The Olympic Ideal

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. Check ‘em all out.

Even Rove Throws Up His Hands

Karl Rove on Mitt’s Olympic fail: “You have to shake your head.”

The Last London Olympics

The 1948 London Olympics … in remarkable pictures.

At Last A Defender

Majority Leader Eric Cantor defends Michele Bachmann and her latest crusade: She’s concerned about the ‘Security of the Country.”

In Mitt’s Defense

Fox And Friends’ Brian Kilmeade: “I think the British press better back off – and so should the officials! This guy could be president!”

Plenty Of ‘I Told You So’ To Go Around

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.

Why The Bush Tax Cut Vote Was So Important

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.

Completely Done In

Entire premise of Romney’s foreign trip collapses.

The Reviews Are In!

British press gives its take on Mitt’s awesome day in the UK.

Romneymentum Refuses to Abate

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. Watch.

Uninformed American Voter Shows Slight Signs Of Improvement

The percentage of registered voters who think President Obama is a Christian is edging toward 50 percent, an 11-point increase from August 2010, but still short of the 55 percent who thought so in October 2008, according to a new poll from Pew. But the percent who think he is Muslim has declined by just 2 percentage points in the last two years, down to 17 percent. The dreaded “don’t know” answer is down 10 percentage points over that time frame.

Taking The Victory Lap

Nancy Pelosi: “Yesterday was a great day.”