San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick signed a six-year, $114,000,000 contract, as well as a $12,328,766 signing bonus, $61,000,000 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $19,000,000. On Friday, he refused to stand for the National Anthem before the preseason game, later declaring he is “not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” In a “Black Lives Matter” dig, he added, “There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder.”

Kaepernick has a history of contempt for America, having recently posted this missive on social media: “Folks always want to make it seem like White Supremacy is whiteness gone wild. No. It’s a standard [American] practice.” He says he will be sitting out the National Anthem until the oppression stops. But he neglected to mention that 98% of blacks are murdered by other blacks. He also neglected to mention that after he was abandoned as a child, he was adopted by wealthy white parents.

Naturally, the 49ers took the position that it’s Kaepernick’s “right” to not stand for the anthem, noting in a statement, “It is an opportunity to honor our country and reflect on the great liberties we are afforded as its citizens. In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem.” But his doing so in that uniform and venue reflects poorly on his team and his fans. And need I remind you: Kaepernick plays for the same NFL that looks the other way when Rams players take the field in the faux “hands up, don’t shoot” posture, but refuses to let the Dallas Cowboys wear a helmet sticker showing solidarity with Dallas police after the assassination of officers there.

Of course no one said it was NOT Kaepernick’s “right” to be an idiot, particularly offending military Patriots, veterans and families, who suffered enormous sacrifices under the banner of our national flag so that he can accumulate enormous wealth playing a game. But exercising that right doesn’t make him any less idiotic for using the privilege of putting on that team uniform — a privilege funded by the team’s fans — to display such contempt for a nation that has provided him the opportunity to succeed and become part of the top fraction of the “one percent” of wealthiest Americans. Ironically, if any of those military Patriots who serve under that flag even hinted at such discontent while in their uniform, they would find themselves charged with UCMJ violations and dishonorably discharged.

In case you are under the mistaken impression that Kaepernick is a model of civic duty and responsibility, you might want to know he has never registered to vote… That notwithstanding, expect to see this idiocy replicated by disconsolate and emotionally incontinent adolescents on sports teams across the nation.