Funny how people pick and chose what is respectful and disrespectful. When the Flag is actually treated correctly, I'll care. I come from a military family and my dad would laugh when a flag was displayed flat, or on advertising. That's not how the Flag is supposed to be treated. He had no problem with kneeling as a peaceful protest. It is my understanding that Kaepernick consulted a Green Beret (Nate Boyer ) who advised him to kneel as a sign of respect. That sort of gets lost. My wife's family, (not a single military person for 4 generations at least) are so disgusted by the kneeling that they spit fire. My son is active duty and has no problem with it. I'm not sure high school kids fully understand what they are doing, but a lot of people don't know what they are doing half the time.
I think the kneeling upsets people too much and is probably counter productive. I would hope that people can find another way to get the point across that is more unifying than confrontational. The kneeling might be well intended, but it's become devisive. How about people get off their high horses and start treating the flag with the proper respect!
www.law.cornell.edu
There were military things that my dad would do too. In uniform, he would not say the pledge. He would stand at attention and salute in silence. Believe me, there were times that people would get into his face about it. He rarely said a word. I think it's part of military code.