Get Out the Vote

49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick just can’t help himself.  Kaepernick told reporters that he didn’t bother to vote in last week’s presidential election.  “You know it would be hypocritical of me to vote,” he tried to explain.  “I said from the beginning I was against oppression, I was against the system of oppression.  I’m not going to show support for that system.  And to me, the oppressor isn’t going to allow you to vote your way out of your oppression.”  But apparently he will allow Kaepernick to play himself out of a job.  At 1-8, the 49ers have the second worst record in the NFL, behind the hapless Browns (0-10).

I haven’t walked in Kaepernick’s shoes, so I can’t say for sure he’s wrong.  Then again, he’s never walked in mine.  I remember being a child, off to the polls with my mother.  She’d disappear behind the curtain of a voting machine, make her choices, then reappear with the pull of that big lever.  My Polish immigrant grandmother never tired of telling me, “Douglas, I couldn’t vote for President Roosevelt, but—” and I interrupt here for effect “—I did vote for President Taft.”  Later, she also voted for that other president named Roosevelt, a man she considered a saint for making possible Social Security and the two-week vacation.

In case you’re wondering, Colin, I’m a size 10.