‘The life of an Olympian is unknowably grueling’
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
‘Team USA showed America at its best’
Chicago Tribune editorial board
Americans “love the 12 gold medals — 33 in total — our athletes are bringing home, but it’s the stories that keep us hooked on the Olympic Games, and Milan did not disappoint,” says the Chicago Tribune editorial board. People have “immense respect for the athletes who endure and perform.” Watching our “fellow Americans achieve such heights offers a reminder that maybe we, too, are capable of something extraordinary if we’re willing to work.”
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‘I don’t trust online reviews. You probably shouldn’t either.’
Blake Fontenay at USA Today
Being “bombarded with online surveys is one of the most tiresome aspects of modern life,” says Blake Fontenay. After spending “half an hour on the phone with some faceless customer service rep at a call center, no one wants to spend another five to 10 minutes recapping the conversation.” In a “society already swimming in data, there's such a thing as too much feedback.” Not “every routine online transaction is a magical experience worthy of a five-star rating.”
‘The State of the Union is delusion’
Jim Newell at Slate
The “fleeting preservation of delusion is now the only practical purpose of the State of the Union,” says Jim Newell. Gone are the “days when the American people didn’t get regular updates from the president, and when a single speech could cut through the noise to introduce the next year’s agenda.” The speech is a “moment when the president can project the exact aura he wants on a grand stage. For Biden, that was vigor. For Trump’s first, that was gravitas.”
‘The quiet majority is exhausted. It’s time to act.’
Patrick Payton at The Dallas Morning News
Moderate Americans are “fed up with and exhausted by the extremes sucking the life out of our collective morale and crushing the long-held belief that we are able to continue to be one nation,” says Patrick Payton. It “doesn’t have to be this way if the Majority Middle will awaken from their exhausted slumber and demand more from those we elect and hopefully hold them accountable.” They “must not be allowed to continue to hold the microphone of national debate.”
