Great Britain is hosting the Olympics and security is a huge, huge concern. All eyes are on the games and everyone knows that terrorists would love nothing better than to reprise what their forebears did in Munich 40 years ago. It would terrify the world, humiliate the West, etc&c. None of this should surprise anyone.
Running up to the Olympics, the world has been hearing story after story about the problems with the security firm that was hired to run the games. Not enough personnel on hand, etc. Just today, three of the Olympic staff were arrested — arrested — on immigration violations. This occurred in Newcastle, which will host men’s and women’s soccer matches. And it happened on opening day.
So Romney gets asked if the British are ready to host the games. He cited the stories about security problems, stories which have been all over the British press for weeks. And all the stiff upper lips in the land formed a collective “How dare you?”
Well, Mitt Romney saved an Olympics back in the day. It’s on his resume and everything. When it comes to the Olympics, the man knows what he is talking about. He had far less time to square the Salt Lake Olympics away than the UK has had to put on the London games, and he pulled it off.
It’s tempting to get dismissive and note that the media in Great Britain got its nose out of joint because the “great” may no longer apply. Political correctness is killing that country. It’s killing ours too, just not as fast, and we have places like Texas that will fight back. As much as I love British culture and pay way too much attention to its Premiere League soccer, Great Britain is a relatively small country putting on a huge event, and the British didn’t like hearing criticism from anyone. It’s not hard to understand that, Americans can definitely relate after eight years of having our country bashed because we chose to defend ourselves, and maybe Romney should have been a bit more circumspect as a guest. But the fact is, he told the truth, and doesn’t deserve to get ripped apart for it.
David Cameron will have more standing to speak after the London games have been successful and safe, but not before.
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