Man, Mark Cuban's Awesome

Okay, so Josh Howard did some dumb, dumb shit by bagging on the National Anthem, true. There was bound to be some backlash, much of which would be (and was) directed at Howard's employer, Mark Cuban.

But boy oh boy did Cuban one up the critics. On the one hand, I'd love to read some of the responses these people got after their emails hit the internet. On the other, it'd probably be depressing to read the supportive emails that they'll probably get (some from each other, no doubt).

Like a far-left liberal who's oft-touted tolerance extends only to those that share their opinions, there's little that amuses me (in the most depressing way) as a "patriot" that implies that the freedom of speech extends only to those that talk about how great America is.... "While I man not agree with what you say, I'll defend to the death my right to not know what freedom of speech means."

Finally, though, I should mention that there's little that disappoints me more than people that blindly rail against the United States. You may think that George W. Bush is a dipshit, or worse, a man that's single-handedly redefined the role of the American President, and not for the better, but the American flag and the National Anthem don't just represent the Bush Administration. Nor do they just represent Obama/Biden. They represent all of them and all of us. Burning an American flag is a kind of ignorant act, because as scandalous as it might seem, it doesn't just represent protesting things one doesn't agree with, but it represents the things in this country one does with.

And really, the beauty of the American Democracy is that (in theory, and mostly in practice), if there's something you don't agree with, you have the ability to do something about it.

UPDATE: Good lookin' out, Matt; apparently Cubes did pull the post. But like mentioned in the comments here, the page is straight up cached. Hooray internet!