U.S. State Department issues travel alert to LGBT Americans headed to Sochi. http://t.co/nRc32gKOGI pic.twitter.com/48WKIGVdoi
— America Tonight (@AmericaTonight) January 15, 2014
It's not the exact story of the thing I just RTed but I'm always wary of putting all one's energy behind Olympic-related boycotts.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
The Olympics is a hardcore symbol of Nationalism, at least in the United States. The whole affair is centered on "USA! USA!"
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
If the US were to pull out it would deny the people here an opportunity to insist we're better than everyone else. Not gonna happen.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
There's this perception that the Olympics is all about fun and fair sport, and to some participants/observers it is.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
People are far more likely to [like] the idea of "sticking it to" the country whose policies we are opposing than questioning the Olympics.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
How much about the 1936 Berlin Olympics is going to focus on the United States putting Jesse Owens in and having him "stick it to" Hitler?
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
It makes a good human interest story and I don't want to demean Owens' accomplishments, but it didn't "show them" anything.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
Keep that in mind: We didn't boycott the Berlin Olympics. It's not even like it didn't occur to people. They discussed the possibility.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
There are constantly calls to boycott the Olympics for some reason or another, sometimes, petty, other times serious.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
People are far much more interested in asserting that athletic dominance I was talking about earlier. Winning gold medals will substitute...
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
...for any desire to boycott and, hell, in many cases it'll substitute for any critical thinking.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
And if a real boycott does happen, I doubt it will have anything to do with LGBT people.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
First off, LGBT people are generally just as interested in Nationalistic posturing as everyone else. We're not inherently radical.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
Even if you could get every US and Russian LGBT person on board, you'd still need to get a bunch of Nationalistic heteros.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
If this talk about the Olympics being Nationalistic is putting you off, keep in mind that I'm not saying that you, personally, can't watch.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
I'll probably end up watching some of it myself. I'm a person who easily gets wrapped up in symbols. Even ones I don't like.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
In fact, what I'm saying is that your personal opinion of whether or not we should be there and whether or not you watch doesn't matter.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
Oh, while I'm thinking about this subject, it's also important to recognize that having the US boycott the Olympics will likely be...
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
...viewed as imperialistic bullshit by any country we would boycott. The US has a long history of not minding its own business.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
Even worthwhile causes are likely to be viewed through that lens. I'm not saying "do nothing." It's just something to think about.
— Setkheni-itw (@ReclaimWarlock) January 15, 2014
