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There's a strange but predictable phenomenon today: Moments and conversations of actual significance get washed through the digital echo chamber so many times and with such velocity that, before too long, they resemble bizarro caricatures of the actual things they once were.

That's how a grassroots movement responding to the very real problem of police violence directed at people of color gets reduced to two sides yelling at one another: "Black lives matter!" "No, all lives matter!" "No, blacklives matter!"

And so it was that the national anthem protests NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began silently staging before NFL games on Aug. 26 reached their inevitable bizarro point this Sunday. Headline coverage touted supermodel Kate Upton using social media to deem NFL players' statements "unacceptable."

The falcon has indeed strayed far from the falconer here. Let's cut through the noise a bit and tighten this thing back up.

Almost three weeks after Kaepernick went from backup quarterback to national lightning rod, here's a look at what's resulted from his initial silent statement-- the good, the idiotic and the ugly alike.

What Kaepernick and bathrooms have in common

We aren't begrudging Upton's right to chime in on a national conversation. It's just that her opinion has zero relevance to the issues Kaepernick initially sought to spotlight -- that "there are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."

Just as Kaepernick has every right to use his platform for protest, Upton has every right to use hers for criticism. But excessive, celebrity-fueled coverage of Upton's criticism doesn't raise the national discourse. It moves us further from the actual conversation.

So, too, do statements like those made by the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs this weekend. Each team locked arms during the national anthem in a tepid show of "unity" that appeared designed to mollify Kaepernick's critics as much as support his message. After some big talk, Seattle's statement fell flat. Marcus Peters of the Chiefs, however, brought the message back to its origin by holding a gloved fist aloft as his teammates locked arms.

Kaepernick is like those North Carolina bathrooms, in that how one feels about the issue itself has almost become ancillary. Declaring support or opposition isn't simply doing that; to have a stance on Kaepernick or North Carolina bathrooms is to declare allegiance to an entire set of identities and outlooks as an American -- and to reject just as many.

That's why emotions have run so high. That's why a Texas cigar store called "The Man Cave" is using a Kaepernick jersey as a doormat. That's why fans have filmed themselves burning Kaepernick jerseys, and why Kaepernick's jersey has become the NFL's hottest seller thanks to those who support his message. That's why Brandon Marshall of the Denver Broncos lost two endorsement deals after joining the ongoing protest Kaepernick started.

That's why a backup quarterback has become the NFL's most-discussed player so far this season.

It's hard not to see battle lines being drawn, if only symbolically. The San Francisco 49ers, Kaepernick's team, announced last week a $1 million charity donation to organizations that address racial inequality. Around the same time, the Green Bay Packers donated $100,000 to a local police foundation.

But perhaps both donations drive home the same point.

Kaepernick's big, undeniable win

Far from being banished to some activist-athlete island, Kaepernick has been joined in protest by players around the league. American soccer star Megan Rapinoe, too, made a powerful statement of support in early September by kneeling herself -- even if other white athletes have been reluctant to follow suit.

Now even high school football players across the country can be spotted dropping to one knee during pregame national anthems. Not even the ol' Friday night high school football game can escape this political moment.

A statement commonly paraphrased from a Karl Marx quote says "Religion is the opium of the people." The German philosopher's point way back in the mid 19th Century was that so many people immerse themselves in religion as a way to avoid the pain and tough decisions of real life. In America today, it doesn't take much imagination to replace "religion" with "sports and other entertainment genres" and still have Marx's ancient idea ring searingly true. (A reality TV star is one election away from the presidency, for crying out loud.)

Sports, for so many, represent a retreat and reprieve from real life. Kaepernick has now pierced that bubble, which angers many fans and has them burning his jersey or using it as a public doormat. Sports fans have been forced to consider some things outside of sports, and the results they've found are uncomfortably ugly.

That's why, in part, so many are so mad. And that's why -- despite the media circus that's since sprung up around him -- Kaepernick has already won.

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