What is the controversy surrounding #takeaknee

[Neo-Scholastic]

It is one big misdirection. The Whitehouse (and conservative pundits in general for more than a year) paints this as a protest of the flag, when it is not and has never been a protest of the flag. It is/was a protest about police treatment of minorities, and this weekend it also became a protest of Trump

There's also a kind of interesting paradox about protests involving national symbols in my mind. To disrespect the flag is to disrespect all that it stands for which is to disrespect your right to disrespect it. The freedoms and liberties represented by the flag are also the remedies to the grievances motivating protest against it. So in a way its kind of like protesting the very thing you hope to achieve. I mean, if Americans cannot stand united in their respect for the symbols that represent our liberties, the principles that protect them, and the people who fought and died for them then what else could possible unite us as one nation?

Secondly, there is a time and a place for everything. Military funerals are not an appropriate place to protest against gay marriage. The Westbound Baptist Church may have had the right but that didn't make it right. Look, I know this supposed to be about police brutality. Maybe they should protest in front of City Hall or a Police station and not at sporting events, concerts, and other performances where people go to get away from politics and their everyday lives. People want go out with the family, tailgate, and have fun, not be preached at. These kinds of protests are about as welcome as a fart in an elevator.