The liberal media really is in the tank for third-world country Brazil. If you’ve been watching the news these past couple weeks, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Ryan Lochte is some sort of embarrassment to the United States. The Hill called him an “ugly American.” John Oliver deemed him “America’s idiot sea cow.” Apparently Al Roker (yes, he’s still with us) is the new “hero of the internet for blasting Ryan Lochte.”
This is all as absurd on its face as it is lazy reporting, an indication of modern self-loathing by U.S. “thought leaders” (Oliver, in fairness, is British) and an example of how straight white males are the new boogeymen for the so-called educated elites.
Ryan Lochte committed one crime — urinating behind a gas station when he was blackout drunk. If this were a crime worthy of universal public scorn, then every male who has attended college in America is worthy of losing their livelihoods.
“But, but, but…” you think, “didn’t Lochte vandalize a public restroom? Didn’t he lie about getting robbed?” This is where the anti-American narrative has run amok. The USA Today reported that the bathroom in which Lochte supposedly tore down the soap dispenser and broke the mirror shows no such signs of destruction. And I’m sorry, but if a strange man points a gun at you and demands you give them the money in your wallet, that is called robbery.
Even João Batista Damasceno, a judge in Rio, agrees that “if the amount taken is higher than the value of the damages, with the use of a weapon by the ‘security,’ this is robbery.” All signs point to that being the case.
The United States Olympic Committee has already promised further punishment against Lochte and his three teammates, all Olympic gold medalists, all American heroes. Apologizing for the Olympians’ drunken antics is one thing. We’ve all done that at one time or another — apologized for the actions of ourselves and our friends. But banning them from further competition? Allowing the authorities in Brazil to extort Jimmy Feigen, a 26-year-old scholarship kid from San Antonio, for $11,000? That’s where you draw the line.
Every four years, the Olympics allows America to show the other 200-odd countries that we are still the best. But the sad truth is that it is also an opportunity to pretend that the clearly inferior nations are even close. If you just watched NBC’s nightly coverage, you would think Brazil is a great place, with beautiful beaches and an historic rainforest. It may have these things, but it also has a dysfunctional government (“suspended” President Dilma Rousseff was indicted by the senate during the Games’ first week), complete lack of concern for public safety and public health and a record of day-to-day corruption not seen in the First World.
So, if you support the notion that America is not exceptional but rather just one measly country among many, then don’t stand up for Ryan Lochte. Cheer on Rio’s slimy police force and Brazil’s sleazier Public Ministry. But if you believe America is great, the best country in the world, because of who we are and what we stand for, then support Ryan Lochte. Yes, he micturated behind a gas station after a night of heavy partying. But he was also flat-out robbed by a country that had no business hosting the Olympics in the first place. One of those misdeeds is far worse than the other. And the fact that the self-anointed gatekeepers in our nation don’t know which one is very, very troubling.
If enough people support Lochte, hopefully our ‘leaders’ will get the message (Photo via Amazon)
