Presuming the position

So taking a knee is cool now, apparently. Colin Kaepernick must be so surprised.

He got drummed out of the NFL for doing it, and for inspiring others to do it. But now George Floyd is dead and Ahmaud Arbery is dead and Breonna Taylor is dead, and Christian Cooper is getting the police called on him for politely asking some Karen to leash her dog. And now, all over the country, people are taking a knee, and some of them are carrying signs and chanting George Floyd's name, and some of them are getting pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed for saying what Kaepernick and his NFL brethren were saying in their own silent, eloquent way.

Namely, that the authorities killing people of color, either heedlessly or blatantly, needed to stop. That the racial inequities baked into the every aspect of American life needed to stop.

And now the suits and the politicians and the corporate hacks are saying, yeah, that's right, because now the polling and the marketing numbers say it's safe to do so.

Why, the Vice-President himself even came out and said peaceful protest is the right of every American, hoping we'll forget that he walked out of a Colts game because he was so offended by a peaceful protest.

But that was then. And this is now.

Now, the country is burning, more than just people of color are outraged, and so kneeling is OK. And if Colin Kaepernick were a lesser man, he'd be shaking his head in disgust at this hypocrisy-fest.

He'd be thinking "WTF, Mike Pence?" He'd be wondering what aspiring novelist crafted the NFL's splendidly obsequious Official Statement, and inviting them to get that bleepity-bleep bleep outta here.

What the NFL said was this, essentially: Our "family" is "deeply saddened" by these "tragic events", and, by golly, we feel y'all's pain. And that's why the NFL (A fine, fine product! Keep watching!) is committed to doing whatever it can to address whatever this issue is.. Because the NFL (Again, a fine, fine product!) recognizes "the power of our platform", and we "embrace that responsibility and are committed to doing the important work to address these systemic issues together with our players, clubs and partners." (Because the NFL cares!)

Strangely, no mention was made of how the NFL blackballed Kaepernick from its platform for doing exactly what the NFL now says it's committed to doing. Or how the league cravenly stood by and let the President of the United States called him a "son of a bitch." This seems a pretty glaring omission until you realize A) it's the NFL, and B) its statement is neutered pablum that reads like it was crafted by a team of high-priced attorneys.

And if Colin Kaepernick were a lesser man, he'd be reading it and then rolling his eyes so far he could see his frontal lobe. Because, see, he assumed the position.

These guys are just presuming to.