I’ve paid little attention to that NFL player Colin Whatshisname who refused to stand during the national anthem Because Reasons. Because… who cares? Some guy I’ve never heard of who’s getting paid buckets of money to play a game I’m uninterested in, decides to disrespect the US. Well… there are more important things to pay any sort of attention to. The NFL should just fire him for bringing shame to their organization, and then move on with life.
A similar but somewhat more important incident has hit the news:
Navy launches investigation into sailor who didn’t stand for National Anthem
The motive for this intelligence specialist in the Navy Reserve seems to be much the same… the fraudulent narrative about systemic racism:
“I feel like a hypocrite singing about the ‘land of the free’ when I know that only applies to some Americans,” she wrote. “I will gladly stand again, when ALL AMERICANS are afforded the same freedom.”
As the article point out:
Troops who don’t stand for the National Anthem could face prosecution under the Navy’s Uniform Code of Military Justice for violating Article 92, which says that troops can be punished for failing to obey a lawful general order.
It seems to me that there are two conclusions here:
- The military has a problem of indeterminate size of having servicemen (women, whatever) who are anti-American. It is difficult to imagine a *good* reason why someone who despises the US would join the military, but there are numerous *bad* reasons why someone might do so. Acquiring knowledge and skills to be used against the US, or for criminal, gang or otherwise nefarious purposes, has been a common occurrence.
- Clearly a court martial is called for. Seems to me that the best approach is to try her and, if found guilty (and since she’s admitted it, it seems a slam-dunk), to drum her out of the service with a dishonorable discharge. I would argue against prison time, since her actions were, after all, in and of themselves minor and harmless. But the attitude behind them would seem to argue for one additional little thing: the DoD should tell every organization or company that does business with the US Federal Government that they will lose their contracts if they hire her.
