Coach Trump Gives the Nation's Worst Pep Talk

Not to be lost in the debate about Trump's recent comments about NFL players' First Amendment rights (or lack thereof if our president gets his way) is the following comment he made during the same rally in Alabama: “Today if you hit too hard—15 yards! Throw him out of the game! They had that last week. I watched for a couple of minutes. Two guys, just really, beautiful tackle. Boom, 15 yards! The referee gets on television—his wife is sitting at home, she’s so proud of him. They’re ruining the game! They’re ruining the game. That’s what they want to do. They want to hit! They want to hit. It is hurting the game.” (This coming from a man whose chosen athletic indulgence is golf—the one sport that involves a ride in a tiny car between bouts of exertion.)

In the midst of a serious debate about players' risk of CTE from head injuries, Trump derides caution and concern for players' safety and instead champions a celebration of brutality for brutality's sake. It is a perfect encapsulation of his mindset: damn the consequences to "regular people" as long as his penchant for violence is satiated.

Donald Trump does not see these men as individuals with minds and ideas and concerns. They are not members of a community; they are not sons and fathers; they are not capable of emotion beyond the aggression and ecstasy they show on the field. Nor are they Americans. They are meat—disposable piles of muscle and bone to be used for our amusement. 

I don't think I would be out of line to assume that he sees all of us that way. We are all things. Objects. Abstractions whose worth depends solely on the amount of adulation we offer him.

I was thrilled today to see line after line of powerful men of color and their allies, strong in body and spirit, standing up for the rights of all Americans. They displayed purpose and dedication to country. If only our president could do the same.