Nike has now handed over the power of life and death to a failed, mediocre, former professional quarterback who holds himself up as the most noble-minded, righteous individual on the planet. Colin Kaepernick unwittingly tapped the ugliest, deepest vein of American false guilt when he decided to take a knee during the playing of our national anthem. 

He now stands as the official harborer of history and the guardian of U.S. morality. Similar to Caesar in the middle of a rabid, blood-thirsty Colosseum, Kaepernick has altered the landscape of fashion with a simple thumbs down. If you’re unaware, Nike was about to release a patriotic sneaker with Betsy Ross's flag as a symbol on the heel. However, Colin Kaepernick expressed concern over the design, claiming it held a close connection to the slavery era. 

Nike subsequently cancelled the sneaker's release. 

Born Elizabeth Griscom," Betsy Ross" was visited in 1776 by George Washington regarding a design for a flag for the new nation. On June 14, 1777, a creation with 13 stars on a field of blue, with the red and white stripes, was officially adopted by Congress as the national flag. 

Following Nike's logic, this country should be forced to use time frames in relationships to slavery as the baseline on how we should quantify what is and isn't racist. Clearly any patriotic symbol prior to the signing of the 13th amendment should be considered racially intolerant. Every American flag ever hung through 1865 should be looked upon with the same disdain as Betsy’s abomination. 

In fact, every Stars and Stripes should be destroyed since there’s a chance it might offend. Maybe a whole new flag design is in order. Cash out the tired old red, white and blue and let's go with some colors that really pop. Remember, whatever we do we will need to consider the feelings of Mr. Kaepernick. 

We'll need to take a look at some other national treasures to determine if they are worthy of America's celebration. 

“The Star Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key in 1814, will have to be replaced. It was penned during a time of slavery. It’s become a flashpoint, in recent years, for civil and social injustice because the third verse references “slaves and “hirelings” — although those words, at the time, were most often insults at large that had nothing to do with race. In any case, the words no longer hold any meaning to a large chunk offer population. Maybe we can get Kanye West and Taylor Swift together for a collaboration on a song that's deemed more patriotic. 

Construction of the White House (clearly racist) began in October 1792. The Washington Monument was finished in 1854 and the Capitol construction began in 1792. These buildings' origins began before Abraham Lincoln and his 360,000 union soldiers gave their lives fighting against slavery. The buildings are undoubtedly and inherently racist structures and must be torn down immediately. Possibly a new NBC reality TV show hosted by Whoopi Goldberg & Robert DeNiro can offer a million dollars to a developer who can create new and more morally acceptable monuments in Washington. 

Everything we thought to be true has now been exposed as deception. 

The names of John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Huntington, John Penn, Robert Morris and Thomas Jefferson should be sandblasted from the history books and marginalized into oblivion. These men made the mistake of "Mutually Pledging to Each Other their Lives, their Fortunes And their Sacred Honor in a quest for freedom." How dare they sign "The Declaration of Independence" while slavery still existed on every continent around the world? 

The truth is Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe, Al Sharpton, Don Lemon, Elizabeth Warren, 90 percent of Hollywood, and many members of the ultra-left lead a group of race-baiting hate mongers determined to celebrate the destruction of American history. 

As a nation, we are dangling on the brink of insanity. Slavery was the ugliest stain on this nation’s history and should never be forgotten. However, insisting there is a racial undertow in every single debated issue is patently unfair and disingenuous. How can Betsy Ross's flag be anything but a representation of freedom and patriotism? Racism exists in the United States, but it is not an epidemic or systemic. 

The racially divisive left is wrong. Nike is wrong and Colin Kaepernick is wrong — again. 

Lee Elci is the morning host for 94.9 News Now radio, a station that provides "Stimulating Talk" with a conservative bent.