That bunch of ungrateful millionaires who have all the relevance of tree fungus and continue to hold their pity party to disrespect our national anthem now have a PR problem. The ingrates have underestimated our ability to affirm their irrelevance by tuning them out.

A recent Washington-based Winston poll affirms that the protests have transformed the NFL into the least popular professional sports league in America. A J.D. Power survey in July indicated 30 percent of the viewers who watched less football in 2016 than they did the prior season said it was because they were offended by players protesting the anthem.

Obviously, that has carried over into 2017. So, keep exercising your right to kneel, you overpaid ingrates, and We the Unwashed will continue to exercise our right to tune you out. Is this a great country, or what?

I spent a number of years either working in Washington or supervising those who did. Potomac Fever is real, folks, and highly contagious. That is why former Georgia Congressman Tom Price and later the Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Trump Administration saw no problem chartering private jets to ferry him around to the tune of some $400,000 while his boss has been promising to “drain the swamp.”

Price’s poor judgment was exceeded by Pennsylvania Republican congressman Tim Murphy, a married man and one of the leading anti-abortion advocates in Congress, who asked his mistress to have an abortion and did so via a text message. Brilliant. Both Price and Murphy have resigned, the latest victims of Potomac Fever. 

There is a God but it is not Harvey Weinstein, movie mogul and fat cat contributor to liberal causes. Weinstein is facing allegations of decades of sexual harassment and abuse by a number of women, including several prominent actresses. The company he co-founded, Miramax, has fired him. While I could care less about what goes on in Weenie World, aka, Hollywood, I must confess this came as a shock to me because none other than that esteemed political observer, Meryl Streep, had designated him a god and I hang on every word she utters. Now, she claims she was not aware of what Weinstein was doing, although it seems that most of Weenie World knew. Bless her heart, Meryl needs to get out more. Like maybe to church? 

The Boy Scouts are going to admit girls in their ranks and become more inclusive. The Girl Scouts say the Boy Scouts’ “house is on fire” — whatever that means — and talked about the power of a “single gender environment” which I think means they aren’t going to let boys in. (ACLU, are you listening?) And what about those poor souls who don’t know which bathroom to choose? On my honor, this is making my head hurt. 

Note to Georgia’s public school teachers: It’s that time again. The political races are beginning to heat up. You are going to hear from a lot of candidates who will tell you they know how difficult and thankless your job can be because their momma/sister/uncle/cousin was or is a schoolteacher and if you will elect them, they are going to work extremely hard to improve things for you. That is just so much bilge water. It happens every election cycle. Don’t let them sweet-talk you. Do your homework (I love telling schoolteachers that!) and keep an eye peeled particularly for those ideologues who advocate more tax dollars for private school vouchers. They are not your friend. 

Finally, it is hard to believe it has been 10 years this month since I was in Iraq with members of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. The 48th BCT is a part of the Georgia Army National Guard. True citizen soldiers.

They were commanded by Brig. Gen. Stewart Rodeheaver, a certified Great American. On the wall in my home is a photograph of a crater about the size of a kitchen table, courtesy of an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) that went off right under the wheel of the Humvee in which I was seated. A few seconds one way or the other and we might not be having this conversation. It was a unique experience for me, to say the least. For these folks it was a daily risk.

Want to talk about heroes? Mine are the men and women of Georgia’s 48th Brigade Combat Team. The NFL ingrates couldn’t carry their duffel bags.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/dickyarb.