Mike Pence and the NFL’S national anthem protests

Re: “Pence leaves Colts game after players protest during anthem,” Oct. 9 news story.

I am an Eagle Scout and I served in Army National Guard units in Colorado and Texas. My father was a Navy veteran of World War II. I will always stand and honor the U.S. flag and national anthem. However, what I am really honoring is what they symbolize: the sanctity of the U.S. Constitution and the freedoms it guarantees.

As much as we feel that everyone here should honor these symbols, there are those who feel that they have personally not enjoyed the full range of those freedoms due only to their race or ethnicity. So, I respect that they are exercising their constitutional right to protest.

To allow those in government to dictate that they shouldn’t have that right is to dangerously court a dictatorship and the fascism that would accompany it. Our democracy depends on our diversity, which has been the strength of this country, not a weakness. Richard Mittan, Westminster

Re: “Mike Pence’s NFL stunt tells us a lot about him,” Oct. 10 Jennifer Rubin column.

I feel obligated to reply to this hit piece on the honesty and integrity of Vice President Mike Pence. Jennifer Rubin calls it a “stunt” that Pence walked out of football game where NFL players were demonstrating in disrespect to the flag and the national anthem. Why is demonstrating against demonstrators a “stunt” on one side and not the other? Doesn’t the First Amendment give equal rights to both sides? The writer disregards the feelings of patriotism of the vice president, who currently has a son serving in the military. She then proceeds to an accounting cost, listing all the expenses of Pence’s trip. What audacity! I don’t recall her ever writing a column on the spending of President Barack Obama on golfing trips, date night in New York City, campaigning for Hillary Clinton. I could go on and on, with no regard to the $9.5 trillion added to the national debt during Obama’s presidency.

This column is true testament that fair, honest journalism is dead in America. Peter Bruno, Arvada

Perhaps the problem with national anthem protests isn’t really about people who sit or kneel during the song. Maybe the issue is that we don’t play the song enough at sporting events. I mean, how can we possibly show love of country singing the song just once before the game begins? Why not after every period/quarter/inning? Better yet, why not sing it after every single play?

Sure, games would be about three to four hours longer, but I can’t imagine why anyone would object. After all, there’s no better way to ascertain one’s love of country (or more specifically other people’s love of country) than to stand at attention without question or even hesitation at a moment’s notice. Because surely the conservative anger about the protests is all about the gesture itself and has nothing at all to do with who is protesting. Right? Pete Miesel, Broomfield