There has been a lot of ink spilt this week talking about Colin Kaepernick's "right" to protest, as an expression of his First Amendment right to free speech.

Setting aside that he has a contract, with an employer that forbids him from taking this form of action, for the sake of argument, let's grant him his First Amendment right.

The First Amendment text:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

That Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof we will save for a different article.

Colin Kaepernick has a right to speak his mind (no matter how idiotic is speech might be).

We likewise have the right to peaceably assemble – or more particularly not – at NFL football games, or buy NFL merchandise, or patronize NFL sponsors.  The NFL has taken up a handful of leftist social justice causes (BlackLiesMatter, Same Sex Marriage, Transgender Bathroom, etc.).  Again, this is their right (I suppose).

We have the right to acquiesce from permitting Roger Goodell and the NFL brass from turning a national pastime into their cause célèbre.

The left are advancing their agenda, at will – through executive fiat, congressional fiat, judicial fiat, bureaucratic fiat, social and cultural fiat, and lastly through corporate and market fiat.

We've waited (and waited) long enough for our, ahem, representatives to stand in opposition to government fiat.

Those who run the NFL take "our" resources ($$$) and advance "their" agenda.  When will enough be enough?

If Colin Kaepernick, other players, or the Seattle Seahawks en masse decide they want to "sit" for the National Anthem, we need to stand and walk.

Imagine dozens, hundreds of fans leaving the stadium immediately following the National Anthem (and the corresponding sit-in).  Imagine same said consumers removing their jerseys, balling them up, and throwing them onto the field of play, as they depart the stadium.

NFL teams and players participate at our pleasure.  If we tolerate abhorrent behavior by individual players and/or the league itself advancing a radical social justice agenda, we should not be surprised when these protests take over more and more of the game, and society more broadly.  

There are two examples where we are getting, and have gotten, the upper hand.

Hollywood celebrities for years have protested for global warming, same-sex marriage, abortion, transgender bathrooms, on and on and on.  The American people have responded to their protests by declining from patronizing movie theaters.  Reports are that revenues are down 22% year over year for 2016.

The University of Missouri (Mizzou) went bat-crap crazy last fall with their race-hustling social justice protests.  For Mizzou's enabling of this nonsense, they saw a 23-percent, 2,100-student loss in the incoming freshman class.

We will surely get what we tolerate.  If we tolerate Colin Kaepernick, we will get more of him.

Tell the NFL to focus on football and to encourage their players to focus on football.  If not, stand and walk.