Brush Prairie resident Bob Mattila believes role models should do all they can to promote love and unity instead of promoting disunity
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are those of the author alone and may not reflect the editorial position of ClarkCountyToday.com
Colin Kaepernick is no one to be celebrated in Vancouver schools. He disgraced himself and his football team by taking a knee during the playing of The National Anthem at the beginning of the games.

It is the attitude of people like him that are bringing our God-blessed United States into more and more disgrace here and all around the world. Rather than celebrating him, we should remind him that we don’t appreciate his attitude, and instead he should be promoting love and appreciation for this great country, reminding people that most of us are against the things he dislikes, and help each other to be better people and better citizens, rather than causing more division and hatred.
Many people, especially young people, look up to him and he could set a good example by telling them that he has been blessed by living in America with all the opportunities for all who love our country, and do all they can to promote love and unity instead of promoting disunity.
Bob Mattila
Brush Prairie
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Just 30% say it is necessary to believe in God in order to be moral and have good values.
[https://www.pewresearch.org/](https://www.pewresearch.org/)
The University of Maryland has agreed to pay a $100,000 settlement to pro-Palestine student organizers for unconstitutionally suppressing a student-led vigil for Gaza in October 2024. This lawsuit settlement amounts to “the highest financial penalty ever imposed on a US university for violating pro-Palestinian students’ free speech rights.” Allegedly the University suppressed the student protest citing threats the University’s administration received from Zionists and the KKK as justification for its suppression.
Two DC Circuit of Appeals judges vacated Judge Boasberg’s contempt order against King Donald’s official or officials who lied and refused to order airplanes to fly back to the US and not continue on to El Salvador. One Appeals judge agreed the official’s action were criminal contempt. The US government flew detainees to El Salvador even after Boasberg order the airplane to return to the US. The administration official or officials later lied to Judge Boasberg. Now the US Congress should find out who the official or officials were.
The US Senate failed to pass a bill (resolution) to stop sending arms to Israel 70 voted no, voted 27 yes to stop sending, and a second vote of 73 no, 24 voted yes to stop sending weapons. Sen. Cantwell voted no, Sen. Murrey voted yes.
Science and Freedom Political party?
Facebook group
August 6, 2025: The Economist/Poll reveals that 43% of voters believe that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians; 29% not sure, only 28% disagree.
Americans’ approval of Israel’s action in Gaza: Republicans (71%), independents (25%), Democrats (8%),
52 percent of Americans view Netanyahu unfavorably, Democrats 70% no opinion of him 19%
More than 70 percent believe that there is a hunger crisis in Gaza; there is strong support for giving more humanitarian aid to Palestinians.
84% believe Israel’s continued attacks on Gaza are unjustified.
Michael Popok is joined by Constitutional scholar Peter Shane to explore how Chief Justice John Roberts’ construction of the legal scaffolding that enabled King Donald’s presidency. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV9D-DLnVig
A federal judge on Aug. 5, 2025, blocked the Trump administration from reallocating $4 billion meant to help communities protect against natural disasters, FEMA. Money for the programs allocated by Congress, and King Donald is running afoul of the Constitution.
District of Massachusetts Judge William Young ruled addressed against King Donald’s lawsuits attempting to cut NIH grants linked to DEI initiatives and “gender ideology”. Judge Young ordered the immediate reinstatement of funding for these grants, highlighting research into health disparities within minority and LGBTQ+ communities.
Judge Royce Lamberth in Washington has blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to relocate transgender women to men’s prisons, and he has used his perch to defend the courts against criticisms from Trump and his allies. In similarly memorable remarks from the bench, Judge John Coughenour, based in Seattle, accused Trump of viewing the rule of law as an “impediment” to his priorities.
A Federal District Fudge Timothy Brooks has blocked a new Arkansas law that required the display of the Ten Commandments and “In God We Trust” in public school classrooms. He issued a preliminary injunction against the law, ruling it was unconstitutional because it violates the separation of church and state.
The US is not currently talking to Russia about the New START treaty, which expires on February 5, 2026. Russia suspended its implementation of the treaty in 2023, including inspections and data exchange, but claims to still adhere to the central limits.
On January 20, 2025, King Donald’s issued the executive order ending birthright citizenship. In June 2025, the Supreme Court addressed a separate, technical issue in CASA v. Trump, limiting federal courts’ ability to issue nationwide injunctions against policies but did not rule on the constitutionality of birthright citizenship.
The Supreme Court ruled that federal judges cannot issue nationwide injunctions that block laws or policies from being enforced anywhere in the country. By a three federal judges ruling, the Supreme Court granted King Donald’s request partially pause his executive order ending birthright citizenship. The justices did not weigh in on the question at the center of the three lawsuits before the court: whether the birthright citizenship order itself is constitutional.
What we know about King Donald and accusations of sexual misconduct
E. Jean Carroll, Jessica Leeds, Kristin Anderson, Stacey Williams, Jill Harth, Amy Dorris, Karena Virginia, Karen Johnson, Melinda McGillivray, Natasha Stoynoff, Ninni Laaksonen, Summer Zervos, and Cassandra Searles. https://19thnews.org/2023/10/donald-trump-associates-sexual-misconduct-allegations/
We need to demand the US Supreme Court sentence and arrest King Donald for the felonies his was convicted of and for pardoning the January 6th convicted felons. King Donald bombed Iran without a declaration of war by Congress.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRZdyOnrPAM
And King Donald bombed Iran without a declaration of war.
Bob Mattila
Do you even know what Collin Kaepernick was protesting? He was protesting the treatment of young black men in the United States. To get the attention to this cause he had to choose a peaceful way that would get the most attention, Kneeling during the national anthem worked.
Conservatives like you refused to recognize his protest subject matter. You twisted and spun it to make it an attack on our flag and patriotism. Trump, MAGA and people like you have been warping them selves in the flag to hide your hate for anything that’s not white America. Shame on you!
Bob, Colin Kaepernick did not kneel because he hates America. He knelt because America has not lived up to the promise it makes to every citizen, particularly Black citizens, in that very anthem you say he disgraced. He sought counsel from a U.S. Army Green Beret, who advised that kneeling would be a more respectful form of protest than turning his back or raising a fist. That is called doing your homework.
You say he should “promote love and unity.” Love without truth is sentimentality, and unity without justice is submission. Kaepernick’s choice was not an attack on the country. It was an insistence that the country live up to its own stated values. That is the essence of patriotism.
The real disgrace is not that a man took a knee. The real disgrace is that the issues he knelt for are still with us, and many would rather police the posture of the protester than confront the problem he protested.
You didn’t bother to find out what or why Collin Kaepernick was protesting. It is sad that Conservatives are so judgmental and never bother to ding out why. He set a perfect example of how to peacefully protest and stand up for your rights. He is a great role model to all that we need up for civil rights and social justice that the current administration is destroying.