Felt them goose bumps rising as the anthem played for Kate Ledecky’s medal. Came in at the last few bars, and even then I was shivering.
And I’ve realized why. Over these last few days, we’ve finally caught a break, the briefest moment of respite. After months of name-calling, mudslinging, dirty politics, scandals, shootings, terrorism, and the idiots on TV, we finally get some heroes to get behind. Simple men and women, solely focused on excellence, undistracted by the standard-issue human pettiness.
Americans, Brits, Koreans, Japanese, Israelis, Russians, Ukrainians, French, Chinese, Indian, Syrians, Moroccans, Italians, Brazilians, Mexicans, Canadians— we should all savor this moment. It is a rare one, when we can observe a clarity of purpose and total purity of will.
For us Americans, when the Olympics are over, we will have to return to this freak show of a presidential race, as the two most incompetent / deceptive / head-up-the-ass / boobish / nob-headed / treacherous / selfish a**holes ever to run for higher office go head to head, and all the world cringes.
No matter who you vote for, we’re all wrong.
From the City on a Hill 