Bitterest end, Part Deux

Well. I guess now we know who really hates America.

It's the super-patriots, the "Woke!"-screamers, the flag-and-anthem worshippers, the MAGA cult crowd.

It's the Americans who gloated when Megan Rapinoe, one of most decorated American soccer players in history, sent a penalty kick so high and wide yesterday she laughed at the absurdity of it.

It's the Americans who reveled in the USWNT's loss, who were practically dancing in the streets when it happened, who drank deeply of the haterade because these women are so unlikeable, so disrespectful and unappreciative, so ... woke.

That's why they cheered when America lost, and mocked Rapinoe's tears at the end of it. And that's why they HATE AMERICA, because only someone who HATES AMERICA would be so happy America lost, right?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Mr. Blob," you're saying now. "Just because you don't root for your national team doesn't mean you hate America. That's just dumb."

Yep. It sure is.

See, I'm just applying the same logic that certain species of American applies when they say the women's national team HATES AMERICA, and that Megan Rapinoe is the queen of the America-haters (and gay, besides!). I'm just following the same line of reasoning they follow when they offer as "proof" the fact Rapinoe knelt for the national anthem and the team supposedly didn't sing along to it and, a couple of years ago, actually turned their backs on a 98-year-old veteran when he played the anthem on his harmonica.

Yeesh. The stupid, it burns.

Which is why I guess we have to explain all this again, even if the Blob is deathly weary of doing so.

No. 1: No one on the USWNT hates America because they didn't sing the national anthem. Hardly anyone sings the national anthem. Good lord, if that's the metric, 3/4 of the country hates America -- including practically every college or professional athlete, and including most of the super-patriots and anthem-and-flag worshippers.

No. 2: No one who's knelt for  the anthem to protest racial injustice in America hates America. You could argue, in fact, that they love their country more than their critics, because they want it to be better and don't believe the mindlessness of America Right Or Wrong is any way to make it so.

No. 3: Again, for God's sake, NO ONE TURNED THEIR BACKS on 98-year-old Pete DePre when he played the national anthem on his harmonica two years ago. They turned to face the flag and the stadium videoboard, which also had a flag on it. Which was exactly the direction DePre was facing. 

And, finally, No. 4 ...

Enough with the Rapinoe hate.

Yes, she's gay (and don't even try to tell me that's not part of the equation here. I'll just laugh at you). Yes, she spoke up for Those Awful Transgenders, and she holds other "woke" opinions the Certain Species doesn't like, and she was one of the leading voices calling for equal pay for the women, who after all have been the face of American soccer for more than two decades.

Let’s see now: Equal justice, equal pay, respect for and acceptance of those who are different. All values the Certain Species thinks are horrible, apparently.

Of course, Rapinoe also has two World Cup titles and an Olympic gold  medal, and won the Golden Boot and Golden Ball at the last World Cup as its leading scorer and MVP, and by any measure is one of the best players in American history. She represented her nation with distinction in four World Cups, and, whether the Certain Species agrees or not, advanced the cause of women's soccer in this country well through both word and deed.

And, yes, she and a lot of her teammates didn't much care for the previous president, a misogynist and sexual predator from way back.  As proud and accomplished American women, why would anyone expect them to go to the White House for a photo op with such a creature? Especially after he continually trashed them?

It's why the USWNT in general, and Rapinoe in particular, remain enormously popular except with the noisy but relatively small Certain Species enclave. It's why Rapinoe has earned, and deserves, our respect.  And it's why the "polarizing" tag that often gets attached to the USWNT (most recently by analyst Alexi Lalas) is far more a reflection of its critics than their target.

There. Are we done now with all this nonsense?