Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Tulsi Gabbard votes "Present" on Impeachment. Very wise move. She is the Democratic candidate to watch in my opinion. The question is whether the Democratic Party establishment would allow her to be the candidate. That's a serious concern... Has the cancel culture gone after Cher for her 1973 hit song Half-breed yet? That would be fun to watch... #TulsiCoward is trending on Twitter. Proof that she hit a nerve with her non-vote for Impeachment with the unhinged. That just makes her more attractive for us voters who are hinged... This is one of the reasons why investing in Bitcoin makes me nervous... Heh Heh - Kim Jung-Un the new Siskel & Ebert... Let's be honest - Greta Thunberg's greatest accomplishment was as the inspiration of hundreds of "How dare you!" memes... And I don't care where Tulsi is polling because the polls are crap. If you added Candidate McCandidateface to the polls that choice would immediately become the front-runner. Just saying... If James Comey goes to jail - what are the odds that the Obamas ask if he can be given Jeffrey Epstein's old cell?...

Mitt Romney and the 2002 Olympics

Caleb Whitmer has a nice article on Mitt Romney's leadership at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics. I had not heard of this anecdote about Bonnie Blair before but it is very telling of the quality of Mitt's character:

Gillespie said the 2002 games were not only revealing of Romney’s character as a leader but as a good man. She told me a revealing story: Flying a plane to the United States in 2002, Romney and an IOC official argued over who would carry the Olympic flame onto American soil: Romney or six-time gold medalist Bonnie Blair.
Traditionally, the CEO of the current Olympic Planning Committee was supposed to have the honors, but Romney wanted Blair to do it. The relay was supposed to be about heroes, and Romney wanted Blair and her mother to be the first off the plane carrying the torch, with Romney walking behind them. But the IOC member wouldn’t budge and after arguing for a while, Gillespie, who was on the plane as well, recalls that Romney abruptly ended the conversation, saying, “Okay, fine,” and walked away.
The plane landed at the airport and the group positioned itself near the plane doors, as photographers and the press waited for them on the tarmac.
“There’s Mitt holding the little lantern with Bonnie and her mom behind him and the doors open, and, as those doors open, he steps back to the side and hands Bonnie the lantern, pushes them out in front of him, and they went down the stairs.”

Romney and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics

Very interesting article on Mitt Romney and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.

The fact that he took the 2002 Olympics from a $400 million deficit to a $100 million surplus is well known but what is interesting are the examples of how he spent money on the athletes and volunteers not on lavish IOC higher ups. Paying attention to the little things that mattered is why the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics are remembered as among the best run Olympics in history.

Contrast that to the stories you'll see coming out of London about not having enough security personnel or the fact that nobody thought to provide the athletes with air conditioning in their Olympic Village apartments. You can be sure that the IOC VIP's have air conditioning.