CALLAHANTICS

In less than 10 seconds, it is possible to undo a decade’s worth of work. When Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou tweeted, “With so many Africans in Greece... the West Nile mosquitoes will at least eat homemade food!!!” the immediate response was being removed from the Greek Olympic Team. The head of the Greek Olympic Mission, Isidoros Kouvelos summed it up: "She showed no respect for a basic Olympic value and unfortunately she is out," told Greek SKAI TV. "She made a mistake and in life we pay for our mistakes." It seems a bit extreme a choice, but it reminds us of the standards that the Olympic Games try to maintain. My curiosity is: How on earth, if you as a country (or a team) have invested so deeply in these athletes and are already putting them under such constant, extreme pressure already that anyone responsible for their conduct or their media exposure would let any of them near an I Phone or a Twitter account? As much as it seems like a Twilight ...

Last week, on Hardball an academic pundit Cynthia Tucker touched upon the reference that flashed back to George Bush vs. Al Gore and John Kerry and even Obama McCain referencing camaraderie at the local brewery noting, “Mitt Romney is a geeky, awkward candidate on the campaign trail,” Tucker continued. “He doesn’t project a lot of personal warmth. He doesn’t’ seem the kind of guy you’d want to sit down and have a beer with.” A friend of mine vented for a good few minutes about it noting, “Why do I want to elect someone I want to have a drink with? I think our primary leader should be a person who is outstanding, not someone who is average in everything!   Isn’t this person supposed to be extraordinary? Our president is representing our country around the world and needs to be competent and practical and on the ball, not merely personable!” I thought about his exasperation for a minute and was flashing back to numerous times this metaphor has been used in the last 3 going on 4...