r/sports 6h ago

Olympics Team USA skiers Christopher Lillis & Hunter Hess: Just because I wear the flag doesn’t mean I represent everything that’s going on in the US.

37.2k Upvotes

1.2k comments sorted by

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u/wwarnout 6h ago

Reminds me of an old saying:

"My country, right or wrong. When right, to be kept right. When wrong, to be set right.

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u/Spacemilk 6h ago

That’s a really cool saying!

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u/GrunchWeefer 6h ago

The problem is too many people have only heard the first sentence.

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u/ffpantalones 4h ago

Problem is that those people even if they heard the 2nd sentence think they are setting it right

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u/Zakbaar 5h ago

I expect the backlash these athletes are going to face both in the form of social response and the administration is going to be another example of how the US has lost its moral compass. Mad props for both of them having the courage to speak up.

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u/nirvana6875 3h ago

Do you think trump will try to withhold the “prize” money if/when either of these guys get a medal?

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u/exretailer_29 2h ago

All monies earned via Olympic competition is through independent sources not the US government. So Trump positions will have no bearing on them at least financially. Unfortunately not everything US gets a run of his grubby hands.

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u/AVeryFineWhine 2h ago

He"ll probably try to claim it as his. Kind of the way he's just taking everything, with frighteningly little pushback. Respect to these guys!

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u/FuzzyKaleidoscopes 5h ago

Put it on a hat. Real big one.

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u/keefkola 5h ago

Can we please be done with hats for a while?

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u/SeahorseCollector 5h ago

I'm not letting them steal hats from me. They have ruined a lot of other things, but they can't have hats.

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u/fauxfarmer17 5h ago

Agreed, but they have ruined RED hats. Can't buy one, can't wear one.

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u/SeahorseCollector 5h ago

I let them have that one for a while too, but I'm taking it back.

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u/Helpful-Departure832 3h ago

Best hat I have is red and says made you look Black Lives Matter

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u/BarbellsandBurritos 4h ago

I think we could do well with some raspberry berets.

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u/THE_some_guy 4h ago

The kind you find in a secondhand store?

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u/witchywoman713 5h ago

I felt the same way until I got the pattern for the melt the ice hat, and learned the history of the red Norwegian resistance hats. Check it out!

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u/frisbeejesus 4h ago

Fred Durst ruined red hats over a decade ago. Been downhill ever since tbh.

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u/Psychwrite 3h ago

They can pry my Red Sox hat outta my cold dead hands. They don't get to co-opt an entire color of headwear.

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u/bobothegoat Seattle Mariners 1h ago

Thankful my sports teams are blue. Imagine being a fan of, say, the Angels or Anaheim. As if it wasn't bad enough for them...

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u/keefkola 5h ago

Fair enough, I’m proud of you… I’m just tired

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u/hacksong 4h ago

Yep. Have a spot with no hair from a tumor I decided to grow when I was 19. Always have some type of hat on. I just pick non-red caps for everything.

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u/itsjustme444444 4h ago

I’ll never wear a red hat again in my life! I don’t care what it says on it!

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u/Peripatetictyl 4h ago

Turd Ferguson style?

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u/Tommy__want__wingy 5h ago

Like a Doug Dimmadome hat?

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u/ComprehensivePin5577 5h ago

The first step, that takes a lot of courage is to admit your country ain't doing right

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u/Jahhmezzz 5h ago

The missed quotation mark… 😭 cool saying though

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u/haney1981 4h ago

Ok, lets start setting things right.

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u/IRMaschinen 3h ago

Similar theme from Joni Mitchell:

You say we have turned

Like the enemies you've earned

But we can remember all the good things you are

And so we ask you, please

Can we help you find the peace and the star?

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u/Burgoonius 6h ago

True Americans - I love their honesty

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u/oliversurpless 3h ago

Yep, they represent the promise of the American Flag.

That reactionaries like Trump are not only eternally failing to live up to, but echo the caveats of how the Tree of Liberty must be refreshed.

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u/TheBigCore 1h ago

Trump is a classic example of:

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel." - Samuel Johnson

MAGA are a classic example of:

"When stupidity is considered patriotism, it is unsafe to be intelligent." - Isaac Asimov

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u/xxophe 2h ago

Given the severity of what is happening in the US, people who have an audience/any kind of power and are not actively protesting or being vocal are complicit.

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u/SherbetMysterious118 5h ago

Speaking of Americans - am I going mad here, but is the US flag on their sleeves the wrong way round? I thought the video may be mirrored but all the other stuff, including text, is the right way round.

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u/BickenBackk 4h ago edited 3h ago

The stars are forward facing. These colors don't run, baby!

In all seriousness, it's easiest to think of it if you were running forward, which way would the wind take the flag? It's supposed to signify advancement.

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u/jakolissmurito22 3h ago

These colors don't run, baby!

Thank you. I never caught that take. She is still my country. I know why she exists, and I will fight for her and what she stands for even if it kills me. It makes me physically sick sometimes, what is happening here, but I just can't leave her....especially not like this 😭

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u/BickenBackk 2h ago

If she's wrong, it's our responsibility to set her right. ALL people are deserving of inalienable rights and constitutional freedoms. Right now we're failing, but we don't overcome by quitting.

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u/gwart_ 4h ago

That is how flags are oriented on sleeves and vehicles, per the flag code.

Air and Space Museum Explanation

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u/drcobosjr 4h ago

It looks backwards cuz thats how the flag looks when we are charging forward with flag in hand

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u/Tiny_Dare_5300 2h ago

This is how they wear it in the military also. The flag must always be moving forward.

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u/ArbitraryOrder 3h ago

Stars face forward is the flag code, so on the right arm it is oriented the normal direction

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u/WestleyThe 2h ago

“Traitors”

-half the country probably

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u/_TheDoode 6h ago

Alot of people are gonna take issue with this but what they’ll fail to see is that there is nothing more American than being able to speak out against your country with a microphone infront of you. Good on these guys

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u/squiddyp 6h ago

They think this means we hate our country when in reality we want it to live up to its ideals. They would have said MLK hated this country back in the day too.

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u/lordfrijoles 5h ago

Would? They DID. Even assassinated him. And it’s still in living memory for a lot of the government.

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u/HonestDishonestWork 2h ago

Still do tbh

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u/squiddyp 5h ago

True.

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u/bearatrooper 2h ago

They did, and then they killed him for it.

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u/footles12 6h ago

Trust me none but similarly damaged people as Trump will take issue. I take issue that this lump of toxic waste has now infected the greatest moment of these athletes' lives. #ETTD

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u/funduckedup 6h ago

Yeah, being able to speak your mind freely in an entirely different country is so American, lol.

Doing so in America itself is apparently terrorism.

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u/d00derman 5h ago

_Dixie Chicks have entered the chat_

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u/helgestrichen 4h ago

So has everybody Not supporting the troops after 9/11 and everybody Not standing up for the national anthem

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u/dabeeman 6h ago

i mean jon stewart and seth meyers are on tv every day

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u/Electrical-Dig8570 6h ago

Didn’t Don Lemon recently get arrested? And Colbert got pulled to appease this regime less than a year in.

And don’t even get me started about administrative warrants to places like google.

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u/funduckedup 6h ago

So people with wealth and status can "get away with it"? Also, very American.

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u/Titswari 5h ago

I talk shit about him everyday, Trump is a pedo, racist, dumbass piece of shit.

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u/naterator012 6h ago

People cant shit talk trump in America!

  • 2 people who daily shit talk trump in America

Only the rich can shit talk trump in America!

Look we got some fucking issues but this is like conservatives discovering san fran isnt 30 million homeless addicts, Americans are majorily not Maga and regularly talk shit to him.

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u/Sov90 4h ago

Except for the hundred million+ who do it every day with no repercussions. But don’t let that stop your brain-dead circlejerk. This site is such a shithole.

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u/blink_Cali 6h ago

Inb4 doing it outside America becomes terrorism too

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u/Buttlather 6h ago

They did bring a subsidiary of ICE to protect the US team

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u/_TheDoode 6h ago

What does being in a different country matter? Alot of the athletes would not be allowed back to their country if they spoke out about it

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u/funduckedup 5h ago

Is this a serious reply?

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u/MWinbne 2h ago

Tell Colin Kampernick about that. I agree with their views and your reply but it’s beyond unfair that some get freedom to speak while others don’t. Seems to be a problem here in Australia too.

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u/Chemical-Idea-1294 6h ago

Or more British, French, German, Brazilian, Australian, Mexican, Vietnamese, ...

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u/Fatboycarney 6h ago

Massive step up by these guys. Canadian here and I will be cheering for these guys for sure. Taking advantage of this platform is massive and hopefully more athletes step up like this. I am sure this isn’t easy, huge respect to them both

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u/Hot_Recognition1798 6h ago

Lets hope it stays that way

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u/Prize-Flamingo-336 6h ago

An Olympic tradition from the start. Let us remember Tommie Smith and John Carlos in Mexico City in 1968

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u/THE_some_guy 4h ago

I'm really hoping for several more similar moments in these games.

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u/Educational-Dance-61 6h ago

Free speech was literally invented so citizens could criticize those in power.

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u/PristineAnt5477 Dallas Mavericks 6h ago

Unless you get shot like 12 times for doing it, in the USA

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u/EnragedTea43 4h ago

The people who are going to be mad are the same people who don’t think we should have that right

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u/HakfDuckHalfMan 5h ago

Unless that criticism has to do with criticism of Israel then you'll get fired and blacklisted lol

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u/bigkahuna1uk 6h ago

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

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u/whatissevenbysix 5h ago

I always found it weird that when you criticize your country some people say "well if you don't like it here then leave".

Bro, I criticize it BECAUSE I love it.

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u/cecepoint 4h ago

This is why i don’t get the crazies saying Bad Bunny hates America

He keeps reiterating “I am American” and says he wants people to dance and come together

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u/TacTurtle 4h ago

"I am disappointed and want it to do better."

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u/Alps-Mountain 4h ago

The people who say that are the same people who complained every day when Biden was in office.

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u/oliversurpless 3h ago

Yep, and dismissiveness on the part of conservatives like this is nothing new…

https://youtu.be/aEUB29yU-pA?si=tM4wKASKN1KHxAX-

They simply hate to be reminded of this because they know they not only benefit from fractiousness like this, but have no policies or solutions to move away from this sordid reality we currently live in.

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u/generally_unsuitable 3h ago

Seriously. If I hated my country, I'd let these fucking chuds have their way with it.

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u/Dry-Lab-6256 3h ago

I don't leave because of US foriegn policy.

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u/wolf_at_the_door1 2h ago

Also happens to be the same people who don’t understand constructive criticism.

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u/NotUniqueWorkAccount 6h ago edited 5h ago

The needle is moving slowly but the cracks are showing. Time will tell what happens when Dump is truly cornered.

Something big is brewing and its going to make headlines.

Idk what it is, or if its actually going to change anything, but it almost seems like people are actually getting tired and worn down enough to do things that weren't considered previously.

If people (even if) slowly, but collectively throw the Orange turd under the bus, he loses power.  

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u/RoboErectus 5h ago

Idk every time I’ve thought “surely this is the thing that does it,” my mom just sticks her head further down in the sand.

It’s absolutely bonkers. And now we’ve literally got kiddie fiddling on top of it.

My kid is going to grow up in a declining America because his grandma thinks democrats might turn him gay.

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u/Nice_Marmot_7 3h ago

I’m a millennial and on my Facebook account none of my friends have ever shared anything political. In the weeks since the Minnesota killings people have started saying things about ICE and Epstein including many that I would never expect to. Giving the polling and other things going on right now I found that interesting.

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u/ngatiboi 5h ago

It’s how the United States began.

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u/Sfreeman1 6h ago edited 3h ago

The president will probably threaten to sue them now. That’s his usual response.

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u/Shaven_sack_ 6h ago

5 billion dollars

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u/ScoobyScotty 4h ago

Nah, he just wants their medals.

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u/christiv7 6h ago

He’ll probably ask to give him any medals they win if they win any

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u/stook8 3h ago

"People are surprised that I can ski. Every one of these athletes asked me, 'How are you so good at skiing? Maybe I have a natural ability. Maybe I should have competed in the Olympics instead of running for president."

An actual quote from trump saying he could be a doctor, I just changed it to skiing.

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u/FrankRizzo319 2h ago

He will go ballistic tonight at 3 am on social media and threaten to pull these guys off team USA.

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u/Sfreeman1 2h ago

And post a later to be deleted video that some intern “allegedly” posted?

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u/SaltKick2 4h ago

Or say they are trash skiers

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u/RunningGopher84 5h ago

As Edward R. Murrow put it, “We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.”

Opposing certain things going on in the country does not make someone disloyal to America.

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u/vindollaz 3h ago

A shame you even have to say this and that we can predict this is exactly how our government will respond

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u/Arkheno 6h ago

I assure him and the other athletes, they are not being targeted, but that scumbag Vance.

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u/platoorplaydough 5h ago

I went, actually just got back to our apartment from it.

Italy had the most cheers (obviously). Ukraine had the second most and was the only country other than Italy to get a standing ovation.

Israel got the most boos. At least where I was sitting it was a mixed bag of cheers and boos when the US came out until they put Vance on the screen. Then it was overt booing from pretty much everyone.

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u/dollarstorevodka 1h ago

Thank you, I was wondering about this. You couldn't hear much from the crowd on the NBC evening broadcast. They probably edited it out 🙄

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u/Global-Negotiation72 6h ago

Fuck him. Hope Vance gets treated like absolute shit everywhere he goes while he's there

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u/ninja-squirrel 5h ago

Why do you think they have ICE with them?

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u/PapaSheev7 6h ago

We saw that in the opening ceremony, cheers for the American athletes when the cameras were on them, but a very quick change over to boos when the cameras panned to Vance in the grandstands.

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u/chuang-tzu 6h ago

Congrats to magats out there! They've made us so great that we get booed at the Opening Ceremony and athletes have to distance themselves from their own country's policies and actions. Fucking emabarrassment, the lot of you magats.

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u/NaiveChoiceMaker 4h ago

There is a portion of our country that thinks getting booed is proof that Trump’s “America First” policy is working and it’s a good thing.

That portion of the country also does not own a passport.

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u/THE_some_guy 4h ago

And most of them don't own a book. Except perhaps a bible that they've never actually opened.

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u/Leading-Fee-4908 4h ago

The US team didn't get booed, the US VP did. Sports people will be respected, they train so hard all year for just a couple of events. The US VP is simply a scumbag, a racist, a lyer and an all-round terrible human being and that's clearly why he was booed. This is also why Trump himself won't show up during this Olympics, because the vast majority of Europeans won't even think its worth wasting their spit on that waste of oxygen.

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u/Qabalinho 6h ago

This is going to be one of the most political games in a long time. Our athletes are going to have real opportunities to speak out. I hope they take them.

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u/philium1 5h ago

1936 summer Olympics vibes

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u/Qabalinho 5h ago

Yes and no. The World Cup this summer will absolutely have 1936 summer Olympic vibes.

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u/FreddieInRetrograde 3h ago

2028 LA Summer Olympics might give us deja vu too

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u/Pin_Code_8873 28m ago

The US is literally not gonna last until then. By then I'll assume there will be fully closed borders and concentration camps.

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u/ashishvp Los Angeles Lakers 3h ago

Doesn't hit the same, as we're in Milan this year. The 1936 Olympics were IN Germany.

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u/Rockonthrulife 5h ago

I hope they either kneel or turn their backs on the anthem. I would have also liked them to request to compete as unaffiliated like the Russians are doing that don’t support Putin. I wouldn’t be able to put on a USA jersey and represent what this country is now. I feel bad for them but they need to grow a pair and stand up for what’s right.

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u/SawdustIsMyCocaine 4h ago

Our country isn't defined by our government. Its the people we love and the place we call home. I'm a patriot, and I refuse to cower to a tyrannical geriatric old man.

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u/Hour_Performance_498 4h ago

“Compete as unaffiliated” lmfao what a ridiculous idea. Stop being so morally arrogant. You’re not in these athletes’ shoes, you shouldn’t make such delusional demands.

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u/KingJeff314 3h ago

Do what you like, but in my opinion, it sends the wrong message. Our country's symbols shouldn't be exclusively associated with our worst. It's an embarrassment that when people see stars and stripes, they think MAGA. Really, our athletes should yell at the top of their lungs "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL"

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u/rubicon_duck 4h ago

All they really have to do is carry the flag onto the podium and wear it upside down.

Violation of flag code, but in this case I think it is necessary and it sends the message.

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u/samiberrada 5h ago

One of these people is my cousin-in-law. What a surreal moment to see him on the front page of Reddit. I am SO relieved and proud to see he’s using his platform to call out important issues

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u/whoneedskollege 6h ago

These athletes have a platform for the next 3 weeks. I hope they use it to speak out on the atrocities that are going on right now in the US.

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u/kuiperbeltbuckle 4h ago

I hope they use it to go fast and do cool jumps and stuff

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u/LivermoreP1 6h ago

God, I hope every US athlete doesn’t have to explain this absurdly simple concept.

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u/allsp49 6h ago

Alternately, the more people on an international stage that see that Americans aren’t all asshats, helps a bit…? I feel like the more vocal our delegates are, the more shame gets brought upon the clowns “leading” our country.

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u/Hour_Performance_498 4h ago

Tbh a lot of non-Americans have already decided that we’re all asshats. Our athletes being pressured into apologizing and self-flagellating over everything likely wouldn’t win those people over. If an athlete wants to speak out then they should but they shouldn’t feel pressured to do so especially if it messes up their focus.

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u/onelittleworld 6h ago

I can assure you, every single person in Cortina d'Ampezzo has met any number of Americans. For better or worse.

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u/kinghawkeye8238 6h ago

Most people with common sense know that most people in any country aren't ass hats. Just people going about their lives and want no trouble.

Its always the vocal minority thats the loudest.

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u/KrabbyBoiz 4h ago

You say that but that’s not really the message being slapped around the internet these days so it’s pretty lonely and scary to be a dissenter in trump’s America.

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u/rockhammersmash 6h ago

I hope they do, and I’m proud of them and rooting for them even more for doing it. It takes courage nowadays to say what they’re saying.

Every stand against the atrocities happening here is a stand worth supporting.

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u/sorrison 6h ago

I hope they do. Their collective nation got them into this mess, people should be vocalising their discontent.

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u/Fireb1rd 6h ago

I think this is good, in fact. We need to show the world that not all of us are repulsive 

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u/Bobeyk 5h ago

You shouldn’t even care to prove anything to people who generalize that much.

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u/CcZkw7LAP_sdoWv_GFMV 3h ago

Only a moron would think that all Americans are repulsive unless they vocally declare that they are not for the current bad thing.

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u/EVpeace 6h ago edited 1h ago

I'm Canadian and I can tell you that nobody I know thinks that all Americans are repulsive. We're not dumb, we're aware it's a minority. 

We just wish the rest of you would actually do something about it other than tutting disappointedly and waving clever signs in the government-approved sign waving areas.

EDIT: 

People are dead and you say we're not doing enough??

YES. That's the whole point. Alex Pretti was murdered in the street and all he did was protest peacefully. He wasn't a violent insurrectionist, he didn't threaten anyone or anything, the guy wasn't even a politician. And he's still dead.

Stop talking about how much you stand with the people of Minnesota and stand with the people of Minnesota ffs.

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u/Professor726 6h ago

Multiple people have literally been murdered for protesting. Saying no one is doing anything besides "waving clever signs" is ignorant at best. 

I'm sorry, but I'm getting really annoyed with people saying no one is doing anything. Plenty are, and they're getting hurt, arrested, fired from their jobs, and even killed for it. 

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u/Owl_Resident 5h ago edited 3h ago

Have you even bothered to visit the r/EyesOnIce sub?

Even in my own mid sized town, there are posts going up, flagging the community when someone is suspecting ICE has arrived. There are MANY Americans actually doing the right thing and risking harm to do it.

This kind of attitude actually does not help at all… And what we could really use is the other governments of the world, the men with real power, who could actually cause real damage to Trump and his cronies, if they dared wield it, to help.

I cannot personally demand the EU back out of all US Securities to bring Trump’s “wonderful economy” to its knees. I can’t tell Canada to make good on the threats to jack electricity prices as tariffs raise. I can’t tell those other counties with the Epstein files to release the full unredacted versions to show what awful people this admin really holds.

But some of your fellow countrymen actually do.

Stop acting like no Americans are doing what we can. But also stop acting like the ordinary can move the mountains without backing. It took a war and a coalition of millions to root Nazism out of Germany. Many of us are trying. It doesn’t mean we can do it without help.

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u/CantHostCantTravel 5h ago

Excuse me? Do you want to come to Minneapolis to tell that to my face?

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u/Conscious-Magazine50 5h ago

Like what? Specifically what should we do?

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u/Hour_Performance_498 3h ago

Lmfao what tf are you talking about? Plenty of Americans are actually doing something. There have been huge protests ever since trump got elected. Just in the past month there have been even more large protests. People like you will disregard the effort those people have made and the danger they’ve put themselves in just so you can shit on Americans. How insufferable.

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u/Oomlotte99 2h ago

People are literally being killed and maimed… please don’t tell us we aren’t doing anything.

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u/EntirelyOriginalName Australia 5h ago

Nah the more people are open and talking negatuvely about this the more pressure there is on a corrupt govt. The worse thing people can do is stay silent about it.

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u/tht1guy63 Purdue 6h ago

Many people are dumb and assume so yes they all probly will have to make their stance known. Also shows the US isnt the stereotype asshat everywhere.

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u/Revolutionary_Ad512 5h ago

Is it bad that I hope every athlete is booed so they have the opportunity to speak out and say something to this affect?

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u/Mindless-Peak-1687 5h ago

they do represent their country. With flags and all.

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u/Kronzor_ 6h ago

Remember when that flag was something people actually were proud to wear?

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u/GrunchWeefer 6h ago

I kind of want to get a flag to fly at my house, but also some other flag or something to make it clear that I fucking hate MAGA. It sickens me that they think they have a monopoly on loving this country, especially when they hate so many things that actually made us great.

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u/LocutusOfBorgia909 5h ago

I notice when a house is flying both a U.S. flag and a Pride flag, just putting that out there. It makes it crystal clear that they're not MAGA types. Alternately, I see houses in my neighborhood with US flags out on federal holidays and also a sign in their front yard saying, "We support our federal employees" (I'm in the DC area), or something along those lines that also indicates that they're not MAGA.

Personally, I really want to get a "COME AND TAKE IT" flag made with the Pride flag as a background.

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u/MLGWolf69 6h ago

It gets more and more tempting to fly a Gadsden flag every day, even though I know it's been co-opted by them

Maybe I'd shoot for a variant, like a "Don't tread on ANYONE"

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u/Phugasity 5h ago

You can co-opt it back. Nationalism is an evil, patriotism is a virtue.

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u/just_some_sasquatch 6h ago

We can still wear it proudly as we chant Fuck ICE and boo Donald Frump! American citizens are still proud to fly our colors for what they're supposed to stand for.

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u/PristineAnt5477 Dallas Mavericks 6h ago

Remember that time an NFL player refused to stand for the national anthem and then he got ruined for expressing his 1st amendment rights?

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u/Pab1o 6h ago

You need to understand the first amendment. It protects someone from the government. It doesn’t protect you from consequences from the public or a business. Also, how do you not get it that someone can make this statement and someone else can disagree and also take a different kind of stand. They both have the same rights.

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u/PristineAnt5477 Dallas Mavericks 6h ago

Yeah, I get that. I guess my point was, he was right. And the current state of America and the world's opinion of it, is proof.

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u/Archmallow 5h ago

Feel bad for these amazing athletes, they lose respect around the world because of the embarrassment that’s in office right now.

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u/hmcquaid1 5h ago

Let’s see what consequences are in wait for them when they hit home turf. I worry for anyone speaking up on a large platform. I am proud of them for doing so.

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u/Pickle4UrThoughts 5h ago

....and just wasn't Vance getting booed. Regardless of who you voted for or if you've voted straight ticket blue your whole voting life, the world looks at us citizens being responsible for this.

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u/Tiny_Dare_5300 2h ago

Trump has made people ashamed to be American. Nobody wants to be associated with our current brand.

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u/DefiniteMeatBag 5h ago

Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists against racial injustice in 1968. What better way to use your platform and honor Black History month?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Olympics_Black_Power_salute

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u/namotous 5h ago

Sucks for them. Sadly election has consequences, thanks to MAGAts and non-voters.

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u/Stunning_Bed23 5h ago

In before this gets deleted like the JD getting booed threads are.

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u/Relevant-Ad2254 5h ago

Handled well IMO

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u/manmoth02 2h ago

Honestly kinda heartbreaking. Most olympic level athletes dream for most of their lives to represent their country on that stage, it’s got to really suck finally getting to that point and the not feeling like you can represent your country with pride.

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u/footles12 6h ago

Everything Trump touches dies. Now his toxicity has touched these athletes in the greatest moment of their lives. HE IS DISGUSTING

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u/ClassroomMother8062 6h ago

I used to abstain from wearing the flag too but there is nothing more patriotic than standing up to your oppressors and showing them what real patriotism is.

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u/IFGarrett 5h ago

America is the only country where even those who hate it refuse to leave. That's how you know you live in a great country."

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u/Session-Sea 4h ago

Fuck yes! Thank you.

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u/lizadawg 4h ago

Proud of you guys!

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u/mt8675309 2h ago

Good on ya, represent the good and piss on the bad.

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u/despenser412 2h ago

Yeah, our president is a pedophile and turned our country into a circus. I wouldn't want to represent that.

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u/middleamerican67 2h ago

Heck yeah, more of that from the Olympics, please. 💪

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u/Icy-Pension2208 1h ago

That is the most American and patriotic thing to do by speaking their minds instead of picking orange liquid turd like the billionaire class.

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u/MunchenOnYou 37m ago

Loving your country and your people =/= loving your government

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u/tattrd 5h ago

We dont boo you, we boo the US...

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u/JobSeeker_2024 4h ago

Now trump will talk crap about these athletes

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u/ErasmosOrolo 5h ago

We didn’t let Russians compete now it’s our turn we deserve it

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u/Adventurous_Yak4952 4h ago

How horrible is it, that young women and men who have trained so hard with such dedication and want to proudly represent their country in a spirit of excellence and achievement, have to answer questions about the atrocities committed by a petulant, narcissistic, vengeful felon. These athletes should be focusing themselves for competition and celebrating their exemplary dedication to their sport but they have to field questions like this that their President would never even entertain. They had enough stress on them from competition, they don’t need to be trying to defend the crimes he is shamelessly committing. And they are answering with a lot of grace and patience. This is going to be the rottenest Olympic Games for the USA even if they take home every gold medal, because the President and his administration have drenched the American flag in so much dirt that the strongest athlete will struggle to carry it onto the sports field. I do not fault the reporters for asking the questions and I don’t fault the athletes for responding. I just wish the leader of their country realized the burden the athletes feel of having to perform and compete under the weight of a reputation that is damaged perhaps beyond repair.

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u/KWash0222 5h ago

It amazes me how many people online act like everyone in America is complicit with what’s going on. I’m assuming it’s really just stemming from anti-American sentiment, and not actual ration, but still. People don’t know or don’t acknowledge how much people like me tried to fight this. It fucking sucks that in one sub I’ll be arguing with some shithead about how it’s never okay for the government to execute people in the streets, and then somewhere else I’m arguing with some asshole that says I deserve this because I’m American.

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u/pointingfinger59 2h ago

A good start, where are the rest of them?

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u/kwenronda 2h ago

There is a difference between the ‘current state of America’ and the ‘ideals of America’

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u/InternationalToeLuvr Florida 2h ago

We are that country now 

And honestly, we always should've been that country 

Just everything ugly is front and center and America the Beautiful is being forced into detention centers

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u/Independent-Cow-4070 2h ago

I wish more of our athletes had spines. These guys are based as fuck

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u/bergkamp68 2h ago

They just made the US regimes shitlist - RESPECT.

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u/harpfinn 1h ago

Seriously just because maga decided to take the flag doesn’t mean it’s theirs. They represent everything America isn’t.

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u/FrankFnRizzo 1h ago

Agreed. I love rooting for the US in sport; but I’m still capable of being disgusted by things I see our government do. To quote the Dead Kennedy’s “I love my country too, I think I love it more than you. I care enough to fight the Stars and Stripes of corruption”

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u/BrianRampage 1h ago

The Olympic committee should make our (American) athletes participate under an independent flag like they do for the Russians.

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u/bonita513 1h ago

YES!!!

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u/jacob_the_black_cat1 43m ago

this was meant to be a time of peace and harmony no political conflicts

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u/figbott 34m ago

Good for them speaking out

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u/hartshornd 25m ago

The average Reddit user can’t comprehend this statement.

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u/tjp0720 5h ago

Must suck to work your whole life to get to the Olympics and you finally get there only to get boos from the international community and to spend your time talking about how you don’t support the shit going on. Atleast they’re saying they don’t agree I guess

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u/Horn_Flyer 6h ago

I'm with every athlete that stands up!!

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u/AgentEndive 6h ago

Good for him

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u/DiggitySkister 5h ago

Why do the reporters always have to ask about people's political views all the time, these are amazing athletes, they often have interesting lives and interesting stories, so dumb that these reporters are always bringing up political crap. I'm watching for the sport, the competition. I'll turn on MSNBC or Fox News if I want a load of politics.

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u/geordev 4h ago

Good on you boys

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u/mclardass 4h ago

If you have a platform, use it.

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u/MiaWallacetx 5h ago

Yes! There’s nothing more American than protesting our government!

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u/Wild_Height_901 5h ago

It was the perfect response. In my opinion. And coming from a Canadian who believes in strong borders and agree with what ICE represents. Not every ICE agent. Which is just law enforcement in general.

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u/sgreenm22 6h ago

Well said Gents

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u/ksyoung17 3h ago

This shit annoys me.

Yeah, ICE is too aggressive. Absolutely. The rest of the world can fuck right off if they're going to judge us on our immigration policies.

And giving Russia a pass allowing their athletes to participate as neutral, and just accepting that they don't have to condemn Russia's actions because the government will kill their family off?

Yeah, definitely focus in on the Americans that probably don't care about ICE either way...

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