I went to a Chicago Blackhawks game last week, and a tradition at the United Center is to applause and cheer throughout the National Anthem. I think it’s a great tradition and carried it on.

I consider myself a patriot, in so much as I do care deeply about the United States, which is to say, the people, not the government. The United States is a group of people who live together with the same rules, or at least are supposed to have the same rules. I find what benefits us all, will benefit myself, and such I am patriotic in that I want what is best for us all. Of course, my perception of what is best may not be what you perceive as best. Nonetheless, somethings are reconcilable and somethings are not.

My posts throughout these forums have been focused primarily on Trump since 2016, as I have found him to be a clear and present danger to what is best for this nation, the likes of which I haven’t seen in my lifetime.

Now with that being said, considering what the national anthem has become at sporting events, I no longer have the same respect for the national anthem and the requirement by some that it must be respected, or the flag must be respected, at all costs. These two things are symbols and these symbols have different meanings for us all. To me, the symbol seems to mean something else. It is becoming for some, a patriot test, and I feel no need to answer to anyone about my patriotism. I have no desire to partake in any patriot test, if anyone thinks that I must obey this whim, in that kneeling during a national anthem must mean they are not a patriot, then I don’t think I want to stand anymore.

I don’t take Patriot tests, my actions and my sentiment presented here speak for itself. I have provided caring, empathetic analysis for those who may or may not have the same advantages I have, for those who if they did, the United States might be a greater place, and if I can fight for a greater United States, I am too fighting for a greater home for myself. But when something begins to become a patriot test in the mind of others, it has gone too far in the mind of others and it is not something I’m going to play. It is far beneath me to take a Patriot test as far as I’m concerned. I know where I stand and people who hold that test in their eye, well, perhaps they need a reality check.