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I remember four years ago when Costas--reacting to an enthusiastic reception for U.S. athletes--blurted out something about the people of Athens being conscientious enough to separate a nation's people from a nation's leadership (or foreign policy, or something). Tonight, when there was yet again a warm welcome for the U.S., Costas said nothing. Apparently, he can improve. Maybe in a few hundred years, he'll have learned enough to shut up and let the ceremony unfold on its own. By the way, the reason the U.S. always earns among the liveliest response at Olympic ceremonies is the *same* reason the U.S. receives the most criticism from so-called world-opinion: the U.S. is the current superstar of the world. As we all experience in our celebrity-obsessed culture, fame elicits hate and love in equal measure. The global community will decry the corrupt American empire out of side of their mouths, and speak English, drink coke, and sing along to rock music out of the other side, so long as Americans are exceptional.