Olympic Highs, Political Lows

London Olympic Closing

The games of the 30th Olympiad closed with the same level of well-orchestrated spectacle that ushered them in a couple of weeks earlier. The British hosts were more than capable of seeing it through to success and proving the naysayers wrong. American athletes led the U.S. to the top of the medal count. Coming off a high like that, we now find ourselves in the thick of a very nasty political season on this side of the pond. Governor Romney is hoping his selection of Congressman Paul Ryan will bring him something he has been lacking: credibility among Tea Party conservatives. With the GOP VP selection, the slugfest will only intensify. The negativity spewed by big-bucks Super PACs brought on by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision has already generated many inaccuracies and even outrageous, bold-faced lies in a barrage of political ads. While Republicans have led the way with bending the facts about taxes and jobs, it only took the distasteful claim of one Obama Super PAC ad to even the score. Equating Bain Capital with a laid-off worker's wife losing health coverage, getting cancer and dying was a disgusting and far flung charcter assassination. Although the ad never aired the Democratic National Committee doesn't control it, the President should have at least condemned it. That would have differentiated President Obama from GOP candidates afraid to anger a very radicalized right wing. I don't see many gold medals being given out for political courage between now and November