Kaepernick's ignorance of Castro's mass incarceration and slaughter of political opponents is as pathetic as it is offensive.

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Must the political left ruin everything? 

Until recently, the wide world of sports generally offered refuge from the acrimony of political debate for fans of all ideological persuasions. 

No longer. 

Today, it's nearly impossible to tune in without being subjected to a tiresome social justice lecture from some raffishly dressed host, typically on the righteousness and victimhood of unemployed quarterback Colin Kaepernick. 

For those who remain blissfully unfamiliar with Kaepernick, here's the background. 

He entered the national spotlight in 2012, when he replaced injured San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Alex Smith in week 10.  The 49ers proceeded to lose the Super Bowl, and from that season forward his performance progressively declined.  His quarterback rating plummeted from 98.3 in 2012 to 91.6 in 2013, then 86.4 in 2014 and finally 78.5 in 2015. 

After those four consecutive seasons of steady regression, Kaepernick was finally benched last year.  That's when his social justice warrior shenanigans and ascent as leftist political deity began. 

First, Kaepernick ostentatiously began taking a knee during the pregame national anthem.  "I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color," Kaepernick announced. 

Somehow, that epiphany had evaded him until several years into his NFL career and after he'd been benched. 

From there, he deliberately amplified the provocation, assuming almost every tiresome element of today's synthetic pop culture "rebel." 

Some aspects of Kaepernick's new persona were merely cliché and harmless, such as suddenly growing out his hair and beard, or donning a 1992-vintage "X" cap from Spike Lee's film of the same name that he might've bought secondhand from eBay. 

But some of Kaepernick's other choices were simply indefensible.  For instance, he began publicly wearing garish socks depicting police as pigs, openly boasting that it was a deliberate incitement: 

I wore these socks, in the past, because the rogue cops that are allowed to hold positions in police departments not only put the community in danger, but also put the cops that have the right intentions in danger by creating an environment of tension and mistrust.  I have two uncles and friends who are police officers and work to protect and serve all people.  So before these socks, which were worn before I took my public stance, are used to distract from the real issues, I wanted to address this immediately. 

So Kaepernick sought to alleviate "an environment of tension and mistrust" by deliberately provoking an environment of tension and mistrust?  Makes perfect sense. 

On another occasion, Kaepernick spoke to the press wearing a t-shirt depicting Cuban tyrant Fidel Castro alongside Malcolm X with the words "Like Minds Think Alike."  Confronted by a Miami, Florida, sports reporter of Cuban descent, Kaepernick dug even more deeply into his moral and intellectual pit: 

One thing that Fidel Castro did do is, they have the highest literacy rate because they invest more in their education system than they do in their prison system, which we do not do here, even though we're fully capable of doing that.  We also break up families here.  That's what mass incarceration is.  That was the foundation of slavery, so our country has been based on that as well as the genocide of Native Americans. 

Kaepernick's ignorance of Castro's mass incarceration and slaughter of political opponents is as pathetic as it is offensive. 

Kaepernick's outbursts continued through the season, after which he was released by the bottom-dwelling 49ers.  He remains unemployed today, based primarily upon his performance regression detailed above.  Additionally, however, team owners and coaches rightly refuse to invite the disruption and public relations nightmare that he would drag with him. 

Unfortunately, sports media figures don't show similar intelligence.  Rather than focus on the upcoming football season and players who actually merit attention, they've perpetuated the story.  As a result, sports programming is increasingly just an alternative source of political debate, but without the competing viewpoints that most political channels typically offer. 

And they're paying a dear price for it, with viewer losses accumulating as people choose to tune out for that very reason. 

Leftists and sports media apologists are perfectly free to celebrate Kaepernick and the pungent ideas he represents, of course. 

But let's get something straight. 

Kaepernick isn't "brave" or "heroic."  He's not a role model.  He's not simply raising an important topic that would somehow remain unnoticed but for his outbursts. 

He's a spoiled millionaire who threw a temper tantrum after playing himself onto the bench, who voluntarily promoted vile anti-police caricatures and who stubbornly celebrated murderous sociopaths like Fidel Castro as heroes. 

Those who rationalize or deliberately overlook Kaepernick's tawdry behavior while falsely elevating him as a sympathetic victim and civil rights hero should be ashamed.  And those among the sports media who do so deserve the plummeting ratings and revenues they're suffering as a consequence.