I am scratching my head trying to remember a more stupid news cycle-dominating story than "take the knee"

— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) September 24, 2017

I’m wondering how many people had to be treated for whiplash this week.

Days ago people were grinding their axes against college and university communities for disallowing dissent from left wing thought. Now many of the same people are angry and offended by political protests by employees of a company whose product they are under no obligation consume. In fact they’re cheering on the President for calling for those employees to be fired.

That type of rapid change in direction can’t be good for the neck.

Yes, NFL football is a deeply ingrained tradition for many Americans and it’s no fun to watch it get mired in a stupid political protest but you can’t be consumed with anger over it while routinely mocking special snowflakes and their safe spaces.

I’ve got news for you. This #TakeAKnee protest became what it is largely because of the people who are most loudly complaining about it. Back when it was a single mediocre quarterback refusing to stand for the national anthem, you had a choice. You could either ignore it as the stunt of a spoiled idiot or you could turn off the game and spend your time and money elsewhere. Many chose a third option though—becoming gravely offended and showering Kaepernick with all the attention he wanted and more. Now one jerk’s stupidity is a national movement.

I have to reiterate, no one is under any obligation to consume the NFL’s product if they are so grossly offended that some players are protesting the National Anthem. Zero. Nada. It’s a sunny day in America you have millions of things you can do other than watch football.

The people raging about it in the right wing social media sphere mostly fall into one of two categories: the users and the used. The users benefit professionally, politically, or financially from keeping the used in a rage so that they continue providing the clicks, retweets, and campaign contributions.

Yet the only action you can take that would matter to the people with whom you’re angry is to turn off the TV, stop buying team merchandise, and stop attending games. Everything else is allowing yourself to be exploited for someone else’s gain. Everything else is vanity.

Trump polarizing players into boycotting anthem is great for him. It's also why deciding how to act based on opposing Trump is dumb.

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 24, 2017

The corollary to that is: It’s also why deciding how to act based on opposing the Left is dumb.

The #TakeAKnee fiasco is just another episode in the ongoing tribal war where inflicting punishment on the enemy is paramount and the only real goal is forcing others to submit to the authority of one tribe or the other. I personally don’t want either of them in charge. I don’t want anyone in charge who is more focused on sticking it to political enemies than they are about preventing encroachment on individual liberty.

Our tribal Right & tribal Left seem congenitally unable to communicate in a way that could possibly convince new people.

— Mary Katharine Ham (@mkhammer) September 24, 2017

I don’t like people disrespecting the flag or the national anthem. I don’t like the NFL letting players use football as the medium to do so. The great thing about America is that I’m not forced to watch it or reward it with my disposable income.