I saw something on the news yesterday morning that rubbed me the wrong way. The anchors were speaking about the Ryan Lochte incident from Monday night’s episode of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ and said that they didn’t know why the protestors did what they did.
I don’t know if the anchor was serious or if she was joking (I pray she was joking), but if she wasn’t then I’ll explain to her and others who are confused why it was done.
Ryan Lochte showed his ass and embarrassed himself and this country with his criminal antics at the Summer Olympics in Rio. I don’t know if he expected people to forget about his drunken behavior, subsequent lies on the false police report that was filed, and him fleeing the country leaving his co-conspirators to face the brunt of the punishment. I mean it only happened last month!
He did the whole “privilege press” when he got back to the USA and said that he might have “over-exaggerated” about what happened the night he and some other Olympians got drunk and vandalized the gas station. No sir, you flat out lied. Not only did he lie to his mom, who then spread the story to US media like a wildfire, but he lied on the police report. Then he pulled a coward’s move and left his friends behind to deal with the backlash. I don’t know about y’all, but I was both embarrassed and pissed off when it came out that they lied. Embarrassed by what they actually did and angry that they thought they’d get away with it. Then the new stories about them just being kids and that “boys will be boys” started circulating.
That’s when I got pissed.
If that isn’t privilege I don’t know what is! Gabby Douglas was dragged through the friggin’ mud for not holding her hand over her heart when the national anthem was played, but there was hardly a whisper when Ryan Crouser, Joe Kovacs and Sam Kendricks did the exact same thing. And don’t even get me started on how people are consistently twisting Kaepernick’s own words as to why he’s kneeling or sitting during the national anthem. He’s said multiple times that it’s because it’s about the unjust and unnecessary mistreatment of people of color by crooked law enforcement officers, but somehow people have twisted this into him not honoring veterans and current members of the armed forces.
Anywho! Back to the topic at hand. Lochte lost some endorsements, but was still allowed to participate in this new season of ‘Dancing with the Stars’. I think that was a terrible idea, but I understand the need to draw in viewership. But then don’t act shocked when there are protestors! I’d protest if I was there too. Here’s a man who’s made a mockery of our nation and of Rio’s laws and we’re awarding him with the media exposure through opportunity to dance on TV and possibly make money off of that? Unacceptable. I wasn’t a really big fan of DWTS before, but I’m definitely not going to be watching it now.
What do y’all think? Are you watching this season? Comment below or tweet me and let me know.