Recently, quite a number of famous sports players have decided to "Take a Knee" towards the flag, instead of standing to salute it. The idea of taking a knee as a sign of respect was originally used when football players were injured during the game. In order to ensure fair play, as well as to show respect for their injured teammate or opponent, all the players would get on one knee until play was resumed. Recently, a foot ball player named Colin Kaepernick began to "Take A Knee" as a protest agianst racism and social inequality, and now many famous people have taken it up. This has not met with unanimous support from all quarters, including President Trump. Although this is a truly peaceful protest in accordance with the Bill of Rights, the article "The Choice Between Kneeling and Winning" from the New York Times says that this is not the best way to protest. I would recommend that everyone reading this take a moment to read the article. Having done that, I would like to start by saying that I do not agree with the writer that a better way to protest can be found. According to the Bill of Rights, peaceful protest of the people for a redress of grievances is lawful, and even recommended in some cases. Also, there is a law that says that you must stand for the flag, but there is also a law that says that you may not wear any materials in the pattern of the American flag. However, if you look around on the 4th of July, you will see any number of shirts, ties, and hair ornaments with the pattern of the American Flag. This is not to say that breaking the law is acceptable, but that in this case it is more a question of respect. If it is acceptable to wear the pattern of the American flag as undergarments, is it more irreverent to kneel to it as a form of protest to show awareness to the vice in the world and a wish to show others?
President Trump has just made a claim that the American justice system is "A Laughingstock" and "A Joke", because the trials for a terrorist Sayfullo Saipov (The man responsible for the attacks in New York) were too long and didn't give harsh enough punishments. He claimed that there was something wrong with our federal justice system because criminals who are obviously guilty are allowed to stay alive. What is going on here? My opinion (although I know that some of you will probably disagree) is that the biggest mistake that our government made is letting President Trump into office. Ever since he was elected- and even during the election season- he has been working only to further his own self-interests. He was working with the Russian government during the election, he has a number of women going to court against him for sexual harassment, and he has removed that vast majority of former President Obama's appointed staff and replaced them with...
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