I’ve thought about the issue from both sides.

As a retired veteran of nearly 3 decades, I defend the right of American citizens to protest and even to speak out about issues within our country. This athlete has worked hard to achieve this level of excellence and she will be recognized and and heard because of these accomplishments. Her voice matters and her opinions are her own. She hasn’t given up her right to express her opinion as loud and adamantly as she wants (peacefully) no matter how ignorant and foolish those opinions are.

Now having said this, I believe there is a responsibility for those who represent the country to do so with honor and respect while they are “wearing the uniform” and standing as a representative of the country. Just as a military officer (or even an enlisted man) still has the right to his own opinion and even to speak out about that opinion, they must not do so when they are representing the country in uniform. As a matter of a fact, they can face severe disciplinary action if they do so in uniform. We aren’t even allowed to state the truth about a worthless and treacherous president like Obama or Obiden while in uniform if there is any chance we could be seen as representing the military. I have even seen young military enlisted personnel punished for writing a negative comment on their FaceCrook page about a lie told by the President. The person wasn’t in uniform making a public statement, but they were held responsible because they had some evidence on their FaceCrook account that identified them as military.

As an Olympic athlete, she will have plenty of opportunities to display her ignorance and disrespect for the country that gave her the first amendment right to display her ignorance. While she was on the platform representing the country, she failed to do her job in representing the country honorably. For that reason, I agree with Crenshaw that she should be relieved of her position as an athletic representative of the United States of America. Just as a saboteur is more harmful than an under qualified worker, it would be better to have no representative on the platform than one who sabotages the country.

IMO