World News Korner

President Obama chooses openly gay delegates to send to the Olympic games in openly homophobic Russia. We'll call this "Putting it to Putin."

Courtesy of HuffPo:

President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced his delegates to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. And, in what may be a thumb in the eye to Russian President Vladimir Putin over his crackdown on gay rights, two of Obama's delegates are openly gay.

Billie Jean King, the tennis legend, and Caitlin Cahow, an Olympic medalist in women’s ice hockey, are both part of the U.S. delegation. Both are out lesbians.

Another member of the U.S. delegation, figure skating Olympic medalist Brian Boitano, routinely declines to answer questions about his sexuality, saying "everybody's got their own path" to discovering who they are.

Others in the delegation include University of California President Janet Napolitano, the former Homeland Security secretary; U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul; White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors; Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, and speed skating Olympic medalists Bonnie Blair and Eric Heiden.

In what may be another slight to the Russian president, Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and first lady Michelle Obama will not attend the opening ceremony. This marks the first time since the 2000 Summer Olympic Games that a president, vice president, first lady or former president won't be part of the opening ceremony.

God I love this President!

My daughter and I had quite the giggle about this yesterday.

However she said that a lot of her friends were simply planning to boycott watching the Olympics and wish the US had done the same.

I argued that by doing so all we do is punish our own athletes who have been training for years to compete, and reminded her of my own personal frustration as a young gymnast when our incredible male gymnastic team of 1980, was denied their shot at the gold due to the Russians invading Afghanistan. (Ironic isn't it?)

I also reminded her that in1936, when Adolph Hitler was attempting to use the games to demonstrate the supremacy of the Aryan race, that America did not boycott, but rather sent their best, whihc resulted in this iconic photograph.

I said that showing up and forcing Russia to deal with their prejudice during an event heavily covered by the national media was far better than simply hiding at home, and cowering in fear while LGBT Russians were being attacked on the streets.

She asked what would happen if gay athletes, or their supporters, were assaulted while in Russia, and I said then they would tell the world and that is how change is brought to a society that does not want to be left behind by the rest of the world.

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