People of all political ideologies have a problem with sharing memes that are not true. This probably isn't news to anyone.
However, I had at one point hoped this was a generational divide. I hoped that the generation that grew up in the age of Google, Snopes, and other fact-checking websites would have the simple ability to type something into the search bar in the top right of their browser and see if it is true.
Unfortunately, as I should have known, idiocy knows no generational divides.
The following meme was posted by an SJW on my friend's list. I'll talk about just how wrong it is in a second, along with how easy it is to fact-check.
Let's start with the petty and amusing - I love the little skeptical emoji they use at the beginning. They are trying SO HARD to look smart but they fail so completely.
Now for the serious stuff - the lies.
First off, charges were filed, and an appellate court uphold their authorities' right to do so. I found this as the first result after googling "Lochte criminal charges". I took about 5-10 seconds. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2017/10/27/ryan-lochte-faces-renewed-charges-after-brazilian-court-ruling/808115001/
Of course, this is a little more complicated because it is hard to prosecute somebody who is from/living in another country. As opposed to Jussie Smollette, who is in the country where he will be tried. This is common sense.
The other big lie is that the Olympics said "boys will be boys". First off, by "the Olympics" I am assuming they meant the International Olympic Committee. This is a flat out lie that anybody with a healthy sense of skepticism could call out. The "boys will be boys" thing is something that feminists love to accuse society of doing, even though in my experience it is said mostly by women to demean boys. But what do I know? It's only my lived experience. It should be obvious from that phrase alone that this is pandering to people with a certain ideology. Always be careful when somebody is pandering to your ideology.
Of course, that is not true at all. In fact, the Olympic Committee banned Lochte from competing in any of their events for 10 months, and banned him from the World Championships that year. This helped cause him to directly and indirectly lose money. All four men had their monthly stipends withheld, and none were allowed to go to the U.S. team's post-Games visit to the White House.
Time to debunk: 10-15 seconds. This was the third result when I googled "Lochte lied about crime punishment" https://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-swimmers-punished-20160908-snap-story.html
I think that punishment is actually a little lax - I think it should have been a 1-2 year ban, but it certainly isn't "boys will be boys".
Finally, if Lochte celebrated today? I don't know really, since that will depend on the individual you ask about him. I know when I hear his name, this scandal is the first thing that comes to mind. I certainly don't like him.
Anyway, I saw this meme going semi-viral, so I figured I might as well leave a rant about it and debunk it.
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