PISSED OFF: DISSIDENT OLYMPIC ATHLETES SHOULD NOT REPRESENT THE UNITED STATES
The Olympic athletes that compete under the banner of a nation on the world stage should honor, or at least not disrespect, that nation and its citizens…
Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry ‘pissed’ national anthem was playing at Olympic trials
Gwen Berry — who qualified for her second U.S. Olympic team during the trials — shifted to face the stands rather than the flag before holding up a black shirt that read, “Activist Athlete.”
“I feel like it was a set-up, and they did it on purpose,” Berry said of the anthem being played. “I was pissed, to be honest. “They had enough opportunities to play the national anthem before we got up there,” Berry said in Oregon, where the trials are being held. “I was thinking about what I should do. Eventually I stayed there and I swayed, I put my shirt over my head.
Despite her own questionable antics while her nation’s anthem played, Berry called out the Olympic trial organizers as being inappropriate — to her. “It was real disrespectful,” she said. ‘”I didn’t really want to be up there,” she said. “Like I said, it was a setup. I was hot, I was ready to take my pictures and get into some shade.”
“They said they were going to play it before we walked out, then they played it when we were out there,” Berry said. “But I don’t really want to talk about the anthem because that’s not important. The anthem doesn’t speak for me. It never has.”
“My purpose and my mission is bigger than sports,” Berry said. “I’m here to represent those … who died due to systemic racism. That’s the important part. That’s why I’m going. That’s why I’m here today.”
This isn’t the first time Berry has caused controversy.
US Olympic athletes were prohibited in January 2020 from making political statements during anthems, after Berry was put on probation for raising her fist during the Pan-American Games in Peru in August 2019. US Olympic and Paralympic Committee in April reversed course, allowing kneeling and other forms of protests during the national anthem. <Source>
Bottom line…
It is not a free speech issue.
If Berry is not proud to be an American, kick her unpatriotic, attention-seeking, racist ass off the U.S. Olympic Team and suggest she compete for another nation of her choice. Being a U.S. Olympic Team member is a privilege, not a right.
-- steve
“Nullius in verba”-- take nobody's word for it!
"Acta non verba" -- actions not words
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.”-- George Bernard Shaw
“Progressive, liberal, Socialist, Marxist, Democratic Socialist -- they are all COMMUNISTS.”
“The key to fighting the craziness of the progressives is to hold them responsible for their actions, not their intentions.” – OCS "The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." -- Marcus Aurelius “A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves, and traitors are not victims... but accomplices” -- George Orwell “Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt." (The people gladly believe what they wish to.) ~Julius Caesar “Describing the problem is quite different from knowing the solution. Except in politics." ~ OCS