Ah, Football. A great place to stand or sit for your rights, in the delusion of one of America's greatest sports/businesses. For the record, I am of the opinion that this man or any man can stand or sit for whatever the hell he/she wants. Even if he was "raised by the man" or he's half black, 1/200 Cherokee, or he's "Whitey Ford Singing the Blues". It matters none, of color or sexuality. I've got a lot of friends who've serve(d), and lots of friends who don't like the current administration or the last, and/or either party that may get elected. Lots of these people currently serving do not have a choice at the end of the day on who they take orders from, good, bad, or indifferent. They gave up that choice for you, and for me, and for the black kid sitting down during the national anthem, or maybe the machine? The irony in this statement is we love to assume that when a dangerous man fights for our country that they are fighting for our version of the system machine. Or they are fighting for our particular view on what patriotism is. They are. The only problem is, they are fighting for good, bad, or indifferent and that means that they are fighting for that white Ăźber conservative "Evangelical of enlightened Judeo-Christian" republican, the dirt twirling hippy, the liberal delusional elite democrat, the money hungry capitalist, the bum on first street, the prostitute on camera ("porn is nothing more than legalized prostitution, you just need a buddy w/ a camera" Jim Jeffries), the NRA, PETA, and every other identity crisis we can come up with... They serve ALL of this shit. Including my ever evolving self as well. Mine, mine, mine, mine, mine.... They serve me. Therefore they serve my view of this spinning rock. And they serve, yours, and yours, and yours, and yours. Or... They serve none of this. Maybe, they are just serving their own view of what they see this country as? I'm curious if any of us has ever really considered or sat down with someone in Special Operations or someone from the front lines of battle and got an in depth view of how they see this country. I use the SpecOp community because this has been a place where I've known most men of war. People who are very different from you or I. People who can handle more stress in an afternoon than you and I will ever see in a lifetime most likely and then come home to pretend it didn't happen, all for the better of you and I? They return home to see what's left of a family, only to leave for 4 months to train again for the next cycle, then leave for 4 months again to some place nobody knows about because "the man" felt it necessary to keep relations with some foreign political figure who's running drugs or guns to a country we like to use as a vacation spot. All the while, this guy who's hunting the boogeyman, because they felt the need to protect the very essence of what makes this country great to them... Not you, nor I. WTF does this have to do with Kyle Kipenbarger or whatever his god damn name is? Nothing, because it DOES NOT matter. You are bored. I am bored (currently inspired to write), and we have found these really boring things to attach ourselves to and comment on the internet about how we think our opinions matter. All the while making heroes or demons out of people who actually are out living and not commenting on superfluous shit on the Internet or TV. "Man jumps out of plane with no parachute into a net." "First female Army Rangers get through selection." "Ryan Lochte lied to Rio police, but he didn't, but man it made a great story."... So when you head to the polls to identify yourself as the greatest version of the "Ăźber conservative 'Evagelical of Enlightened Judeo-Christian' republican, the oh so smart liberal delusional elite democrat, or the mighty saviors of 'Merica, libertarians" know this... It's all about me. Me and my tweaked insecure views of what I've insulated myself to view the world as, because God damn if I'm actually thinking about a career of 4 months of training, 4 months of war, and 4 months of trying to keep a family together on a paycheck that couldn't keep Kris Kiperdorf's Maserati running for a week. And for the record, he deserves that Maserati, and every dime he makes. He made his choices and so did you and I. So let's all fuck off, and get busy not worrying about who stood for what, so that you can actually stand for something yourself. And I don't mean standing for you current political party. I mean for YOU and the you that isn't following mommy or daddy's views... Maybe raise your children to understand respect, understand creativity, understand passion, and understand you are entitled to nothing, and will earn everything, and that money, celebrity, or power is not going to make you a better person, it is only going to make the person you already are a bigger version of that, and quite frankly we've got enough rich, famous, powerful douchebags (then again, we've got a lot of poor and middle class douchebags too). So if you think the money, fame or control is going to change that, that is exactly why you need to understand this last statement. The world does not need you to make more, or be more popular, or be in charge. You are the quintessential version of douchebag (ladies too!!!), and we have enough. We need you to understand something far greater. We need to understand self reflection and everything about it. Most importantly how to actually care about ourselves more in that reflection. Because what we hate most in this world is but a reflection of ourselves. Be the person you believe you are! Stop trying to identify yourself as anything other than you. In the end you might learn that Santa Clause isn't real, the Easter Bunny doesn't lay eggs, there is no tooth fairy, your birthday is just another reason to celebrate you, the earth is not flat nor is it the center of our solar system or the universe, we can grow more muscle fiber, particles can and do escape black holes, we don't know how big the universe is and if we are the only one, and that my opinion does NOT matter. If you are so inclined to have an opinion, then by all means, get inspired and write or draw, or create something about it. If you want the world to change stop supplying the system with the feedback loop. There is nothing more frustrating than watching people complain about shit that they are literally partaking in.... Don't worry, the transparency of our behavior will let us know who's been naughty and who's been nice. We are, watching. Go play.