Olympic Commentary

Beyond the wonder of watching these young people perform athletic feats that I could never dream of doing (OK, I have done my best to imitate the downhill skiers, but not on the ice that they rocket down on), the one thing that I am struck by is how close 1st and 10th place can be in any number of sports.  Hundreths of seconds are determining who finishes where.

And then the commentators or newspaper writers who have to come up with something to fill their space with, discuss the disappointment or failure to perform by the losers who were expected to be competitive (i.e. win a medal).

Well, if you finish 5th or 10th in the world by a second or two spread over a mile, two or 4 times down a course, or were somehow judged qualitatively to be a point or two lower on some subjective scale, you are certainly a world class competitor who deserves accolades for your accomplishments.  Yes, you came up a bit short in this competition, but you are worthy of respect by all.

I am frustrated by the media who seem to ridicule those who don't win a medal.

And my only political comment today, is I don't understand the point of supermajority votes in legislatures. It seems designed to prevent majority rule.  I know this is to ostensibly protect minority points of view, but the Arkansas Legislature needed 75 votes out of 97 voters to continue to fund a variation on  Obamacare Medicaid expansion that uses the private sector (rather than Medicaid) to provide health insurance to lower paid people without employer provided health insurance.  This system has been working for a year now giving these people in Arkansas access to affordable health insurance.  The bill received only 70 votes in the affirmative sending its continuation down to defeat so these people will lose their health insurance in June (perhaps they should quit their jobs and go on welfare and Medicaid if they are going to die anyway).  But 70 affirmative votes out of 97 is a 72% approval rate. That is certainly more than a majority and makes me wonder how Arkansas passes any bills.  And it does not make for a fair or seamless public health policy.