People like to pretknd that the olympics happen out-side of time. Actually, the Games are always defined by the" moment in which they're held, and if Sydney 2000 was the great global orgy, in which the condom machines in the athletes' village famously couldn't be refilled fast enough, Athens 2004 was often the uncomfortable morning after, the reckoning in which everyone was forced to bundle up the sheets and wonder where this whole international relationship was going. Naturally, most of the anxiety in Athens was directed at, and emanated from, the U.S. Even though terrorism fears dissipated, many American spectators wrung their hands over just how representatives of the world's lone superpower should comport them-selves. When can we cheer? Are we cheering too much? Too little? Should I leave the GOD BLESS THE U.S.A. fanny pack at the hotel? It didn't help that a presumed aj]y, the Iraqi soccer team, was less than grateful during its surprising ran to the bronze-medal game (the team ultimately finished fourth). The Bush campaign used the Iraqi team's success to Score political points but neglevted to mention that one of Uday Hussein's henchmen still oversees the team.
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