"Disrespecting" the Flag

Here is a story about a contracted ref for a North Central H.S. volleyball game walking out on his contract after becoming so upset by a teenager taking a knee for the anthem. I suppose this is what happens when we go all in on "divisiveness" and decide to armor up, choose sides, and fight amongst ourselves. In the world of litigation, we call this "staking out a bargaining position." Of course, in the world of litigation, all controversies must end, eventually. However, as to this story, I found a few points to be illuminating:

Jim Saddler is sorry. That’s the first thing he wants you to know. Not sorry for being angry — he’s still pretty angry — but for the way he handled his anger when he saw a volleyball player kneeling during the national anthem. 

Kudos to Mr. Saddler, as an initial matter. He understands, perhaps in a way that Pres. Agent Orange, VP Empty Suit, Speaker of the House Eddie Haskell, Senate Majority Leader Doublechin, (see what I did there, giving Trumpian names?) and so many others don't, that we are supposed to be the adults. Our children are watching the way we interact with each other and will imitate it. Let's try to give them a good template. Well done in your penitence, Mr. Saddler. Hats off, if only for that.

As to the merits of your position, well . . .

That’s why when he saw a North Central girls varsity volleyball player kneeling before an Oct. 9 match he was supposed to line judge, he couldn’t stay and do his duty.
He was barely able to contain his anger when he saw fans “sitting on their butts” during the national anthem, but once he saw the player on a knee, he had to leave.
Saddler calmly walked to the scorer’s bench, turned in his flag, then approached the North Central coach to inform him why he couldn’t stay.

Well, Mr. Saddler, I suppose that is your right. However, this article addressed a few important points:

1. Neither the kneeling teenager nor Mr. Saddler's actions have anything to do with the First Amendment, as has been pointed out on this blog ad nauseum. The First Amendment has to do with government actions, not private ones. That a private individual chose to kneel,  and another private individual chose to walk out of the occasion, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the First Amendment.

2. Mr. Saddler had a contractual obligation to referee the game. Punctas sans servandas, "promises are to be kept." Whether Saddler was paid $1 or $1m to ref the game is immaterial; he had a contractual obligation and he breached the contract. Between Saddler and the girl who knelt for the Anthem, Saddler is the one who is in the wrong. He breached a contract.

3. Saddler identifies himself as a vet, and the article goes on to describe his service as a flight attendant aboard Air Force One. I don't want to go too far out on a limb here, but I do not believe that all vets are created equally. 

If you're a combat veteran, I believe that you deserve every bit of the respect that you are given, ten times over. One of the reasons I did not join the military after 9/11 is that I am deathly afraid of dying, particularly in a violent manner. To the combat veterans of the world, you have my undying (no pun intended) respect. 

To non-combat veterans, I appreciate your service too, but let's not fool ourselves into believing that your service stateside or in Germany or Japan is the same as the Marine who took Fallujah. There are a lot of people who work for the government, with crappy pay and worse working conditions; teachers come to mind, as do social workers. 

Bottom line: When it comes to the kneeling-for-the-anthem "controversy," perhaps we should all just chill out a bit.