It’s still serious
SUBLIME
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| Dug In |
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| Nate Boyer Green Beret |
A former Green Beret has stepped up to take the mantel of “National
Uniter” since “the new guy” won’t. It all started a year ago with Colin
Kaepernick, not one of my favorite people for many reasons, and a protest
movement about the police killing black men. Now “the new guy” says without
reservation its about disrespect for the military, flag and country and, of
course, he always tells the truth, so why listen to the guy who actually did
the deed. Remember it was about the police and black men dying. But it has
become about symbols instead of substance. BAD as “the new guy” likes to tweet.
Former Green Beret and NFL wannabe long snapper Nate Boyer penned a widely read piece last year. It read in part (the entire text can be found on the following link).
I
thought about how far I’d come and the men I’d fought alongside who didn’t make
it back. I thought about those overseas who were risking their lives at that
very moment. I selfishly thought about what I had sacrificed to get to where I
was, and while I knew I had little to no chance of making the Seahawks’ roster
as a 34-year-old rookie, I was trying.
That
moment meant so much more to me than even playing in the game did, and to be
honest, if I had noticed my teammate sitting on the bench, it would have really
hurt me.
I’m
not judging you for standing up for what you believe in. It’s your inalienable
right. What you are doing takes a lot of courage, and I’d be lying if I said I
knew what it was like to walk around in your shoes. I’ve never had to deal with
prejudice because of the color of my skin, and for me to say I can relate to
what you’ve gone through is as ignorant as someone who’s never been in a combat
zone telling me they understand what it’s like to go to war.
Even though
my initial reaction to your protest was one of anger, I’m trying to listen to
what you’re saying and why you’re doing it. When I told my mom about this
article, she cautioned me that "the last thing our country needed right
now was more hate." As usual, she’s right.
There
are already plenty people fighting fire with fire, and it’s just not helping
anyone or anything. So I’m just going to keep listening, with an open mind.
I
look forward to the day you're inspired to once again stand during our national
anthem. I'll be standing right there next to you. Keep on trying … De Oppresso
Liber.
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| On Opposite Sides |
Dear Every Single American,
Every. Single. American. Including President
Trump, Colin Kaepernick, and my brothers in arms overseas who are wondering,
"what in the hell is going on back there?" I'm sitting in the same
chair, in the same apartment that I sat in almost a year ago when I wrote an
open letter to Colin Kaepernick. I was hurt when I saw him sitting on the bench
during the national anthem, but I'm much more hurt now. Not by him, not by where
we're at now with the protests, but by us.
Simply put, it seems like we just hate each
other; and that is far more painful to me than any protest, or demonstration,
or rally, or tweet. We're told to pick a side, there's a line drawn in the sand
"are you with us or against us?" It's just not who we are, or at
least who we're supposed to be; we're supposed to be better than that, we're
Americans. This doesn't even seem to be about right or wrong, but more about
right or left…
That's how it all started with Colin and I,
neither of us knew that kneeling would be the result of our conversation. Colin
wanted to sit, I wanted him to stand, and so we found a common ground on a knee
alongside his teammates. I believe that progress and real change happens in this
world when you reach across the divide, you build a bridge, you swallow your
pride, you open your mind, you embrace what you don't understand, and
ultimately you surrender…
"We
sorta came to a middle ground where he would take a knee alongside his teammates,"
Boyer says. "Soldiers take a knee in front of a fallen brother's grave,
you know, to show respect. When we're on a patrol, you know, and we go into a
security halt, we take a knee, and we pull security."
So please, no more lines in the sand, not at
home, not among our people. No more choosing sides, no more "for or
against." I believe our Veterans will be called upon to lead the way in
healing the world and solving its problems; right now our country needs that
more than I can remember. So I'll be here, standing in the radical middle,
doing what I can to continue fighting for those that can't fight for
themselves. Let's get this thing fixed together, you and me. I love you all
with all my heart.
De Oppresso Liber
Nate Boyer
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| On the Same Side |
Boyer should be
praised instead of reviled by his fellow Green Berets and half the country on
the other side of the red line. This is a time for unity and truth, instead of
divisiveness and “FAKE NEWS”. Those on the other side should listen to what
Kaepernick said last year and believe him. Don’t listen to the distortions for
political gain. Listen to his side and walk a day in the shoes of those he was
wanting to honor. Marginalizing the black race and not listening to their
concerns has been happening since the Civil War and it took a100 years to start
to give them what they were promised by Abraham Lincoln.
It is now 50 years
later and they still haven’t received all they were promised. They are being
told, 1. they aren’t being targeted by the police when unarmed black men seemed
to be killed on a weekly basis last year and all of that was just FAKE NEWS and
was vindicated when all the policemen were eventually found not guilty and I
mean all. 2. Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization while the
Alt-Right, White Separatists and KKK are filled with “good people”. 3. Almost
lily-white talk radio led by the head cracker Sean Hannity (an unofficial
advisor to “the new guy” who has his ear) daily tells black America how to
feel and not to feel. I may be wrong, but I don’t think Hannity, "the new guy" and their ilk
have a clue what its like to be black in America . But that doesn’t stop
them.
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| Brothers in Arms |
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| Boyer at Texas |
PS: Boyer spent 6 years as a Green Beret with multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan before returning to attend college at the University of Texas when he was a long snapper. He went undrafted in 2015 and then attended the San Francisco 49ers Pro Day on April 17 and was signed by the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent. He was cut on August 18.
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