TODD: So it\u2019s back. They can\u2019t stop talking about Colin Kaepernick. Tim Tebow got a second NFL tryout, and people of course went… I love this word so much. I love saying “apoplectic.” I don\u2019t know if I say it correctly. Apoplectic? They went nuts. (laughing) I have confirmation from the broadcast engineer, Mike Maimone, that I\u2019ve said “apoplectic” the right way.<\/p>\n
They just went nuts that Tebow got this chance. Tim Tebow\u2019s probably not gonna be an NFL quarterback. Colin Kaepernick\u2019s probably no longer going to be an NFL quarterback. Neither of them achieved the greatness they would have wanted in the sport. One of them is not bitter about that. One of them is of good cheer.<\/p>\n
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And both of them have lovely white parents and grew up in a position perhaps of at least comfort to privilege economically, to speak in the nomenclature of the left. I want to say this thing to Kaepernick. They\u2019re not speaking. Taking a knee is not speech. I can put on you whatever I want to put on you. It turned out I was right. You don\u2019t like America.<\/p>\n
You didn\u2019t vote. Maybe you do now. You\u2019re not a person who\u2019s deeply educated about these things, by choice, inning. And when you wear socks that say, “All cops are pigs,” well, that\u2019s also speech. But taking a knee is not speech. It\u2019s a demonstration. Tim Tebow took a knee but for other reasons.<\/p>\n
I mean, think of this. You got two guys who wanted to be NFL greats, two guys who didn\u2019t quite make it that level. Sure, one got closer to greatness on the field, and one of those guys took a knee in prayer, and the media hated him for it. And the other guy wore those “all cops are pigs” socks. He took a knee during the national anthem, and the media loved him for it. Rush compares Tim Tebow and Colin Kaepernick the way only the Maha could.<\/a><\/p>\n RUSH: The NFL has not hired Colin Kaepernick. Colin Kaepernick walked out on the San Francisco 49ers. He had a contract. He walked out on it. He doesn\u2019t want to play with them anymore. He becomes a free agent. He has no offers. The sports Drive-Bys are outraged.<\/p>\n They think he\u2019s being blackballed because of his politics. He may be — and if he is, the people blackballing him have every right to do so. What do you think the First Amendment\u2019s free speech clause grants you? The right to say what you want politically? You\u2019re right. It does. Now, the First Amendment says that government cannot stop you from saying what you want. It doesn\u2019t say the San Francisco 49ers can\u2019t. If you work someplace, your First Amendment rights do fall under the policies of your owner or of your boss or of your workplace.<\/p>\n ‘Cause they\u2019ve never thought of it that way. Yeah, you can say what you want, but nobody has to listen to you. The second thing is you have the right to say what you want, you have the right to believe what you want, but you do not have the right to not suffer any consequences from it. So if you are going to make a case as a player in the NFL that your country is rotten, that your country mistreats people of color — if you\u2019re gonna say what Kaepernick said — then you\u2019ve got to be willing to accept the consequences of what you said!<\/p>\n How many people do you think believe that Kaepernick should be applauded for courage and not have to suffer consequences for what he said? How does that work? Everybody… You know, there\u2019s a price. There are consequences. There\u2019s gonna a reaction. Not everybody\u2019s gonna agree with everything that anybody else says. Kaepernick is not a victim. But they\u2019re trying to portray him as a victim. “He went out and he said courageous things; he had the courage to criticize his own country,” and for that he should be made a hero? That\u2019s not how it works.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/APP-121918-Kaepernick.jpg\")
This is not a fine point. But larger point is this: The media is trying to portray Kaepernick as a hero for courageously and with great guts criticizing his own country and criticizing the bias and the prejudice and the murderous police. It takes guts and courage. Now, there\u2019s every entitlement to do it. Kaepernick, anybody else has every right to say what they want to say about that. But, two things are incumbent here. No one has the right to be heard — and this I find… When I say this to people who think they understand the First Amendment, that shocks them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n