Kaepernick's original protest was intended to call attention to the disparity of treatment between blacks and whites by police, and that's all well and good. But make no mistake... what happened this weekend had nothing to do with that purpose... it was 200, or so, NFL players sticking a big old middle finger in Donald Trump's face... well deserved, IMHO.

Fifty years ago, I took an oath to defend people's right to protest. I repeated that oath no less than seven more times during the course of my service, and that oath has no expiration date. But I also reserve my own rights to disagree with the manner in which a protest is undertaken, and the one that started all of this in the first place is just plain stupid. The whole purpose of any protest is to encourage others to take up your cause. I can only speak for myself, but if you want to bring me over to your cause, the absolute worst thing you could do is to disrespect those things I hold dear.