It's not disrespectful, it is the most peaceful protest possible. Sorry, I get angry even thinking about it. My idiot brother is among those who stopped watching football after the initial incident. He has also stopped watching baseball for similar reasons.

So far as I can tell the crazies think that kneeling speaks to hatred of the country.

I once returned to our apartment (after getting coffee from the cafe) on xmas eve and a pregnant woman with a baby was pulled over in the bus zone with a flat tire. In the rain.

I was a similarly stranded pregnant woman on Christmas Eve 1995 (son #1 was born in January), but it was snowing, and my husband was with me.

We were between my aunt's house in one town, and my in-law's house in the neighboring town, and this big guy was walking down a hill toward the main drag where we were stranded. He turned out to be one of my husband's oldest friends (and we weren't in their old neighborhood, it was just a coincidence). He helped us get the tire changed more quickly and back on our way.

Can someone explain to me how kneeling is disrespecting the flag? I am so confused, and of course this is my new sister on Facebook so I am not going to get into it with her, because I haven't even met her, but I just think kneeling is one of the most respectful things you can do.

I know this one. It's disrespecting the flag because they say so. They say so, because they're racists, and racists don't like people demonstrating on behalf Black people.

A whole lot of white people who don't like to think they're racist have knee-jerk reactions to any criticism of cops (even those white people who break minor laws on the regular). The further past their 20s they get, the worse they get. You'd think every cop was their mom. See also their fondness for saying "All lives matter."

I grew up kneeling during mass to show respect for Jesus' sacrifice. Kneeling is what people do before royalty, and in surrender, and in begging for mercy.

Right, and proposing marriage. Kneeling is a respectful posture.

I am also watching football. Which is going pretty well a the moment. It's weird, because they're piping in (I think) crowd noise, and I keep forgetting that there's no crowd there.

I know this one. It's disrespecting the flag because they say so. They say so, because they're racists, and racists don't like people demonstrating on behalf Black people.

Yeah, that's right. It's just the message that people have a problem with. And by "people" I mean racists.

One of the many, many distressing things that's become clear to me over the past few years is how much white people view Black athletes as a source of entertainment who should just shut up and be entertaining.

The only controversy over kneeling is tough for me. I see no problem with it at all. It seems like a perfectly benign form of protesting something that seems like a serious and very real issue.

But then I know people who it really bothers (like boycott the NFL bothers) even though they seem like perfectly good people who don't seem racist at all. I don't want to say or even think bad things about them, so there's a lot of cognitive dissonance there. Mostly I feel like they've been poisoned by Fox News and other right-wing media.

It's because it draws attention to the kneeler in a sports context. And if you're paying attention you either have to think about why they're kneeling or find a reason to get pissed off. Unfortunately, far too many people choose option #2.

It's a lovely day here, so I'm celebrating by making lasagna.

Happy birthday, BT!

One of the many, many distressing things that's become clear to me over the past few years is how much white people view Black athletes as a source of entertainment who should just shut up and be entertaining.

You see with actors too, regardless of race. Like somehow having a larger platform means you shouldn't have opinions.