Beginning with the Boston Tea Party, or before, this Nation has always had protests; some achieved the intended results, others failed miserably. The recent protests by members of the USWNT are an example of accomplishing nothing except blowback against the protestors.
The main reason for their failure, not uncommon to many protest failures in the athletic world, is that the protestors are clueless in their decision regarding who they should be protesting against.
The Nation’s founding documents are quite clear about individual freedoms. It is not the United States of America that is stomping on whatever rights the USWNT intended to protest. When they didn’t put their hand over their heart or sing the National Anthem, they were misleading themselves and wasting the forum given to them via their athletic ability.
The odds are overwhelming that the source driving the loss of rights is either the republican party or the self-proclaimed christian evangelical right, or, as is often the case, the unethical and immoral collaboration of the two.
Athletic ability often gives access to the public forum not enjoyed by most citizens. Rather than wasting that opportunity by expressing unproductive anger against the Country, these athletes would accomplish far more by showing patriotism, and then, when they have the microphone in front of them, speaking out for what they believe and identifying those complicit in abusing the rights of others.
Use your First Amendment right to free speech to speak out against those who are truly interfering with the right to choose, the right to be who you are, the right to vote, the right to an honest education, and many other rights currently under attack from those two narrow-minded organizations. “Even be so bold as to remind voters that freedom is at stake when the right to vote is taken away.”
Protest, but protest smarter; if you continue to aim at the wrong target, the public will continue to blame the messenger, and your message will continue not to be heard!