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I think you're really getting into nitpicking semantics there. Saying "I don't represent everything happening in the US" is not really close to the same thing as saying "I'm not proud to represent the US."
❄️ WINTER OLYMPICS ❄️
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superrific
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1. Why does an Olympian have to be proud to represent the USA? Is it more of a "you should say what I want you to say?" thing, or is there a purity test going on here where a person is judged unworthy unless they deeply hold some belief?
What if they were proud to be an American for most of their lives, and then stopped when Trump started bombing fishing boats near Venezuela and is trying to strong arm Europe into territorial concessions like some wanna be 19th century imperialist? Is that OK? What does the thought police say?
2. The "nationalistic" nature of the competition is mostly a media thing, and a Cold War media thing at that. Most of the events in the Olympics are boring sports that few people care about. So they way to make them interesting is to make it a battle of country against country. Are we beating the Soviets in overall medal count? What about the Chinese?
I remember as a kid watching boxing events in the Olympics rooting for the US because boxing was a good sport for the US and it helped out medal count except there were those Cubans and then I realized, what the fuck am I doing? Why am I watching a sport I don't care about?
3. I'd bet -- though I don't know -- that an important reason why there are national delegations is historical. In the early days of the Olympics, there was no lingua franca outside of diplomatic circles. Most athletes spoke their native tongue. So if you mix countries together, you get a bunch of people who can't speak to each other. In addition, there were very real national hatreds that had come from wars and conflicts. You wouldn't have wanted to put French and Germans together in 1924 or 1936.
4. It doesn't really matter because nowhere is it written that a person can only be American by loving America. That's the sort of "patriotic" shit that has always allowed scoundrels to cover over their behavior.
What if they were proud to be an American for most of their lives, and then stopped when Trump started bombing fishing boats near Venezuela and is trying to strong arm Europe into territorial concessions like some wanna be 19th century imperialist? Is that OK? What does the thought police say?
2. The "nationalistic" nature of the competition is mostly a media thing, and a Cold War media thing at that. Most of the events in the Olympics are boring sports that few people care about. So they way to make them interesting is to make it a battle of country against country. Are we beating the Soviets in overall medal count? What about the Chinese?
I remember as a kid watching boxing events in the Olympics rooting for the US because boxing was a good sport for the US and it helped out medal count except there were those Cubans and then I realized, what the fuck am I doing? Why am I watching a sport I don't care about?
3. I'd bet -- though I don't know -- that an important reason why there are national delegations is historical. In the early days of the Olympics, there was no lingua franca outside of diplomatic circles. Most athletes spoke their native tongue. So if you mix countries together, you get a bunch of people who can't speak to each other. In addition, there were very real national hatreds that had come from wars and conflicts. You wouldn't have wanted to put French and Germans together in 1924 or 1936.
4. It doesn't really matter because nowhere is it written that a person can only be American by loving America. That's the sort of "patriotic" shit that has always allowed scoundrels to cover over their behavior.
sringwal
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I'd also add that imbedded in the concept of "Make America Great Again," is a lack of pride in aspects of America today. So Trump is calling out Olympians for expressing things about his vision for America, while also critiquing aspects of the country.
From Langston Hughes' Let America Be America Again:
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again....
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
From Langston Hughes' Let America Be America Again:
O, let America be America again—
The land that never has been yet—
And yet must be—the land where every man is free.
The land that’s mine—the poor man’s, Indian’s, Negro’s, ME—
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again....
O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath—
America will be!
ChileG
Inconceivable Member
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He said he was representing all the things that are good about the United States. I don’t see what is appreciably different from what he said versus that last athlete whose quote Zen approves of.
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uncgriff
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Olympic cheating claims after French judge ranks France first, USA worst
A French judge at the Winter Olympics is under fire after their scoring of the ice dance competition gave the win to France.
www.newsweek.com
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Cizeron made several mistakes, including a glaring one during his twizzle sequence, while Chock and Bates were nearly perfect. Yet the French judge favored the French skaters by nearly eight points in the free dance, while five of the nine judges favored the American team. The other three that gave top marks to Beaudry and Cizeron did so by a slim margin.
Olympic cheating claims after French judge ranks France first, USA worst
A French judge at the Winter Olympics is under fire after their scoring of the ice dance competition gave the win to France.
ZenMode
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I guess he should have just raced for himself and not his country.
He's Not Here
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They also said
- This country is a cesspool
- We’re a failing country
- We’re like a garbage can
- We’re a 3rd world hellhole ruled by perverts and criminals
Wait, that was Trump
With apologies to Jon Stewart
Why is the Olympics a nationalistic competition?
If the qualifying standard for the Olympics is X; and, 15 athletes from the USA or China exceed X, why don’t all the athletes who exceed the qualifying standard compete in the Games?
Why is swimming limited to 2 athletes per event from a given country?
Swimming is limited to 2 athletes per event from a given country because the USA Men used to SWEEP the medals. The way to stop the sweep was to limit the number of athletes to two.
In America, in the ‘70’s, it was bad form for USA athletes to not win GOLD. Google Shirley Babashoff and the 1976 Olympics and the East German Women. Babashoff was considered a failure. 4 silvers and 1 gold. A failure.
Google the 1976 East German women and doping.
But, in 1976, Shirley Babashoff was considered a failure.
WTF?
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“…According to the official rules, the highest and lowest scores from the nine judges drawn for each segment are removed, and the average is calculated from the remaining scores. That hasn’t stopped fans of the skaters from being upset.
… Beaudry and Cizeron’s partnership has been shrouded in controversy since its inception. Beaudry competed for Canada and Denmark previously before hastily getting French citizenship last year to partner with Cizeron after her previous partner, Nikolaj Sorensen, was banned for at least six years following a Canadian investigation into sexual assault allegations….”