The Summer Olympics have not even started and they are ruined for me. Are they ruined for you?
Ruining the games used to mean that someone would tell me the results before I could watch the videotaped event that evening on television.
Now the question is, who wants to cheer on the USA when athletes are turning their backs on our flag? As if that was not bad enough, both the U.S. Olympic Committee and President Biden think it is acceptable for an athlete to disgrace us on an international stage.
The message from hammer-thrower Gwen Berry is clear—I hate my country and we are all racists. It is an offensive message and we should not give her a platform to spread her vitriol. U.S. Olympic sponsors should be cancelling their checks!
Many people think if we ignore these types of antics, they will just go away. Wrong!
Did it go away when Colin Kaepernick disgraced the NFL? No, it spread like wildfire to the point Nike sponsored him. After failing as a starting quarterback, he’s now a multi-millionaire. Yuck!
The Olympics can have an even more powerful impact than the NFL. Our Olympians inspire the next generation. As a child, I watched Dorothy Hamill win the gold in ice skating. While I did not copy her hairstyle like many of my friends, I did take up figure skating for a decade. I am thankful for her inspiration and the wonderful childhood memories.
Do we want Gwen Berry setting an example for the next generation? Do we want her educating our children by example to hate our nation? If so, the results will be worse than our kids merely turning their backs on the flag.
So many men and women have died defending our country and the flag. Who will want to join the military if we don’t put an end to this disgraceful trend now? Why risk your life if the United States is as bad as Berry believes? Look at what has happened over the past year with the defund-the-police movement. We have fewer men and women joining law enforcement and crime is out of control.
Berry certainly has her First Amendment rights. But she is not guaranteed a spot on the Olympic team. Athletes are kicked off all the time for violating assorted rules and policies. She should not go on to represent our country if she cannot honor Old Glory, a flag by the way that she had no problem posing with on at least one earlier social-message post before she apparently became woke.
The U.S. Olympic Committee had better wake up! When the NFL allowed kneeling during the Anthem, it cost them viewers and ratings. Even fewer viewers will be tuning to the Tokyo games if this disgraceful behavior is allowed.
I am now even happier that I was part of the effort to stop tax dollars for a Boston Olympics which got the U.S. Olympic Committee to pull the plug for a sponsorship here.