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WashTimes: Bossie: American exceptionalism at the Olympics

We must focus on what unites, not divides us

As I watch the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo and see our American athletes competing at such a high level and achieving such great success, I think about how far America has come.

I think about Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin; I think about a young Muhammad Ali – then Cassius Clay – at the 1960 games in Rome; I think about Mike Eruzione and our men’s hockey team defeating the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War at the 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid; I think about track and field stars Evelyn Ashford, Florence Griffith Joyner, and Jackie Joyner-Kersee; and I think about Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and the “Dream Team” showcasing American basketball dominance at the 1992 games in Barcelona.

These are just a few examples of American exceptionalism that have created our stellar legacy at the Olympics.

But in addition to the fantastic athletes and accomplishments taking place in Japan, you can’t help but see the masks, the empty seats, and the absence of patriotic fans from around the world cheering on their countrymen and women. When I look at these pictures on television, I think about the things that make America great and what makes people worldwide want to come here to follow their dreams.

Read the rest of David Bossie’s Washington Times Op-ed

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