“Approved Symbols Only: How So Many Americans Have Lost Their Backbone”
At a St. Louis CITY SC match the other night, a season‑ticket holder named Michael Weitzel was escorted out of the stadium simply for wearing a MAGA hat. Security said “political paraphernalia” was not allowed.
Weitzel calmly refused to remove the hat, pointing out that pride flags and trans banners are displayed at the stadium every game. If the rule really bans politics, why are those symbols allowed while his is targeted? He filmed the incident, saying: “I am being threatened with arrest because we can’t wear the Donald Trump hat in public. Trump is not welcome in St. Louis City SC.”
Michael Weitzel is a season‑ticket holder. He noted that fans flipped him off and jeered, yet only his conservative symbol led to expulsion. Even the officer escorting him admitted the stadium bans “political symbols,” but then conceded that certain ones—like pride banners—are “pre‑approved.”
This is about a culture that picks winners and losers in free expression—where one side’s symbols are celebrated while the other side’s are condemned. That isn’t neutrality, it’s censorship dressed up as policy.
America used to teach children: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We understood that free people could handle disagreement, that ideas even offensive ones—were not a threat to our freedom. But look where we are now. A man is thrown out of a public event not for violence, not for disruption, but for wearing a hat with four words: Make America Great Again.
The Founding Fathers anticipated moments like this. George Washington warned that “if freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” The entire premise of the First Amendment was that no authority government or cultural should decide which ideas are acceptable and which are forbidden. When institutions enforce one set of “approved” symbols while punishing another, they trample the very principles the Republic was built upon.
The shift from resilience to fragility is alarming. If words and symbols are treated as weapons, then free expression dies by a thousand cuts. And when institutions like CITY SC enforce one set of symbols while banning another, they aren’t protecting fans they’re enforcing an anti‑American double standard.
That’s why we say on The Craig Bushon Show: The Truth Is Not Hate Speech. The MAGA hat is not violence. A conservative voice is not “dangerous.” The real danger comes when America forgets that free expression belongs to all citizens—not just to those with the “approved” symbols.
This must stop. Sports should unite, not divide. If no politics are allowed, then ban them all. If politics are welcome, then all voices must be welcome. Anything else isn’t policy—it’s censorship.
On this show we say it plain and simple: America doesn’t need more fragile policies. It needs strong citizens who can handle free expression without calling for security every time they’re offended.
The Truth Is Not Hate Speech. It’s the foundation of freedom.
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