For sheer entertainment value, Al Sharpton's invocation of slavery in discussing NFL players who average $1.9 million a year is worth noting.  It also confirms his stature as America's premier malevolent demagogue.  (You can savor the buffoonery in a video over at Weasel Zippers, as I am unable to embed it here.)

Sharpton is unlikely ever to top Crown Heights, where he instigated a pogrom, or Freddy's Fashion Mart, where his target of opprobrium was firebombed, killing eight in bloodiness.  But the older and wealthier and more established (MSNBC host) Sharpton works on a different angle now.

Underneath this cynical exploitation of white guilt, Sharpton is hoping to inflame conflict.

Fans already angry at the kneeling can only derisively laugh at the millionaires, and not a few of them will decide they are done with accepting any responsibility at all for something they have nothing to do with.

The NFL owners already are in retreat on the standing policy, alienating their fans even more.  They are going to continue to underplay the damage they are doing to their business.

Face it: Sharpton is trolling us.  Fans and owners alike.  Driving conflict.  There are a lot of people who want to see Americans angry at each other.  That's something on which Vladimir Putin and Alinskyites agree.