HuffPost called waving the American flag and chanting “U-S-A” a “turn off” after Team USA posted a record haul of gold medals at the Winter Olympics—the most since 2002—and that reaction deserves a clear, direct response. This piece defends the basic, unglamorous act of cheering for your country, respects the athletes who earned those medals, and questions the cultural blind spot that treats national pride like a scandal. I argue that celebrating success on the world stage is normal, not cringe, and that media elites should think twice before writing off something millions of Americans embrace.
After a Games where Americans stood on the top step more often than they had in decades, dismissing flag-waving as unappealing feels tone deaf. Athletes sacrifice years of time, health, and personal life to race, spin, slide, and ski for their country, and a crowd with flags and chants is the clearest, simplest reward they get in public. To treat those moments as undesirable is to misunderstand what the Olympics are about: competition, national representation, and human achievement on a global stage.
From a Republican perspective, patriotism is a civic glue, not a fashion statement to be judged by coastal elites. The instinct to cheer “U-S-A” is common sense and rooted in gratitude for hard work, not in blind jingoism. When a major outlet narrows the range of acceptable public feeling, it signals a cultural disconnect that deserves pushback from people who actually show up to support their teams.
Critiquing media tone is not an attack on journalism, it is a demand for balance and respect for readers. Newspapers and sites have every right to hold opinions, but when an outlet mocks or minimizes public celebration, it risks alienating large swaths of its audience. The reaction to those headlines has been swift because many Americans see the Olympics as a rare, unifying moment; telling them that their celebrations are off-putting only widens the gap between media and mainstream values.
Let’s be clear about the people at the center of this story: the athletes. They are not props for a cultural experiment about what counts as tasteful expression. Those who train without paychecks and under intense pressure deserve enthusiastic crowds and visible symbols of support, including flags. A waving flag is a simple human response to pride in performance, and treating that response as a social faux pas disrespects the athletes’ effort and sacrifice.
There is a growing pattern where expressions of American pride are interpreted by some media figures as problematic rather than celebratory. That pattern feeds an unnecessary divide and encourages people to self-censor kindness and encouragement in public spaces. If cheering loudly or holding a flag makes someone else uncomfortable, the solution is not to police patriotism but to broaden cultural tolerance—let people enjoy what matters to them without editorial scolding.
Accountability matters here. Readers and viewers who disagree with an outlet’s framing should say so, and advertisers and editors ought to notice audience reaction. This is not about silencing journalists who hold different views; it is about making sure influential platforms remember their audience includes real people who feel pride in national achievement. Democratic pushback—campaigns of letters, choices about subscriptions, and public conversation—are the tools citizens have to shape media behavior.
At the end of the day, cheering for Team USA and waving flags at the Olympics is a modest, humane act that connects strangers in a moment of shared joy. Dismissing it as a “turn off” undervalues that connection and dismisses the athletes who earned those medals. If the press wants to keep its credibility, it should stop scolding basic expressions of pride and start reflecting the country it covers rather than lecturing it.
