The Patriot Post® · The Politicized Olympics

For people who enjoy the spirit of competition and the swell of patriotism that the Olympic Games traditionally invokes, the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, has been a terrible disappointment.

On the sports side, which is what this whole thing is really supposed to be about, as of this writing, the U.S. is currently tied with the Netherlands for fourth place in the total medal count with 16. With less than four days of competition remaining, America has some serious work to do to reach 2014’s total of 28.

But for the Left, the actual sporting results of the Olympic Games don’t matter as much as shoving its political agenda in our faces. Thanks to social media and their useful idiots in the press, the social justice warriors have managed to make the Olympics a showcase of anti-American vitriol.

The hijacking of the Games began at least as early as the opening ceremonies when we were treated to sycophantic statements about the grace and poise of Kim Yo-jong, sister of murderous dictator Kim Jong-un and leader of the North Korean delegation. The New York Times, CNN and numerous other media mouthpieces made absolute fools of themselves by praising Kim and bashing Vice President Mike Pence for “snubbing” her. Pence refused to be used as a tool of North Korean propaganda, and the media raked him over the coals for it.

We were treated to seemingly endless statements about how Kim was “stealing the show” and repeated images of her smug face. And why shouldn’t she be smug? The plan to raise her nation’s political capital on the world stage at the expense of America’s worked like a charm. Thanks must certainly go to America’s own leftist media. The North Koreans couldn’t have done it without them.

But the America-bashing didn’t end there. The social justice warriors, largely from the United States, attacked our country at every turn. Speed skater Shani Davis threw a hissy fit because he didn’t win the coin toss to carry the U.S. flag during the opening ceremonies. Instead of gracefully allowing fellow Team USA teammate and luger Erin Hamlin to carry the flag with honor and without incident, David took to Twitter to proclaim that the coin toss was dishonorable and racist. How’s that for sportsmanship?

Skier Gus Kenworthy bashed Mike Pence for no reason other than he knew that he would get fawning media coverage for the slight. After breaking his thumb during practice, the openly homosexual Kenworthy apparently still had the dexterity to tweet, “It won’t stop me from competing (obvi) but it does prevent me from shaking Pence’s hand so… Silver linings!” In the upside-down world of the Left, Kenworthy is to be commended for disrespecting the vice president of the United States and chief representative of the American delegation to the Olympic Games because … well, because why, exactly? Because Pence is a Christian?

That is certainly the rationale behind Adam Rippon’s actions. From the opening days of the Games, figure skater and self-appointed “LGBT” icon Rippon made numerous comments on social media to express his loathing of the vice president, Christianity, anti-homosexual bias, and so on and so forth. Just what exactly Pence did to Rippon, or to the homosexual “community” in general, is not clear. Nor will Rippon make it clear. That’s not what leftists do. They only have to make accusations. Facts and details are not necessary.

Rippon’s “feud,” as the Leftmedia call it, is all in his own mind. Pence has continuously praised Rippon and his teammates, and he has even offered to meet Rippon, but the skater has refused. It’s easier to lob verbal grenades from afar. Rippon said at one point, “I don’t want my Olympic experience being about Mike Pence.” This, of course, was complete chutzpah because Rippon never shut up about Pence.

And what has Rippon received for his unsportsmanlike behavior? Glowing headlines from the Chicago Tribune, Time, and Vanity Fair, tweets of support about his “positive attitude,” endless interviews and TV time from NBC, and a job as commentator for NBC sports. He soon bailed on that job after backlash, but that doesn’t mean he’s humble: “You know, I’m not like a gay icon, or America’s gay sweetheart,” he said. “I’m just America’s sweetheart and I’m just an icon.”

By the way, this sweetheart icon placed 10th in the men’s figure skating. Tenth! He didn’t even come close to making the medal round, but to follow the coverage alone, one would be led to believe that he was bringing home the gold.

Skier Maddie Bowman likewise made quite a show of disrespecting President Donald Trump. She said earlier this month, “I probably couldn’t see myself — if I do get the opportunity to go to the Olympics and therefore get the opportunity to go to the White House. I don’t think I could go.” How’d she do in her event? She fell on all three runs in Tuesday’s final and placed 11th, thus sparring her the indignity of a White House invite, which are reserved for winners.

Likewise, skier Linsey Vonn declared before the Olympics that she would be representing the “people of the United States, not the president.” She would “absolutely not” accept an invitation to visit the White House, noting, however, that “I have to win to be invited.” She won a bronze medal yesterday, so we’ll see.

With all the political grandstanding of the Left, it’s no surprise that viewership is down. The audience for NBC’s coverage of this year’s Olympics is 7% lower than the 2014 Winter Olympics. NBC claims that they are still coming out ahead because the overall network television audience has shrunk in the last four years largely because of cord cutters who are walking away from basic cable and turning to streaming content.

Another less quantifiable reason could be that people are tired of being fed leftist propaganda — whether in the Olympics or the NFL — when all they want to do is sit down and watch some good old-fashioned athletic competition.