For all the apprehensive publicity about the Olympics, including the possibility of terrorism, the evil Putin, injustices in Russia, and all the wonderful places that the Olympics coulda woulda shoulda been, I found them most enjoyable. There was a lot of the kind of international cooperation that this historical event is supposed to provide, and I found it interesting and refreshing.
Where else can you see a Russian skater performing to the tune "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," and what tune is more capitalist than that? There were a lot of other international skaters using very American music, such as "Forty Second Street," while others used more subdued classical music, there were a mélange of tunes from all over the world. The opening and closing ceremonies were great, especially at the end when they had a great display of Russian writers, many of whom were dissidents who helped bring down the Soviet regime, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Look at the difference from the Cold War, with successors of Stalin hiding behind the secrecy of the Kremlin, and hints of the days when Russia and America had proxy wars for global domination. Here was Russia playing on the capitalist stage with everybody else. Despite the fact that many might point at terrible problems on the Asian continent occurring during the emergence from the Communist dictatorship, we certainly can admit, at least, that there is some progress. N'est pas?
Where else can you see a Russian skater performing to the tune "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," and what tune is more capitalist than that? There were a lot of other international skaters using very American music, such as "Forty Second Street," while others used more subdued classical music, there were a mélange of tunes from all over the world. The opening and closing ceremonies were great, especially at the end when they had a great display of Russian writers, many of whom were dissidents who helped bring down the Soviet regime, such as Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Look at the difference from the Cold War, with successors of Stalin hiding behind the secrecy of the Kremlin, and hints of the days when Russia and America had proxy wars for global domination. Here was Russia playing on the capitalist stage with everybody else. Despite the fact that many might point at terrible problems on the Asian continent occurring during the emergence from the Communist dictatorship, we certainly can admit, at least, that there is some progress. N'est pas?