You know, I’m not even mad at Jerry Jones. The man is 74 years old and he’s still as shrewd and wily a sumbitch as he was when he bought the Dallas Cowboys roughly three decades ago. Jones had an extra day to stew on the possibility of some of his own players kneeling for the National Anthem, or staying in the locker room altogether. But he racked his leathery brain for a solution and hit upon the most ingenious, most cynical one of them all: a crowning feat in the denuding of a protest’s meaning and power.

In case you missed it last night, the Cowboys and Cardinals all joined at midfield BEFORE the anthem and took a knee, Jerry included. I know some people thought the Double J looked uncomfortable down there, but to me he looks SUPREMELY self-satisfied. He wheeled and dealed and told his players ALL RIGHT I’LL DO YER LITTLE KNEE THING IF YOU GIVE ME MY ANTHEM, and they acquiesced. He cracked the code.

And the worst part is that it worked. Roger Goodell tweeted his approval. President Trump, still doing everything in his power to ignore the fact that Puerto Rico has been destroyed, called the compromise “big progress.” One rightwing dyejob called it “palatable.” And Jones got enough shit from bots and losers on Twitter for kneeling (indeed, a great many people remain confused about the fact that this all took place prior to the anthem) that he looked daring and progressive to media types who will fawn over the most cursory acts of non-dickishness. I guarantee you that 30 other NFL owners woke up this morning wishing they’d thought of this. I wouldn’t be shocked if other teams followed suit next weekend and suggest (demand) that players relegate their protests to the pre-pre-pre game festivities.

"It goes without saying that any act of protest that Trump, Goodell, and Jones approve of is hardly a protest at all."

It goes without saying that any act of protest that Trump, Goodell, and Jones approve of is hardly a protest at all. The goal of Colin Kaepernick’s activism was NOT to make these men comfortable. There’s not supposed to be a happy ending to this. There’s not supposed to be a point where rich assholes like Goodell and Jones are satisfied and say “We solved racism, people!” and look like they really feel your pain and then continue to do absolutely nothing at all about the real societal ills that players are demonstrating against.

Without the anthem, these protests against racism and police brutality can be easily segregated and ignored. And it’s just like the NFL to find a way to “support” the protests while also doing everything possible to assuage the drunken anger of every nationalistic asshole in attendance at your local NFL game.

Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell are men to be overthrown. They are brazenly corrupt men who shamelessly profit from the inherent inequality and unfairness of the American economic model. They are the kind of the men who are to be protested, and they certainly shouldn’t be allowed to join in and co-opt a demonstration for their own gain, stripping it of its anti-racist motives and turning it into some empty, syrupy display of “unity.” Look at this horrific Sports Illustrated cover. Look at how they photoshopped Goodell into the thing even though he did virtually nothing. These are men who profit from pretending everything is okay, and last night, Jones found a way to get a lot of other people to pretend along with him. It’s appalling. So I gotta hand it to the man: He does brazen shitbaggery better than anyone.

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