Oddly enough, many members of the Right endorse this move — including those who would be livid if a Democratic president called on the NFL to fire praying football players because that’s “injecting religion into football.” Many of these same people are solidly behind Masterpiece Cakeshop in its battle against forced speech. Virtually all of these folks are outraged when private corporations and private universities enforce rules on speech that systematically disadvantage and silence conservatives. But then Trump acts in the same manner and the response is . . . Yay?

“Fight fire with fire,” I’m told. You mean censor in the name of freedom? “Give them a taste of their own medicine,” they say. You mean act like a hypocrite? “You just don’t have the guts to fight the culture war,” some tell me. But angry tweets and public temper tantrums hardly represent the “courage” our nation needs.

Here’s the bottom line. If you’re participating in or justifying conduct you’d despise if the partisan roles were reversed, if you’re changing your views because “the people” have spoken and rejected an “elitist” embrace of individual liberty, or if you are not confident enough in your own views to embrace and defend a marketplace of ideas, then we’re just not on the same side. I’m not your culture warrior, and though we may have great respect for each other and agree on many things, on this issue I’m your opponent. I want you to lose. I want the president to stop demanding that private corporations punish speech he doesn’t like. If football players — or any American — stand for the flag and the anthem, I want them to do so because of their love for this nation, its people, and its ideals, not because they fear the consequences of dissent.