Army Captain Responds to NBA Player’s Protest of West Point

Here is the latest supposed activism from a sports athlete:

New York Knicks center Joakim Noah chose to sit out a dinner with West Point cadets during the team’s training camp this week, citing his pacifist viewpoints and the fact that it was hard for him to “understand why we have to go to war, why kids have to kill kids around the world.”  [USA Today]

Here is an awesome response from a former West Point graduate, Captain Nick Palmisciano:

“Whenever one of these types of things pop up, I kind of have an eye roll moment. I see this kind of stuff as self-aggrandizing. This doesn’t solve anything, it shows a lack of understanding about what it is that the military does, and really only calls attention to the individual. I see them as publicity stunts by people who think too highly of themselves.

He judged an entire group of people based on their chosen profession. This is no more ignorant than judging all police because of one bad shooting or all black people because of one criminal. As soon as you start generalizing people, their motives, their beliefs, you are part of the problem.”

“There are plenty of people in the U.S. that are strong supporters of the military. That isn’t present in a lot of countries, and we are very fortunate. Is it irksome when someone takes the national stage to talk down to the military? Yes. But does anything change because of Noah? No. Guys still deploy tomorrow. National policy doesn’t change.

There is still a job to do. And the men and women in uniform rely on each other to get that done, not a guy who plays a game for a living.

And again, it’s their right. I think both of these guys, Kaepernick included, think they are doing the right thing and they think that what they are doing is important, so I can’t really judge them for that. But the reality is that these pseudo-stands are just as worthless as the hashtag of the day. #bringbackourgirls”  [IJR.com]

You can read much more at the link.