President vows not to watch NFL if players kneel

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The kneeling-equals-disrespect crowd recently has turned their attention to the U.S. national soccer team, which recently repealed a rule that prohibits players from kneeling during the anthem.

The rule, passed in 2017 after Megan Rapinoe kneeled in support of Colin Kaepernick, is now gone, and those who refuse to understand that peaceful protest during the anthem isn’t about disrespecting the flag, the military, or the country (and/or those who really don’t care about the issue but think they can score points with their base by making an issue of it) are sounding off.

One of them is Jim Jordan, the Ohio shirtsleeves Congressman who has yet to face his reckoning for allegedly failing to protect Ohio State wrestlers from a sexually abusive doctor when Jordan served as an assistant coach there.

“Let me get this straight,” Jordan tweeted, “UNITED STATES Soccer won’t stand for the UNITED STATES National Anthem?”

The President retweeted Jordan’s point, with this added message for pro football from Donald Trump: “And it looks like the NFL is heading in that direction also, but not with me watching!”

It’s the latest salvo in a culture war that the President sees as a no-lose proposition. Banging this drum rallies the base and who cares if those who aren’t on his side anyway don’t like it? The miscalculation here relates to those in the middle, those who have had an awakening in the past 19 days and who regard the kneeing-is-disrespect trope as outdated.

Regardless, the lines are drawn and it’s clear that the President will continue to push the button. It will be interesting to see what he has to say once he sees recent comment from men like Bill O’Brien, J.J. Watt, and Baker Mayfield.