So, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican, is so upset about the trumped-up controversy involving the Louisiana State University women’s basketball team not being on the floor for the national anthem that he’s threatening state action.
I’m not making this up.
Don’t these folks have anything real to worry about?
Do they truly think it’s a good use of the state’s power and energy—along with the taxpayers’ money—to try to police a basketball game?
Can’t they find a five-year-old’s game of hopscotch to reign over?
Or maybe a tic-tac-toe contest to rule?
I know it’s been the fashion on the right for the past several years to summon faux fury over the national anthem at sporting contests. They conjure up reasons to be outraged because some athletes—particularly those who were Black—have chosen to kneel during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
They say it’s disrespectful to those who served in the military, but then they ignore the voices of veterans who tell them that the constitutionally protected right to express oneself is what those veterans fought to defend.
But the facts don’t matter in disputes such as this one.
If the facts did matter, Landry and crew would take note of the fact that the LSU women’s team meant no disrespect to the flag or anything else.
As LSU’s coach, Kim Mulkey—whose political and cultural views seem to have been shaped by Genghis Kahn—explained, the team’s absence during the playing of the national anthem was routine.
They always leave the floor when the clock says the game will start in about 12 minutes. They go back to the locker room to go over their game plans and assignments one more time and prepare themselves to compete.
They didn’t leave the floor before the music started to show contempt for the flag.
They did so because they wanted to get ready to try to win the game.
But let’s be generous and assume that Landry and his fellow deep thinkers are sincere in their defense of the flag. Let’s take them at their word that they want people at sporting events to show Old Glory the proper respect and that they’re not just running around looking for reasons to criticize and persecute athletes of color.
If they do really mean what they say, take things all the way.
Don’t open the concession stands at the arenas and ballparks until the last notes of “The Star-Spangled Banner” have faded to silence. Nothing shows more blatant disregard for the national anthem than hearing hundreds of beer-soaked voices scream “PLAY BALL!” as soon as—or even before—the song ends.
Also, lock the restrooms during the playing of the tune. Make it impossible for game-goers to sneak in a quick bathroom break when they should be standing with their hands over their hearts, celebrating liberty by slavishly doing what they’re told by big brother.
And, while we’re at it, let’s figure out a way to monitor people’s conduct while they’re watching the game at home on the screen.
If those who paid good money to attend the game in person are to be forced to stand at attention, why shouldn’t the couch potatoes who opted to see the action in their houses or at a sports bar have to do the same?
After all, respect is respect.
Just because you’re in the privacy of your own home doesn’t mean that Jeff Landry and his know-it-all fellow travelers shouldn’t be able to tell you what to think or do.
I mean, this is America.
Here, we love freedom so much that we’re willing to use the power of government to force human beings to subjugate themselves to a minority’s notion of what patriotism is or should be.
We hold our liberty so dear that we allow ambitious hucksters to turn its most sacred symbol into nothing more than a political trinket.
But it’s easy to understand why Landry and crew are so concerned.
It’s not as if we live in a time in which two brutal wars rage abroad, savage income inequalities and chasm-like cultural differences divide us as a nation and we’re plagued by an ongoing epidemic of gun violence.
No, things are so good right now that powerful political leaders feel they can focus their attention on … basketball games.
Yeah, basketball games.