This country is broken. You don't need me to tell you that. It seems as though we are all constantly at each others' throats. Everybody is just so angry about so many things. The list is long: race, gender, religious freedom, equality, liberals, conservatives, terrorism, gun laws, health care, on and on and on. We are also in the midst of the ugliest presidential election in memory. All the screaming, blaming, and hatred is just too much. We could all use a break for a week or two.
And that's why I thank God for these Olympic games. For these next two weeks, the headlines will be dominated by the results and, more importantly, the stories of the 2016 Rio Olympics. It will give us a chance to unplug a little bit from the craziness of the world at large and focus on something else for a while. Something entertaining, sure, but also something bigger than us.
The Olympics are about the will and determination of the human spirit. They are about the world coming together. They are about individual and team accomplishment. And right now, they are just about the only thing that unites us.
Some days it's hard to be an American, no matter which side of the political divide you're on. Half of the time it seems as though the "other side" has lost their collective minds, and the other half it feels like the people on your own side have lost theirs. As great of a country as America is, we are certainly not without our flaws. Even if we can't all agree on what those flaws are. But, if we choose to, we can put those aside during these glorious two weeks that are the Olympic games.
For just two weeks we can rally around our athletes. We can all chant USA, USA...and actually mean it. We can let the stories of these athletes become our stories and share in their achievements. Even when we come up short, we know that these athletes are giving us their all and are quite simply the best in their fields. Win or lose, the Olympics represent what makes America...no, wait, humanity great.
I know, I know, at this point some of you, your cynical little inner contrarian wants to start talking about the doping controversies that come up in some sports. You'll want to mention the controversies of people like Tonya Harding and Oscar Pistorius. You'll mention the bribery scandals, question the integrity of the Olympic committee, talk about how trivial sports are, and whatever else you can come up with.
Well, don't. Seriously. If this is you, don't leave me your snotty little comments here or on Facebook. Please keep your negativity and arguments to yourself on this one, okay?
For every negative that can be named about the Olympics there are multiple positives. And that's what we should be focusing on. We ought to. We need to.
Let's just be proud Americans and unite around an ideal and a dream.
Just for two weeks.
