Uncertain if US athletes can go to Olympics | Golden Skate

Uncertain if US athletes can go to Olympics

Shandy

On the Ice
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Aug 28, 2017
I call BS. Sounds like they just want to drum up outrage and paranoia about NK to justify possible future military action.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
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Another clickbait headline on the internet. Imagine my surprise:sarcasm:

The actual quotes in the headline say nothing of the sort, but make it quite clear US athletes are headed to Korea, except for one "never say never" quote blown way out of proportion.

Nothing to see here, move along.....:bed:
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Popcorn please.
I am wondering if everybody who was absolutely OK winning gold with Russia's absence will keep the same tone with the US absence.... :)
On the other hand if CNN is as trustworthy with this revelation as in everything else then we can completely ignore this. Just another expected bait by CNN...
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
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Popcorn please.
I am wondering if everybody who was absolutely OK winning gold with Russia's absence will keep the same tone with the US absence.... :)

Did you read the actual article? The US athletes aren't going anywhere except on a plane to South Korea:laugh:
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
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I got that. But it's still typical of CNN. They are an official laughing stock of journalism..

We cut the cord two years ago, so I really don't watch any mainstream cable news outlets, such as Fox, MSNBC, or CNN, so I have no opinions on any of them. I am disappointed in the click bait headline. The quotes, which undermine that headline, appear to be accurate.

I'd much rather see streaming of skating;)
 

Moxiejan

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I got that. But it's still typical of CNN. They are an official laughing stock of journalism..

If you Google this topic, you'll find that the vast majority of news sites used Haley's "open question" quote in the headline; it wasn't just CNN. The "open question" comment was the key point of what she said, so it wasn't "clickbait'" to highlight it. For months, other countries have been saying that they're closely monitoring the Korea situation & will keep their athletes home if safety becomes even more of an issue.

btw, any time a large contingent of U.S. citizens are to be sent to another country (for the Olympics or the Ebola epidemic or whatever), it's always an "open question" as to whether the State Department will allow them to go, based on any number of safety concerns. It can change at any moment, and today's story (in CNN and many other places) was simply a reminder of that. As we move closer to the Olympics, more people are starting to pay attention & wonder about the status.
 

LRK

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Nov 13, 2012
Another clickbait headline on the internet. Imagine my surprise:sarcasm:

The actual quotes in the headline say nothing of the sort, but make it quite clear US athletes are headed to Korea, except for one "never say never" quote blown way out of proportion.

Nothing to see here, move along.....:bed:

Thanks, el henry - you saved me the trouble of clicking on it, and give me the satisfaction of depriving them of at least one click.;) (An insignificant victory, I grant - but one must take what one can get... ;))
 

Serious Business

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Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Before more people buy into the glib dismissals of this story…

The CNN article is actually a transcript of an interview between Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum and Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the UN, former governor of South Carolina, and oft-touted potential replacement as Secretary of State. You can watch the entire exchange here:

https://twitter.com/MathiasAsk/status/938589119382544389

Ambassador Haley starts out saying "we don't fear anything, we live our lives", she then acknowledges "it's an open question" whether the athletes will go. It's even clearer by the end of this segment when she says she isn't sure she'd let her own relatives attend the games if they were athletes, as the situation is "changing by the day".

While there's a chance Ms. Haley misspoke, that seems less likely considering Martha MacCallum tweeted out this particular tidbit herself: https://twitter.com/marthamaccallum/status/938562978747748352 "Breaking: Amb. Nikki Haley not certain we should send our athletes to the Olympics. Will depend on NK situation." Fox News works very closely with the Trump administration in sending out the administration's messages. A Fox News anchor reiterating what a Trump official has said makes it about as solid an announcement as one could expect from the regime.

That doesn't mean US athletes won't go. At this point, I'd still consider it more likely than not that the US will send its athletes to compete as usual. But that doesn't mean the very announcement itself isn't news. The US has never withdrew from an Olympic games that's hosted in a friendly nation. To even suggest it now expresses a lack of confidence in both South Korean and American troops' ability to protect Americans in the region. It would also be completely contrary to what another Trump administration official said on December 2nd: https://twitter.com/FoxNews/status/937068398294519808 That was when H.R. McMasters, the US National Security Adviser, said during a press conference that Americans should feel safe going to the Olympics in South Korea.

So what has changed between Dec 2nd and 6th? Not much in the Korean peninsula. The last major news there were the missile tests on Nov 28th. On the other hand, there were major shakeups in the PyeongChang Olympics: on Dec 5th, the IOC announced that Russia would be banned from those games. Perhaps announcing a possible withdrawal from the games is a gesture of solidarity from the Trump administration to its Kremlin allies.
 
Joined
Nov 5, 2017
i wonder if just to stir up media attention? i don't put any stock in that. In fact i see them going unless something happens.
 

whatif

Medalist
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Feb 20, 2014
Nikki Haley is NOT a clickbait. I suspect Trump received a new order from Kremlin?

These are sad sad days.
 

Alex D

Record Breaker
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Sep 23, 2013
I call BS. Sounds like they just want to drum up outrage and paranoia about NK to justify possible future military action.

This coming from an American gives me hope :2thumbs:

Looks like there are still some sane people in that country, that don´t fall for all that propaganda since years.
 

Shandy

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 28, 2017
Before more people buy into the glib dismissals of this story…

The CNN article is actually a transcript of an interview between Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum and Nikki Haley, the US Ambassador to the UN, former governor of South Carolina, and oft-touted potential replacement as Secretary of State. You can watch the entire exchange here:

[...]

Fox News works very closely with the Trump administration in sending out the administration's messages. A Fox News anchor reiterating what a Trump official has said makes it about as solid an announcement as one could expect from the regime.

That is precisely why I feel like the uncertainty is exaggerated, if not largely fabricated. Yes, sure, there are security concerns when a sporting event is due to take place near a country that is hostile to the US, but those hostilities are largely due to the actions of the Trump administration. It would tie in nicely to the narrative of 'dangerous, out-of-control NK' if they could say, "Look at what they've made us do; we've had to cancel the Olympics!" That said, I highly doubt they'll actually go through with preventing the athletes from competing.
 

anyanka

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
This thing is exaggerated. To be fair, the headlines about "Russia banned!" are a bit over the top too, since I expect we will see most (if not all) of the top Russian contenders in figure skating attend.

On the plus side, weirdly the articles on the likes of NYT, BBC, and a few other outlets that normally completely ignore figure skating all spotlight Medvedeva as being the main Russian contender not attending. Seems that figure skating is still seen in most of the West as a once-in-every-four-years thing. (Also up until 2010 people kept asking "Is Michelle Kwan going to win gold?" when she wasn't even competing anymore, so that tells you something about at least the American interest level in current skating.)

Nothing to see here, CNN being hysterical once again.
 

anyanka

Record Breaker
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Jul 8, 2011
Also: Trump LOVES the Olympics. If it comes down to it, he'll send the entire contingent and then some.
 

Maribelle

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Jan 13, 2007
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United-States
I feel that it is safer for the all of the Olympics if the Russians and Chinese attend.
 

Serious Business

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Jan 7, 2011
Are the people using this as an opportunity to criticize CNN for reporting this just ignoring that CNN is just repeating what a Fox News anchor who interviewed Ambassador Nikki Haley said?

And just now: Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the White House Press secretary, said at a White House briefing, in response to a reporter's question, that the official decision on whether to send US athletes to PyeongChang has not been made yet: https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/938844364079550464 This would be seem to be unthinkable this close to a scheduled Olympic games in an ally country with no new known threats.

But wait! Now Ms. Sanders has felt the need to clarify (or perhaps she got new orders): https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/938849891652161536 "UPDATE: The U.S. looks forward to participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea. The protection of Americans is our top priority and we are engaged with the South Koreans and other partner nations to secure the venues."

That should've been the official line all along from Ambassador Haley and Press Secretary Sanders. Perhaps neither of them really knew anything and just decided to ad lib. Perhaps there were really internal discussions at the administration as to whether the US will withdraw from the games and that security will be used as a pretense. But then perhaps the military folks in the administration, John Kelly and H. R. McMasters, finally stepped in to speak some sense, and decisions were reversed. As always, my condolences to people who have to make important life decisions based on the whims of the Trump administration.
 
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