I prefer standing for our National Anthem. That’s my choice.

Men and women have fought, died or came home maimed fighting for our safety, freedom and to preserve our American Bill of Rights. One of those rights is to peacefully protest.

So I don’t denigrate the players and teams who choose to take ‘the knee’ during the

Anthem as their form of peaceful protest.

Instead of spending so much time arguing about this so very trivial matter, how about examining and fixing what these teams are protesting…racism, police brutality and an unequal justice system. Maybe that would be a better use of our time and airwaves.

We are in bad racial shape folks.

People say it dishonors our military who fought for our freedoms. Hey AMERICA, if you really want to HONOR our soldiers, sailors, airmen and women, why don’t we fix our severely broken and disrespectful Veterans Administration?

For decades and through many administrations the VA system has been broken with no true end in sight. How about building just four fewer nuclear bombs and put that money directly towards the Veteran’s Administration. We send our young men and women into horrendous situations, that many of us couldn’t even imagine, and when they return beaten, battered, maimed and forever damaged they are no longer of value or use to our U.S. military and are dumped into this broken system. They have to jump through hoops just to get the care they HONORABLY EARNED and DESERVE. It must be hard to ‘jump thru hoops’ when you have no legs. Or “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” when you’re missing an arm. Or to just ‘get yourself together’ when you have a traumatic brain injury or suffer from severe PTSD.

I fly the flag on the porch our house because I am proud of what it stands for. But I HONOR the young men and women who gave all to preserve my right to do so.

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John Davis is a former national television host, writer and producer who now works in the Los Angeles funeral industry. Just 1 of 301 million U.S. citizens