Colin Kaepernick, Nike's commissar of America-hatred, may have been a quarterback, but he took a half-a--ed approach to anti-slavery hero Frederick Douglass.  Flaunting the blinders that progressives wear when they consider our collective history, he took a quotation out of context in order to try to score an own goal against the country that birthed him, made him a multi-millionaire, and now indulges him in his extended adolescence.

Fortunately, Ted Cruz knows much more than Kaepernick and demolished his point on Twitter (hat tip: Twitchy).

Incidentally, President Trump's patriotic and utterly non-partisan speech yesterday on the National Mall (watch it here) included praise of the "great Frederick Douglass" among other heroes of our past.

Weak point:

“What have I, or those I represent, to do with your national independence? This Fourth of July is yours, not mine…There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of these United States at this very hour.”
- Frederick Douglass pic.twitter.com/IWLujGCJHn

— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) July 4, 2019

Devastating counterpoint:

You quote a mighty and historic speech by the great abolitionist Frederick Douglass, but, without context, many modern readers will misunderstand. Two critical points: https://t.co/x4oLfa9DrH

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

(1) This speech was given in 1852, before the Civil War, when the abomination of slavery still existed. Thanks to Douglass and so many other heroes, we ended that grotesque evil and have made enormous strides to protecting the civil rights of everybody.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

(2) Douglass was not anti-American; he was, rightly and passionately, anti-slavery. Indeed, he concluded the speech as follows:

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

“Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

“There are forces in operation, which must inevitably, work the downfall of slavery. ‘The arm of the Lord is not shortened,’ and the doom of slavery is certain.

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

“I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from ‘the Declaration of Independence,’ the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age.”

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

Let me encourage everyone, READ THE ENTIRE SPEECH; it is powerful, inspirational, and historically important in bending the arc of history towards justice: https://t.co/il9WNrmxho

— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) July 5, 2019

Kaepernick is the living embodiment of the adage, "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

Photo credit: Twitter icon.