I have always had a problem with authority; especially what I consider to be ‘illegitimate’ authority. The Viet Nam War was waging throughout my childhood, and at that time the American flag was looked upon by many as a symbol of illegitimate authority. It still is to me. Let me explain.

My family was politically WAY far to the left of most Americans. We were left of what is considered “progressive” today. We were total ‘peace-niks’ and part of a large group of folks who were vehemently opposed to the war in Viet Nam.

When I was young, I tended to gravitate towards free-thinkers and I identified strongly with artists, authors, musicians, poets and assorted oddballs, freaks and misfits. Many of them were longhairs, anti-establishment, unconventional types. Some of them were ‘punks.’ As a kid, my hair was long and unkempt like big afro. When I was younger people would often mistake me for a girl. I’ve worn long hair for most of my life.

It’s symbolic of something I believe in: personal freedom – the long hair; not the American flag…

But personal freedom to me also includes voting, speaking out, organizing, and protesting if necessary.

Kneeling – or simply not standing – for the National Anthem is something I’ve done at every sporting event I’ve attended since childhood. I boycotted the “under God” part of the morning indoctrination – er, the Pledge of Allegiance – when we were forced to recite it every morning in school. Most of the time I refused to regurgitate it at all. I just hate any ritual or ceremony of any kind which forces me to voluntarily give up my free will. I’m just not a joiner or a follower. I’m not a robot, either.

I can decide for own goddam self who I pledge my allegiance to, okay? Thank you. Not some religion; not some cult; not some guy in a fancy suit; not the military; not some piece of land.

I love the American people, but let’s face it: this government is just plain evil. The USA is hopelessly, profoundly, irrevocably corrupt and immoral and just grotesquely incompetent and downright evil. On every level.

We are the evil empire now.

What to do? While political protests and civil disobedience have begun to reach their highest levels since the 1960s, eighteen states have responded by proposing bills aimed at suppressing demonstrations by increasing and expanding penalties for protesting. A recent law passed in Missouri prohibits protesters from covering their faces with masks or other disguises. Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Iowa have introduced bills calling for increased penalties for ‘blocking traffic’ and ‘demonstrating on private property.’

There’s no “peace movement” anymore because anyone engaged in peaceful protests are physically attacked and labeled libtards, feminazis, terrorists, traitors(!) or any number of other horrible things. Police in America protect the Nazis from counter-protesters and instead they attack peaceful protests with pepper spray, tear gas and clubs.

Students arrested at protests can lose their college grants and potentially be expelled. Any future employment options will be negatively impacted because police can now legally post their mug shots online, complete with home address and phone numbers, as they recently did in Berkeley, California. Permanently.

College professors used to lead the student protests. Now they can lose their jobs and be denied tenure for simply supporting humanitarian causes. Most people can’t ask for time off work to go exercise their 1^st Amendment rights for a couple of hours to protest. Few workers even get time off to vote, for God’s sake. Too much is at stake for too many people for there to be any sort of mass uprising right now. Going to jail for a good cause would cost most working people their jobs in the land of ‘right to work’ laws…

But the only way that change will happen at this point is if a million people gather in front of the White house and like, stay there until something is done to stop this madness. It has worked in Eastern Europe and other unexpected places recently. A million angry citizens camped out on Pennsylvania Ave: that will get a reaction. Not a whole lot else, it seems…

So here we are now, back to Square One: raising our fists in the air or kneeling for the anthem just like the 1960s all over again. But that’s about as far as it goes. And BTW where are the white NFL players kneeling in solidarity with their black brothers? Why aren’t more people of all colors willing to risk their careers and livelihoods to support their fellow human beings just in every day life, even? WTF?

Where is the love?

If America was a truly inclusive country, every one of its citizens would have good reason to respect the flag and sing the national anthem. Unfortunately this country is not inclusive, and for the most part Black people are not welcome. Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Muslims…all of them are marginalized and terrorized. So they don’t exactly feel like that flag symbolizes freedom.

It is beyond hypocritical for the Putin ass-kissers to be pointing a finger at the NFL players for not kneeling before their masters, when they take their orders from a hostile, foreign government! That’s one thing about the GOP: they really don’t get the concept of ‘irony.’

But really, the need to play the national anthem while saluting the troops and unfurling a gigantic fucking flag at every public event is simply one component of the mass indoctrination which has been part of American society since the beginning of the Forever Wars. Not just at major national sporting events like the Superbowl , the World Series, Indy 500, the Rose Bowl, and NASCAR – but every single race and every regular season game in every single sport!

I can think of two other nations in history that connected sports to such virulent nationalism. The first one is Sparta. The second one is Nazi Germany. We are number three.

This crackdown on social dissent is just another step in our nation’s inexorable, propaganda-fueled march into a clearly defined authoritarian police state. Mussolini said that Fascism could best be described as “Corporatism,” because generic fascism was simply the synthesis of state, religious, and corporate power. In his (and tRump’s) perspective, real people – we, the hewers of wood and drawers of water – are mere cyphers and consumables to be used, hired-and-fired-for-profit and then discarded.

But hey, don’t forget to stand up for the goddam National Anthem!