U.S. athletes not to display Stars and Stripes in Olympic village

[MaineDem]

Monday 08 09 2004 - 02:21:00 PM Athens (dpa) - American athletes staying in the Olympic village in Athens have been advised not to display their nationality for security reasons, athletes said Monday.

"We are not allowed to display the American flag outside of our apartments. I guess they obviously don't want us to be a target," said womans softball centre fielder Laura Berg.

Berg, who is among the 536-strong American squad which was officially welcomed into the village on Monday, said the athletes were continuously advised not to venture beyond the walls of the village on their own.


http://portal.tds.net/newsreader.php?id=41899

The link is from my ISP web's site. I'll look for an actual news source.

[Cronus Protagonist]

1. Well, she'll still be a target

...just not so easy to identify.


SHOVE IT! - Drop Bush Not Bombs! - Hero Kerry AWOL Bush
http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13

[RubyDuby in GA]

2. Sad isn't it?

It's really a sad state of affairs when Americans are so hated around the world that even our Olympians can't display the flag.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. I had the exact same thought; this is where Bush has brought us --

we can no longer show the flag he and his minions claim to wrap themselves in.

[number6]

6. I had the exact same thought; this is where Bush has brought us --

me too ...this is where Bush has brought us ,..indeed

[proud patriot]

7. Heart wretchingly so

:-(

[nini]

9. but but but.. they hate us because of our 'freedoms'

this makes me SICK.

[Nordic65]

33. Yes, it's really really bad

In Europe today Americans have lost the goodwill from WWII and the Cold War. The attitude towards anything America is simply put hostile. All thanks to President Bushit.

In fact, it's so bad I cannot even begin to describe the misgivings my fellow Europeans feel toward this lousy shit pretending to be a human being.

But I'm 100 % certain that John Kerry would reverse the trend in less than ten - 10 - minutes after he becomes the 44th president of the United States of America on January 20, 2005.

And what makes me think that? Very simple, President Clinton is still enormously popular in Europe. And in this context that's a fucking big understatement.

Put another way; it's not business, but very very personal.

[northzax]

43. true enough

although it will take more than ten minutes. but to be fair, most people WANT to like the United States. They WANT to believe in us, to believe we hold ourselves to the high ideals we talk about to everyone else. They simply can't believe that we tolerate this evil man leading us.

The first thing we can do to reduce anti-americanism abroad is to show the world that we are, indeed, a functional democracy, and take our country back from these thugs.

[Minstrel Boy]

3. If they wear Canadian flags, can we keep the medals?

Actually, I'm quite sad for Americans it's come to this.

[bobthedrummer]

5. It is a national shame that Bush and his administration have brought this

about.
:cry:

[bpilgrim]

8. OMG - the fucking neoCONs have turned us ALL into COWARDS

jc we can't even show our flag outside the country without having to worry about getting SHOT wtf.

did the germans have to hide their flags too before wwII broke out for real :argh:

peace

[goforit]

32. That flag represents the country that was. * has taken all that it stands

for. It now represents a tyrrany.
We should not raise the flag again until we get our
Democracy and freedoms back again.

[NMDemDist2]

10. i fear they will be royally "booed" too on the nation's parade

:cry:

[KamaAina]

15. Not to worry. NBC can just edit the boos out.

The deeper question remains, however: How long can we, as a nation, keep on editing the boos out?

[Pachamama]

19. I predicted this might happen....I also have a secret fantasy that one of

the US Olympic Athletes will be brave enough to rip open their Olympic "Blazer" in the march with a shirt on saying Bu$h is evil or atleast John Kerry for President on it....And then the crowd roars in applause....:hi:

[DinahMoeHum]

25. or a T-shirt that reads "I'm Sorry My President's An Idiot"

"I Didn't Vote For Him"


www.americanapologyshirt.com


:evilgrin:

[coalition_unwilling]

34. Not sure that would be an entirely bad thing

After we started bombing Afghanistan in Oct., 2001 and the news lit up the scoreboard of a stadium where a pro football game was playing, the crowd started chanting (a la Wertmuller's Triumph of the Will) "USA, USA, USA". Maybe if the crowd loudly and spiritedly boos our athletes, the yahoo faction in this country will finally 'get it.'

[drdtroit]

11. Shame and Dishonor:

Brought to you by Bushco!

[allalone]

12. this is what they have brought us to

I'm not a big fan of chauvinistic flagwaving, but to have to be ashamed to be American? You, Bush, have made us a target in the world. You and your slimy henchmen with your filthy lies have done this. I'm not surprised you are afraid to go among the people. I'll bet king Louis was too.

[murielm99]

23. I am not a big fan of flag waving, either.

But I sort of make an exception when I watch the Olympics. I make that exception for ALL the countries involved.

It is great to see a young athlete on the dais, to see his or her pride, and to hear their anthem. They are proud representatives of all their various countries.

I hope nothing happens at the Olympics this year. If something does happen, we have no one but * and his arrogant policies to blame.

I do think that most people around the world hate *, not ordinary Americans. My youngest daughter travelled in South America recently, and found that to be the case.

[KoKo]

13. But we are so safe? Who would dare to harm us. Saddam was "taken out"

and we have nothing more to fear. The world respects us for our power, will and might. Bush has told the world to "Bring it On" because he knows we can handle it.

Yet..our Olympic athletes must skulk around the Olympic venue? Well...we must stop this right now. Why are they not PROUD PATRIOTS! Wearing the flag of the biggest "peace-giving" nation in the world!

What about their lapel pins and their T-Shirts with our ideals of our Proud Flag emblazoned on the front...

This report must be a huge mistake. There's NO WAY our athletes would be cautioned to skulk...no way...WE ARE AMERICANS! WE RULE!

[NewYorkerfromMass]

14. Never forget.

[SoCalDem]

16. That's where it all started.. 1972

If our country had taken things seriously back then , we would have a different world..

What needed to happen THEN ..was for the US to IMMEDIATELY start a HUGE push for middle east studies..languages, religions..culture.. They should have "quietly" started to fully fund the education of young people who were willing to learn all they could about the middle east..


Instead, we continued on the USSR=evil...USA=saints dogma for YEARS...and what good did it do us?? When the whole thing collaped we were shocked/surprised/startled..you name it..

We sat on our asses for 29 years and were again shocked/stunned/surprised on 9/11/01

The middleastern terror associations have been sending us messages for 30 years.. we just haven't been paying attention..

[Matilda]

21. That's a wise post.

Even now, serious thought isn't being given to understanding the
ME situation, and the Arabs' point of view. No-one in power is
even suggesting that such a path may prove fruitful.

It's tragic.

[SoCalDem]

24. I do have hope that Kerry will see the light

Wars are more than bullets and bombs..

You can NEVER defeat a mindset with those "tools"..

Everywhere in the world where we leave bomb craters, we also leave hatred and the seeds for terror.

We either must leave entirely (like VietNam) and wait a generation for the scars to fade, or we must pour MOUNTAINS of cash (like Germany and the rest of Europe)..

or we must STAY indefinitely to stave off a rekindling (like Korea)..


So far, NONE of these options seems very appetizing in the middle east..

A better approach would be to just be their willing and pleasant "customer", and leave the politics to THEM.. The middle east has never been "willingly" assimilated, and their hatred of everyone who has even tried is striking, and constant..

[Norquist Nemesis]

20. Unfortunately, that's what I keep remembering

and we only have Bush to thank for acts against this year's team. Those fucking assholes that tell me "Well, I blame Al Queda" can kiss my ass!

[sattahipdeep]

17. No Hawai shirts, no baseball caps

One joke making the rounds here has President Bush going to the Olympics and
being shown the Acropolis. Looking at one of the world’s most famous ruins, the
President grits his teeth and says, ‘‘Don’t worry we’ll get the b******s who did
this.’’

http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=52749

That, says Haskins, 22, is the problem. ‘‘It is sad how one man can dictate how
you are viewed. I feel like I have to apologise and say all Americans are not like
that’’, she said as she sat with a bunch of fellow interns at a McDonald’s in
Syntagma Square a stone’s throw from the Greek parliament.

Several interns said that their advisers have even suggested that if push came to
shove and they were asked what nationality they were, they should say
Canadian, a thought the interns rejected.

[allalone]

18. try not to look American

that's what my teenaged granddaughter was advised when she and her class traveled Europe last year and if asked, say you're Canadian. Geez

[Bluebear]

22. We were told to wear Canadian gear in Europe last year

No American university shirts, no American sports team gear, no Stars and stripes anything....this is where Bush has brought us.

[ilovenicepeople]

28. Ive heard that in Europe if you wear a Canadian flag

people consider that your an American.

[geek tragedy]

30. That's bullcrap

What they told you, I mean. While I wouldn't recommend waving Old Glory in people's faces, Americans who go to Europe and act properly and respectfully will have absolutely no trouble.

Except, ironically, in Greece, where they hate Clinton perhaps more than they hate Bush because of the Balkans intervention.

[info being]

26. Perhaps more hated than the U.S.S.R.

[Hobarticus]

27. Oh, what a proud day...

When my governemnt makes its citizens a target.

[lil-petunia]

29. silly olympics

Here, every single country will have their flags on site. The only ones that won't are the USA. Guess how easy THAT will be to spot the american athlete!

"Hey, rajneesh, abdul, look, no flag!"

[el_chalupa]

31. If the olympic villiage is secure....

then why not display the flag? What are they afraid of? They are in a secure environment. It's one thing to lay low while walking down public streets, but within the olympic village?

"The village is considered the safest of Olympic venues, with hundreds of police, security forces and military guarding the site, located at the foothills of Mount Parnitha."

It sounds like being a "target" is not a valid reason. Do they not want to offend other athletes? I've never been one to pay much mind to anti-americanism. If other athletes are racist or prejudiced towards American athletes just because of their nationality, then I don't think it's the American athletes with the problem. I see this type of anti-Americanism as being nothing more than socially acceptable racism. I don't like this one bit.

[coalition_unwilling]

35. Anti-athleticism\anti-americanism

Down with all jocks (American or otherwise). Silly games, while people are dying in the streets of Najaf and Baghdad. I hope the Americans are loudly and roundly booed, because they are there as representatives (symbols) of an officially sanctioned policy of torture, rape and murder.

[el_chalupa]

37. Uhhh... whatever

I guess you think that the entire world should stop and focus on the things that you want them to. There is violence, oppression, poverty, etc. all over the world. If we did nothing but fret about such things 24x7 to the exclusion of all other things, nothing would get accomplished. Sure these things are important but that doesn't mean that the world has to stop because of them.

To hope that American athletes get booed as a symbol of torture, rape, and murder is an absolutely incomprehensible concept to me. It's actually a very ignorant statement. It's no different than cheering the deaths of innocent Muslims because they share the same religion as Osama bin Laden. It's no different from being glad that North Korean civilians suffer and starve because their leader is a soulless dictator.

On a less dramatic scale, it's no different from hoping that French or British athletes fail because the French or British leadership did or did not support/oppose xxxxxx policy (take your pick of policies). It's silly and immature to think that.

[geek tragedy]

39. Bullshit.

They're people who have dedicated their lives to achieving their dreams.

They are not official representatives of Bush. It is pure ignorance to say so.

It's really quite sad that some people resent these young people because they had a bad experience in high school.

[el_chalupa]

41. Agreed.

Athletes are athletes. They are not politicians or policy makers. To hate athletes because you disagree with political policy is like hating the blue sky because granite rocks are hard. It's utter nonsense. One has nothing to do with the other. Besides, for all you know, some of those athletes just might be posters on DU. Would you hope a DU member fails because of Bush's policies? Nonsense.

[TahitiNut]

36. All the other athletes will smear their door-frames with lamb's blood.

Pharaoh Dumbya is a pestilence and a plague.

[Tight_rope]

38. Americans are now hiding in shames. Thanks to Bush.

[Citizen Daryl]

40. When in Europe ...

... I find it best that I don't wear anything at all that might give away the fact that I'm American. Not because I'm ashamed to be American, just because I like to be able to blend in. If you stick out like a sore thumb, people are going to react differently, one way or the other. I find it's best when you can fit right in and observe.

[geek tragedy]

42. Exactly.

Don't flaunt it, but don't lie about it either.

[mark414]

44. yes, the world is now a safer place

for all americans