Although I lean liberal, Rich Lowry’s column (Jan. 8) shredding Kaepernick’s adolescent “leftism” is spot on, but I would add a larger historical context.

The old left developed in the 1920s and 30s as eloquent, though deceitfully misguided, in their apologetics for Soviet communism, and, to a lesser extent, fascism. But the old left was literate and educated with wide learning science, literature, philosophy, etc., and the vast Marxist, socialist corpus. Consider “The God That Failed” by six disenchanted former Marxists from the 1930s.

The new left that arose in the 1960s, and was a lesser outgrowth than the old left, was more into theatrics than actual scholarship, but many were still versed in the Marxist-Leninist canon and broadly educated.

Forward to Kaepernick’s drivel and what remains is the laziest recitation of juvenile slogans from the once venerable leftist canon. Not only is he a liar but he is a laughable hypocrite as well. He was employed by one — the NFL — multinational corporate capitalist giant, and now he’s shilling shoes for Adidas, another multinational corporate capitalist giant — and he’s getting paid in capitalist dollars. A true leftist, which he is not, would shun such affiliations on principle, which he completely lacks.

George Orwell famously described such people that engage in lazy jabbings at their own societies while ostensibly embracing ideologies they have no conception of as attacking something they don’t really want to destroy.

Kaepernick’s no enemy of America, and this isn’t about free speech, patriotism or the lack thereof: he’s making too much money and leading too privileged life to be a true Marxist-Leninist. This is just playpen babbling with no consequences with generally predictable responses from both sides.

Jeff Olen, Renfrew