Inevitable...
“I think they should take all the uniforms, put them in a big pile and burn them and start all over again,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said when asked by ABC News today, “If they have to wear nothing but a symbol that says USA on it, painted by hand, that is what they should wear.”
Where do we stop? Why don't we require all American Olympians to only use equipement made in the USA? What if an American Olympian wins a gold metal using a kayak, sneakers, racket, fencing sword, or goggles made in a far off land such as Canada, Mexico, India, China, or China? Is it unAmerican to compete on behalf of America in an international sporting competition while using equipment produced in another country, even if the company producing that equipment is American? And isn't this much more important than the opening ceremony outfits as athletes' equipment has a direct effect on the performance of the athlete?
Also, even if the outfits are made in America, how do we ensure all the materials and fabrics used are also from the US. If a blazer is sewn together in the US, but all the threads, fabrics, and dyes are produced abroad, does that really make the blazer a true American product?
Why isn't it required that congressmen and women wear suits, clothing, and shoes made in the USA? Aren't they also representing the US, just like the athletes? If they wear an American flag pin on a suit made in Paraguay, does it make the suit more American, or make the pin less so?
If the American Olympic team steps into the London opening ceremony stadium wearing, as Senator Reid prefers, nothing (I'm assuming naked) and simply has the letters USA hand painted onto their chests, will we really feel that much prouder of our athletes?
If I decide to buy a Ford in China, and I make this decision because Ford is an American company, but the Ford I'm buying has been produced in a Chinese factory, does that make my initial decision to by a car made by an American company completely pointless and useless? Doesn't most of the money I'm paying for the car make its way back into the hands of Ford's American corporate executives, not the poor Chinese laborers working on the manufacturing line?
What if the American Olympians' opening ceremony outfits had been produced in the US and not China, might some of these same people (who are currently calling for the burning of the clothes) have complained that the clothes were being made in sweat shops right here in the USA?
One last question - Was Harry Reid wearing clothes made in America when he made the above statement? And does he clean those same clothes using a washing machine made in America? Why didn't a reporter ask him this? Oh, right...
Because no one cares and this is a stupid time wasting conversation.