Interesting column by A. Abrahamson. Does anyone in the US realize the world that may not want to listen to our protests?

Whatever, it's US TV that drives this ship so come along for the ride or jump overboard.

Dexy's Midnight Runner wrote:

Whatever, it's US TV that drives this ship so come along for the ride or jump overboard.

Also: keep us off the medal podium if you don't like it.

For one thing, a main point of protesting is to force people who don't want to hear or see your protest to hear or see it anyway so I'm not sure protestors would actually care if others don't want to hear or see it. For another, even if USOC allows athletes to protest the IOC surely could forbid them from doing so.

HRE wrote:

For one thing, a main point of protesting is to force people who don't want to hear or see your protest to hear or see it anyway so I'm not sure protestors would actually care if others don't want to hear or see it. For another, even if USOC allows athletes to protest the IOC surely could forbid them from doing so.

In general, you are probably right about the purpose of protesting, but the US athletes who will inevitably end up doing some kind of gesture on the Olympic podium are more likely to be from the "look at me! look at me!" school of thought.

Well Gee.

WE wouldn't want to put anyone in the position of seeing a protest that they don't want to see.

HRE wrote:

For one thing, a main point of protesting is to force people who don't want to hear or see your protest to hear or see it anyway so I'm not sure protestors would actually care if others don't want to hear or see it. For another, even if USOC allows athletes to protest the IOC surely could forbid them from doing so.

Correct. Imagine standing on the podium 'protesting injustice' in the US, and another medal winner is from a country with a truly oppressive government, and that oppressed athlete cannot 'protest' due to government-led repercussions upon returning home.

The Shaler Flash wrote:

HRE wrote:

For one thing, a main point of protesting is to force people who don't want to hear or see your protest to hear or see it anyway so I'm not sure protestors would actually care if others don't want to hear or see it. For another, even if USOC allows athletes to protest the IOC surely could forbid them from doing so.

In general, you are probably right about the purpose of protesting, but the US athletes who will inevitably end up doing some kind of gesture on the Olympic podium are more likely to be from the "look at me! look at me!" school of thought.

And this is correct, as well.

Dexy's Midnight Runner wrote:

Also: keep us off the medal podium if you don't like it.

looooooooooooool

Would anyone be likely to do it to that level? By that I mean protesting an issue that is outside of their own country, relating to the country they are currently in and against their government?

I am a bit torn on this, because while I cannot really go against a lot of the protests in the past, what happens if everyone starts doing this and the medal podium becomes a row of various salutes - a lot of which may not be fully understood and may be misinterpreted.

For example, I know someone who did thumbs up at someone in Iran - and over there is it NOT what it may mean to you in the USA! It is like doing the middle finger at someone (or at least that is how it was interpreted).

Likewise, a lot of these symbols can mean different things.

Is a podium the right place for this?

But can sport ever be free of politics - and should it be?

Are some protests acceptable to you and some not? E.g. gay pride (in Russia), freedom of speech (in various other countries), maltreatment of humans...

If they have a right to protest then who are we not to support that right?

Im a veteran myself wrote:

If they have a right to protest then who are we not to support that right?

Did you miss the point that IOC doesn't agree with the USOPC? It is the IOC's show... not the USOPC.

Original Gangsta wrote:

Im a veteran myself wrote:

If they have a right to protest then who are we not to support that right?

Did you miss the point that IOC doesn't agree with the USOPC? It is the IOC's show... not the USOPC.

America first

The Chinese call this “Baizuo”

Baizuo: a Chinese epithet meaning naive western educated person who advocates for peace and equality only to satisfy their own feeling of moral superiority

And true to form the Libs immediately took offense to the term:

https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/digitaliberties/curious-rise-of-white-left-as-chinese-internet-insult/

Like any American athletes have the balls to protest real injustice around the world. It’s all about protesting made up boogeymen in the US for fun and games and retweets

With threads like this we see that America hasn't changed much since Mexico '68 and the protests by Smith and Carlos.

I'm a minority who lives in the U.S. I would't want to live anywhere else, and America is NOT racist.

Abrahmson wrote:

"The rest of the world hates it when we imperiously and sanctimoniously climb up and seize what we believe is the moral high ground and tell all the little people — indeed, lecture them — about what to do. ...

On what basis does Abrahmson make this categorical statement? Some parts of the world may hate it, other parts love it, but the majority doesn't care a flip.

F*** China.

distance matters wrote:

Abrahmson wrote:

"The rest of the world hates it when we imperiously and sanctimoniously climb up and seize what we believe is the moral high ground and tell all the little people — indeed, lecture them — about what to do. ...

On what basis does Abrahmson make this categorical statement? Some parts of the world may hate it, other parts love it, but the majority doesn't care a flip.

Right, did Western media lose its sh*t in any manner when the Ethiopian marathoner Feyisa Lilesa staged a demonstration approaching the finish line in Rio? No, we almost UNIVERSALLY APPLAUDED it. Old, white people in the US, UK, Germany, etc. might get frustrated by American POC protesting at the Olympics, but that's sort of the point. Regardless, the IOC (and previously USOPC) put themselves in a bad position trying to be morality police. Especially given how corrupted and indifferent to athletes their power structure has been proven over and over again.