Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

where i stand:

Olympians are coming to town; an Olympian task awaits voters

Much to talk about politics today.

But who will listen? It is game day! Super Bowl 50! That, in and of itself, is a mouthful. Has it really been 50 years? Have I really watched all of them?

Speaking of big games, there isn’t a more compelling and enduring sporting event on the planet than the Olympic Games. They represent the very best of the world’s athletes and the results of highly regarded American ideals — hard work, determination, competition and good sportsmanship. It is small wonder that the United States not only competes so well in them but is among the world’s most avid spectators.

That brings me to Las Vegas and the weekend of Feb. 19-22.

It is Reunion 2016 for Olympians and Paralympians in Las Vegas. Many of the athletes we watched in their primes as they won medal after medal will be here to celebrate that special status that few men and women achieve: Olympian.

The good news is that Las Vegans will be able to meet them, eat with them and even play golf with them.

Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, along with former Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, are the co-chairs of what promises to be a unique gathering of the world’s best — pre- and post-Olympics.

There is a dinner Saturday night at the Tropicana Hotel and a golf tournament that Sunday morning. And throughout the reunion there will be Olympians in our schools and elsewhere providing inspiration and aspiration to our young people.

And, of course, once an Olympian always an Olympian, which means they can use our help to support this reunion and their continued good work with the younger generation. To find out how you can be a part of Reunion 2016, please contact my friend, Anne Warner Cribbs, at [email protected].

Besides being a member of the gold medal-winning 400-meter medley relay team for the United States in 1960, Anne has given herself and her talent to advancing sports and sportsmanship around the world. We are lucky to have her at the helm for this reunion, and Las Vegas is fortunate that she chose our city as the place for Olympians!

• • •

So, now to a less lofty subject: politics.

A good friend who knows his way around the political world opined recently that our country had lost its mind. The question remains, for how long?

I have been thinking about that as caucuses and primary voting get underway. While I don’t think it is probable, it is still possible that the party machinery that controls the primary processes for both the Republicans and the Democrats will give general election voters a far-right candidate as well as a far-left candidate.

Therein lies the dilemma. I still believe most of America lives, thinks and votes in the broad middle of the modern political spectrum. So if we end up having to choose between candidates from the far-right and far-left wings, that would create a most disconcerting and hard-to-predict election.

When you get out that far on the political spectrum, both sides get their support by blaming someone — anyone — else for whatever troubles them at the moment. That creates the likelihood that we would have an election in which the winner would have, at best, barely half of the nation’s support and the very real prospect of a completely alienated and vilified other half.

That does not bode well for a country that must come together to deal with the kinds of challenges — from without and within — that are brewing to the boiling point.

Who will speak for the vast majority of Americans in the middle who just want to pursue the American dream and try their best to live toward it in peace and prosperity? Who will be their candidate?

I still believe it’s improbable that both parties will tap the far ends of their benches for a candidate. That’s what I am counting on.

And I hope when she does win that we will all be able to sleep a little better, because that is the only way we can ever hope to have an American dream.

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Sun.

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