September 25, 2017
Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher,
101 Main
Street #380
Huntington
Beach, CA 92648
Dear
Congressman,
Re: Taking the knee
I did not watch football yesterday. Did you? I did,
however, watch reports on the NFL games and the reaction to Trump’s
presumptious , crowd-pandering Friday night speech, in which he castigated a
football player for “taking the knee” instead of standing for the national
anthem; and, by extension, suggesting that all (well, mostly black!) football
players were sons-of-bitches who should be hounded out of the stadium if they
exercised their first amendment rights.
What’s wrong with this man? Has he no sense of or respect
for common decency—nor for the basic rights of all Americans? His arrogance and
ignorance are simply monstrous. Even if you happen to disagree with this form
of protest against the inherent racism that infects our society (I don’t), the
chosen alternative of “taking the knee” seems to me entirely respectful and,
indeed, powerfully eloquent.
I found the solidarity among the NFL players, backed up by
the team owners and coaches, to be profoundly moving. Yesterday was a quiet day
of reckoning for many Americans, I believe, who were challenged and provoked to
thought by the action of so many of their sports heroes. I wish I could think it
was a quiet day of reckoning for the man who sits in the Oval Office,
masquerading as our president. I can’t. I’m quite sure he thinks he did nothing
wrong, and that he’ll spurn the request for an apology I heard from so many quarters
yesterday.
What do you think about all this? I’m sure you respect our
athletes. Will you join them, in solidarity, in condemning the president’s rash
oratory?
Respectfully,
Peter Clothier, Ph.D.
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