U.S. Swimmers Should Present Their Gold Medals to Brazilian People with a Heart-felt Apology

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was all too ready to believe four wholesome, American, Olympic gold-medal swimmers. They claimed that they had been robbed at gunpoint by men dressed as Brazilian policeman. After all, Brazil is. . . well. . . a bit of a mess.  And if America with all its advantages and wealth can have crooked cops, then why shouldn't Brazil have its share.  But then, of course, we all learned the truth. The swimmers' story was a lie.  Rather than being robbed at gunpoint, the ringleader, Ryan Lochte had in a drunken stupor kicked in the door to a gas station rest room, and urinated on the wall of the building.

Brazil is a proud but struggling nation, faced with an overwhelming array of social problems.  Despite high levels of poverty and criminal violence it put on a spectacular Olympic display, for which Brazilians should take pride.  And then four American swimmers with gold medals dangling from their necks, wrecked almost everything.  Yes, the Olympics were amazing and wonderful. But the biggest story to come out of it was one of crime and corruption (thanks to the American swimmers). And this is after the country had expended a good fraction of its treasury to put on an appealing show for potential tourists.    

These young men owe the Brazilian people a genuine, truly heart-felt apology.  Whether they have the emotional maturity to do so, is questionable.  But at the very least, they should hold a press conference in which they turn over their gold medals to the Brazilian people and ask forgiveness.