“Home of the Brave?”-Gabe Kapler, manager, San Francisco "Giants" baseball team

“We’re not the land of the free nor the home of the brave right now.

“When I was the same age as the children in Uvalde, my father taught me to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance when I believed my country was representing its people well or to protest and stay seated when it wasn’t. I don’t believe it is representing us well. Every time I place my hand over my heart and remove my hat, I’m participating in a self-congratulatory glorification of the ONLY country where these mass shootings take place.

“But we weren’t given bravery, and we aren’t free. The police on the scene put a mother in handcuffs as she begged them to go in and save her children. They blocked parents trying to organize to charge in to stop the shooter, including a father who learned his daughter was murdered while he argued with the cops. We aren’t free when politicians decide that the lobbyist and gun industries are more important than our children’s freedom to go to school without needing bulletproof backpacks and active shooter drills.

“I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel better about the direction of our country."

God bless you, Mr. Kapler, God bless you, sir. Your father taught you well. You and he are principled patriots.