Mike Pence spent a million dollars to watch one minute of a football game—and you paid for it

Just last week, four actual American soldiers died in Niger, in an attack likely organized by the regional branch of al Qaeda. If you were unaware of these deaths, or even that there were Americans on the ground in Niger—where the United States is helping to train government forces to fight terrorist incursions—that’s understandable. Because among the things at the top of Donald Trump’s list of important events, actual soldiers actually dying … doesn’t count.

Instead, Trump has focused on athletes leading a peaceful protest against the ongoing killing of African Americans by police, and the failure of the justice system to hold these police responsible for their actions. By portraying a pose usually reserved for honoring an injured player as a sign of disrespect toward the flag, the nation, and the military, Trump has created a fresh racial injustice to heap on top of the original. In service of this lie, Trump has now tweeted 29 times concerning these uppity protests, including multiple tweets about how this dishonors the military. He’s tweeted zero times about the sacrifice of the Green Berets in Niger.

But apparently just talking about it wasn’t divisive, hateful, and hypocritical enough. Over the weekend, Trump ordered Mike Pence to drop in on Indianapolis for the express purpose of making a show of mock disgust over players daring to express concern that their fellow Americans were being murdered with impunity. Trump didn’t disguise the fact that the whole thing was planned.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/10/9/1705409/-Mike-Pence-spent-a-million-dollars-to-watch-one-minute-of-a-football-game-and-you-paid-for-it