I have tremendous respect for the ideals of my country. I took an oath to defend her, and I took that oath seriously - in fact, my mother and my husband both took an oath as well. We are one patriotic family if you look at it - mom and I both served our country in the civil service until we retired, Roger is a veteran... ok, Moose hasn't done much but then again, he's German.
But I don't get what relationship standing for the National Anthem before a football (or baseball, or whatever) game has with my respect for my country. It's a sporting event, not a war - regardless of who wins or loses, it has nothing to do with supporting unity or justice or democracy. In my opinion, forcing a show of patriotism before a game demeans our base principles far more than taking a knee in protest ever could - true loyalty demands more than just putting down your nachos and putting a grease-stained hand over your heart for two minutes.
Loyalty and patriotism should be a deliberate, personal choice - something you work at, something you strive for. Not something you think about briefly in the middle of a stadium, not something that you make a show of because you don't want to lose your job, and absolutely not something that is forced upon you by some bloviating jerk tweeting at 3:00 in the morning. Someone exercising their first amendment right, thoughtfully and with precision and grace, is much more what *I* worked for and believe in than someone attempting to apply authoritarian pressure.
To sum up... the last two words of our national anthem really aren't and should never be "Play ball".
