Flipping through the photos of the 1948 London Olympics, two things stand out. The first is how diverse the U.S. team was for that time. Sure, Jesse Owens was dominating the Berlin Olympics the previous decade. But I didn’t know about Asian-American divers like Vicki Draves and Sammy Lee. I’d forgotten Alice Coachman, the first African-American woman to win gold. Which raises the second point: The women athletes across the board were total badasses.
Okay, yes, that photo of Vicki Draves has a “Mad Men” vibe to it; and the woman who was perhaps the biggest star of the Olympics was nicknamed “The Flying Housewife.” But check out Fanny Blankers-Koen, “The Flying Housewife,” in action. The nickname seems even more demeaning, no? The Dutch Blankers-Koen won a total of four gold medals in track in the ’48 Games. And Hungary’s Olga Gyarmati looks vaguely like Lucille Ball, if you gave Lucy ripped quads and sent her soaring over the long jump pit.
Karl Rove on Mitt’s Olympic fail: “You have to shake your head.”
Majority Leader Eric Cantor defends Michele Bachmann and her latest crusade: She’s concerned about the ‘Security of the Country.”
Fox And Friends’ Brian Kilmeade: “I think the British press better back off — and so should the officials! This guy could be president!”
Sympathy today for the adviser(s) at Romney HQ in Boston who thought the foreign trip was a bad idea to begin with because anything that takes the attention off the economy is a miscalculation. If I were in the same office with them, I might quietly hide sharp objects, bound briefing books, and anything else that could be used as a weapon.
During and after yesterday’s big Senate tax vote, I noticed some observers were pretty quick to diminish the magnitude of what transpired, and what Harry Reid managed to accomplish. That wasn’t exactly a widely shared sentiment, but common enough that I think it’s worth breaking down exactly why it wasn’t a predictable development, and why it matters. Read More
British press gives its take on Mitt’s awesome day in the UK.
To end of day, the Tory Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, is now whipping up a crowd of 60,000 in Hyde Park by mocking Mitt Romney.