Two Years Later, the NFL's Anthem Issue Plays On

This week marks the two-year anniversary of the first time that quarterback Colin Kaepernick staged a protest during the national anthem before an NFL game, kicking off a controversy that seems like it's dominated American sports and domestic life for much longer. For all the time that we spend bemoaning the churn and burn of the 24-hour news cycle, the anthem uproar has proved remarkably resilient on both traditional and social media (and yes, I’ve contributed to this glut). Of course, much of the credit for the brouhaha goes to U.S. President Donald Trump, who has found in the topic a reliable way to fire up his base, invoking it regularly in speeches and tweets since the buildup to the 2016 election. On the eve of another NFL season and with U.S. midterm elections a matter of weeks away, we should only expect to hear more of this seemingly endless...