Nike released its controversial ad featuring Colin Kaepernick as its spokesman today, despite his insistence on exercising his First Amendment rights.

Forget who is in it. Forget what it’s selling. Simply hear the message.

The folks at Nike, in a rare Economic Darwinian showdown with Trump and conservatives, have made a startling call: to risk offending customers. High-paying customers.

But there’s something shrewdly calculated in the strategy: The shoe giant has decided that a young, largely African-American consumer base will offset the loss of Trumpanzees, who consider as treasonous bastards whoever kneels for the National Anthem (a melodically awful tune by almost every aural measure, by the way. Why not America the Beautiful?).

And there’s no reason to think Nike is off the mark. Trump has the memory of a mayfly. And check viral videos of the hayseeds burning shoes. Those aren’t inexpensive, secular books you swiped from the public library, chumps. They’re overpriced shoes — that you already overpaid for. The guy below actually brags he set fire to $1,000 worth of footwear. Hey dumb ass: I’ve got used sweat socks you can have for $50 apiece, or two for $120.

And don’t forget what Game of Thrones keeps bugling: Winter is coming. You can only walk barefoot so long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mreQsQrDF-A&t=19s