I'm a little hesitant to get into this whole "take a knee" controversy. Seems to me a lot of people on all sides are following Trump's lead of using it as a way to say "Sorry, I'm too busy to give a damn about all those Americans suffering down in Puerto Rico." Some of them don't even seem to like the idea of admitting that Puerto Ricans are Americans.
Let me remind you once again about donating to Operation USA, a charity that uses very little of your money for administrative expenses and staff salaries, and puts as much as possible towards feeding, clothing, healing, rebuilding and lifesaving.
If you do want to get into this whole matter of NFL players kneeling during the National Anthem, take fifteen minutes and watch this video of Bob Costas, who I think nails it. I would add that when people say "Athletes should not get political," they never convince me they'd feel that way if they agreed with the sentiments being expressed. So what they're really saying is "Athletes should not express opinions which I oppose."
I also think it's a cheap, dishonest trick when someone is expressing a view that is clearly about racial injustice to try and frame it as "they're disrepecting our military." It's like when a lot of us were out protesting the War in Vietnam and saying our leaders were sending soldiers off to die in the wrong war, the comeback was "You hate our soldiers." It's always easier to rebut the opposition when you lie about their message.
I am way behind in all sorts of things I need to do and I still owe you all a couple of fuller reports on Frank Ferrante in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and on the Baltimore Comic-Con, both of which I enjoyed very much.
Next week, I will be in New York attending the New York Comic-Con. My one panel is about Jack Kirby panel and it's on Sunday, October 8 at 3:15 PM. I will otherwise be signing this book at the Abrams ComicArts table (Both 2228) and wandering the Javits Center.
Also during that trip, I will be visiting friends, visiting publishers and visiting publishers who are friends and vice-versa. I have tickets for one off-Broadway show and three on-Broadway productions, none of which are Hamilton or star Bette Midler. And on Wednesday, October 4, I will be a guest on Tell Me Everything, the fine radio talk show on SiriusXM Insight which stars John Fugelsang and Frank Conniff.
And note to self: I should write another piece about the response to the June Foray Celebration we did on September 19. And no, there is no video from the event online yet and I don't know if there will ever be any…but I'm sure glad we did it. More later.