposed to slavery, but worked to slow Abolition) they were brilliant on the five freedoms afforded us by the 1st Amendment, which are freedom of religion, speech, press, peaceful assembly and to petition the government without fear of punishment.
But they should have included a warning label with the 1st that reads: Warning: Exercising your Freedom of Speech could be hazardous to your career!
Indeed. We may all have the Freedom of Speech, but not protection from the consequences of using it.
At some point in the past week alone, President Donald Trump, a bunch of white people who think they’re inherently better than non-white people, and former NFL starting quarterback, Colin Kaepernick (whose biological father is black), realized that such a warning label, or a crystal ball, could have been useful.
What Trump’s use of free speech showed is that, regardless of whatever is genuinely in his heart on the subject of race and the deadly tragedy last week (yes, it has only been a week) in Charlottesville, Virginia, he was utterly incapable of recognizing the importance of carefully choosing one’s words. He showed that he thoroughly misunderstood that many if not most statues of General Robert E. Lee and his contemporaries were erected in the 1960s to counter the civil rights movement; they were not erected in the Civil War era. Trump showed that, of the many things he owns, bad timing is among them and it was a really bad week to defend Washington, Jefferson -- and Nazis -- in particular.
The Trump Fallout: In addition to bolstering his buffoonery, he managed to cause America’s most influential business executives to leave his advisory committees in droves. They could read the tea leaves that implored “exit now.” Trump, in response, ran to his Twitter account and declared that he had dissolved the committees before the executive exodus, which not even a fool believes.
Applaud Trump for exercising his 1st Amendment rights…it made his ineptness, if nothing else, even clearer than the day before.
And keep clapping for the same use of the 1st Amendment by the -- whatever you want to call them -- Nazis, White Supremacists or just haters. Especially applaud them for their use of those torches at their Virginia march.
The Nazi Fallout: Those torches magnificently illuminated their faces, so much so that they could be readily be identified on social media -- and their families and their employers could exercise another right: the right to associate with them or not.
And that brings us to the different but similar case of NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
In 2012, Kaepernick took over the San Francisco 49er QB role when starter Alex Smith became injured in mid-season. Kaepernick led the team all the way to Super Bowl XLVII, a thrill-to-the-finish game, also known as the Blackout Bowl for the stadium’s loss of electrical power at half-time. Kaepernick’s 49ers lost the game in the final seconds, but his ticket was punched.
Last season, however, as the subject of police brutality of minorities resurfaced in American headlines, Kaepernick exercised his freedom of speech -- silently -- by refusing to stand during his games’ playing of the national anthem.
It was one year ago this month that he explained, "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color…To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
Kaepernick declined the 49ers’ offer to stay in the locker room during pre-game ceremonies, or to hold press conferences about his views on non-game days. He wanted his silent protest heard loudly, as it were, on game days.
The Kaepernick Fallout: Like that of Trump, Kaepernick’s timing was bad. Ever since his Super Bowl loss, his productivity slipped and his statistics proved him to be just an average NFL QB, by far the most difficult position to play. But he was still capable enough to be on a roster. His silent protest -- which was joined by just a handful of other players -- coincided with his contract expiring, and NFL owners exercised their right to sign other players and not have the hassle or fallout of Kaepernick’s perspective or accompanying distraction.
Whether NFL owners are colluding to keep Kaepernick out of the game this season (he remains unsigned) has yet to be determined. But in a league with several teams that, starting in 2009, warmly welcomed back then-29-year old dog torturer Michael Vick after a stint in prison for his heinous brutality, how is it that none this season have a jersey with a similarly capable 29-year old Colin Kaepernick’s name on it?
(Daniel Guss, MBA, is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, and has contributed to CityWatch, KFI AM-640, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal and elsewhere. Follow him on Twitter @TheGussReport. Verifiable tips and story ideas can be sent to him at [email protected]. His opinions are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
-cw
