Banning Russia from Olympics.

I do not consider myself a Russian but, I grew up immersed in its culture. Since my arrival in this country, I have always rooted for Americans.   However, having once lived in the USSR, many in the U.S. think of me as a Russian. For the most part I do not care, because the people that I have significant interactions with, know better.

This year, after witnessing the Olympic committee do everything possible to humiliate Russian athletes, I rooted for them to succeed. My reaction to seeing them forced to remove any relevance to their country from their clothing and their speech, and then watch them comply was visceral. It was like watching cruel prison guards imposing their will on these athletes. If anyone misbehaved, there was a threat of collective punishment later. The carrot used was that perhaps if they showed themselves to be obedient sheep, they may get to show their country's flag during the closing ceremonies.

There is something very wrong about taking a human being who is supposed to represent the ultimate fighters, those who will throw everything in to win, and to watch them cower in fear of punishment from a self righteous German - Thomas Bach.  For many of these athletes, their whole lives were devoted to pursuing their sport, with their greatest possible achievement being able to medal at the Olympics. The IOC threatened to nullify their entire lives and the lives of their teammates, and those brave athletes complied.

To watch that Nazi reprimand them and tell them you better behave yourself was maddening. My reaction was intense.  I am also certain that if my reaction was such, it was shared by almost all who either once lived under USSR banner or who continue to live in modern Russia. It is odd that there was not a single article I could find describing this feeling on the net; not yet sure what to make of it.

This year was the first time that Olympics were used to humiliate a participating nation. The IOC issued their dictates and when court of arbitration ruled against them, they condemned the people on that court and they in turn, retreated. The competition was not fair, when you consider that people excluded were those favored to win medals for Russia, had no record of drug use, and one was someone originally from South Korea.  Viktor Ahn got punished for leaving Korea to pursue his dreams in Russia. People needed to be shown that the affiliation with Russia, would cause you harm. This policy is currently being implemented in the U.S.

Olympics were once used as a means for different groups to compete against one another peacefully and hence decrease the threat of war. This year, such notion was discarded. All year I have heard nothing but Russia did this, and Russia did that. It started with Hillary's loss, and metastasized to every other faltering politician blaming Russians for their inadequacies. Russians needed to be punished and Olympics was the venue chosen, and the punishment was presided over by a German sadist. The only answer to such attempt to humiliate a nation and its people is war. I would love to see the athletes write "На Берлин!" on a large cloth and carry that into the closing ceremony parade.  I think there may be enough people in Europe adequately dissatisfied with the horror Merkel and her groupthink affiliates enforced on the local population, to join that banner in sufficient force.

Then, a sobering thought goes through my mind. I have been manipulated by news media before. What if this is another such manipulation. Do I really want to see Europe and the West erupt in war again?  No, I do not. If this is a game of deception being played on us proles, a cool head is much more needed than a burning heart.