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The Gift of Simone Biles
Townhall.com ^ | July 31, 2021 | Kathryn Lopez

Posted on 07/31/2021 5:00:44 AM PDT by Kaslin

Is there anyone who has not voiced an opinion on Simone Biles stepping aside from Olympic competition by now? I'll add to the deluge by saying: Thanks be to God she is where she is. She was once a child in foster care. Her grandparents decided to adopt her, and that made all the difference. May her presence in the news shine a light on all the children in foster care who aren't yet success stories because they do not have the gift of a family to help make all the difference in their lives.

Biles writes about that defining event in her life -- and her sister's -- in her book "Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance." She tells of the day her grandmother told her that she and her sister were adopted by her grandparents, and of the joy of being able to embrace them as Mom and Dad. She had a permanent home, a "forever family" to cheer her on, cry with her and give her advice and all the things that parents can do for a child, well into adulthood. It's not too much for a child to ask for.

And yet there are at least 437,500 children in foster care -- we're still awaiting an official assessment of how the pandemic has made this crisis worse.

As people were opining on Biles' decision to recognize her human limits, the House of Representatives was voting to end the Hyde Amendment, a line in the sand that for four decades has prevented taxpayer funding of abortion.

Rep. Henry Hyde of Illinois, the bill's original sponsor and namesake, said that there is nothing guaranteed of the American experiment in freedom. We are reminded of that constantly these days. Violence and division are rife. Even the way commentators feel so free to attack Biles, a young woman who made a decision to protect herself and her team. It is good to be aware of our own weaknesses -- individually, as part of a team, and as a country.

Hyde said in 1987: "[I]f the boundaries of our public hospitality are one index of our public virtue and our character, then the abortion liberty -- this terrible shredding of the fabric of our hospitality, this deliberate fracturing of the community of the commonly protected -- must be reversed if America is to endure and prosper."

Hyde argued that abortion is "deeply unworthy of us" and "demeaning." And he said that at a time when at least we were not spending government money on abortion.

In her book, Biles reflects on her life's journey to gymnastics and how it would have been different if her birth mother could have raised her. "[W]hen it comes to how things turned out, I'm not sorry. I'm part of a beautiful family that is closer and more loving than any I could've ever chosen. As the woman told my grandma -- now my mom -- in the lunch break room all those years ago, God never makes a mistake."

We do make mistakes, though. And this moment when Simone Biles is in the news and the "people's house" rejects the Hyde Amendment -- which has for so long has been a bulwark -- should set off alarms that we have abandoned a founding principle. In that same 1987 speech, Hyde said: "In a sense, every American is a Founder; every American is a framer ... And we need foresight and wisdom and compassion and a reclamation of the tradition of hospitality."

Is America a country of hospitality or cruelty? Is it a country that helps women and promotes life or a country that throws both away? The House of Representatives has voted to put our money toward the latter. The most important takeaway from Biles being in the news is what a tremendous gift her life is, whatever choices she made in Tokyo.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: bloggers; olympics; simonebiles
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1 posted on 07/31/2021 5:00:44 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Americans mask:

is it true the obviously-ChInA-run DO”J” had her brother
on a triple murder charge ... and let him go lightly
after she agreed to drop out so a ‘chinese looking girl’
could win?


2 posted on 07/31/2021 5:22:41 AM PDT by Diogenesis (Tuitio Fidei et Obsequium Pauperum)
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To: Diogenesis

No, it’s not. She got overwhelmed and quit rather than suck it up. Then made excuses.
Very indicative of today’s culture and not suprising.


3 posted on 07/31/2021 5:28:44 AM PDT by frogjerk (I will not do business with fascists)
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To: frogjerk

Selfish malice....PERIOD


4 posted on 07/31/2021 5:31:46 AM PDT by SMARTY (Republics decline into democracies & democracies degenerate into despotisms. Aristotle)
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To: frogjerk

Those gymnastics routines are dangerous unless you are in peak condition. She did not feel well and had some vertigo, I believe. If so, she was smart to quit. Leave the kid alone.


5 posted on 07/31/2021 5:36:15 AM PDT by maro (MAGA!)
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To: frogjerk
I think she quit for the right reason, and then she and the USOC folks promptly bungled things with a bunch of silly public statements.

She quit because she simply wasn’t performing well, and was going to be a drag on the scores of the entire team. I don’t think she was “overwhelmed” at all except by her own sense of obligation to her teammates.

6 posted on 07/31/2021 5:39:25 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("And once in a night I dreamed you were there; I canceled my flight from going nowhere.")
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To: maro

Some of the remarks I’ve seen here remind me of this,

Those that can do and those that can’t criticize!


7 posted on 07/31/2021 5:48:16 AM PDT by JayAr36 (My disgust with government is complete.)
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To: maro

Some of the remarks I’ve seen here remind me of this,

Those that can do and those that can’t criticize!


8 posted on 07/31/2021 5:48:17 AM PDT by JayAr36 (My disgust with government is complete.)
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To: JayAr36

I never apply that wisdom to any entertainment-related industry. These are people who are paid to perform, and should expect to face critics and supporters alike.


9 posted on 07/31/2021 5:51:23 AM PDT by Alberta's Child ("And once in a night I dreamed you were there; I canceled my flight from going nowhere.")
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To: Diogenesis
is it true the obviously-ChInA-run DO”J” had her brother on a triple murder charge ... and let him go lightly after she agreed to drop out so a ‘chinese looking girl’ could win?

Not true....but there really is a helicopter following you when you go out.

Seal your windows with foil and wait for our call.

10 posted on 07/31/2021 5:51:25 AM PDT by mac_truck (aide toi et dieu t'aidera)
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To: JayAr36

Yup. People who criticize greatness are most likely Cheetos eating morons.
Give the girl a break. She has earned it.


11 posted on 07/31/2021 5:52:56 AM PDT by cornfedcowboy ( )
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To: mac_truck

; )


12 posted on 07/31/2021 5:55:27 AM PDT by leaning conservative (snow coming, school cancelled, yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!)
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To: maro

Great post!


13 posted on 07/31/2021 5:56:13 AM PDT by leaning conservative (snow coming, school cancelled, yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!)
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To: fieldmarshaldj; Impy; BillyBoy; KC_Lion; NFHale; LS

You’ve got:

Pennant races galore in MLB.
NFL training camps opening up.
Both the NHL and NBA drafts.
The rest of the Olympics occurring.

And this quitter is sucking all the oxygen out of the room.

What a brave hero, so brave. And stunning, and brave.

Another glaring example of the cultural dry rot.


14 posted on 07/31/2021 5:57:01 AM PDT by GOPsterinMA (I'm with Steve McQueen: I live my life for myself and answer to nobody.)
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To: mac_truck

” there really is a helicopter following you when you go out.”

Funny you mentioned helicopters following folks. Years ago a couple of guys were telling folks that one was following them out in the river swamps of the deep southeast and everyone laughed at them ...... until they shot it down in the middle of the swamp woods. In the paper but later it was not mentioned anymore. erased.


15 posted on 07/31/2021 5:59:52 AM PDT by DOC44
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To: Kaslin
People get grief nowadays when they don't have effective public relations staff to shape craft what they say into appealing and convincing words.

She had problems getting through her routines and understood that she could seriously hurt herself if she kept at them.

But she didn't have somebody to counsel her on how best to express this to the public so she's attacked.

16 posted on 07/31/2021 6:02:15 AM PDT by x
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To: Kaslin

Just what we need to distract us while the Republic burns.

Now we have People taking sides because this Gal made a decision to withdraw from an Olympic Event for reasons known only to herself. I won’t attack her simply because I never walked in her shoes or made the sacrifices she has made to become proficient in her Sport.

She is either Brave or Selfish depending on your point of view. That’s it. Perhaps we should put up a Poll so this can get resolved and we can move on.

Disclaimer: I have not watched one minute of the Olympics and this situation does nothing to make me feel that I am making the wrong decision.

That being said, if she comes out and calls me a Racist because I’m a White Male and I support POTUS Trump, she can go F**k herself. Until then she gets the benefit of the doubt.

Just my $.02, your Mileage may vary.


17 posted on 07/31/2021 6:02:42 AM PDT by Kickass Conservative (Ashli Babbitt was unavailable for comment.)
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To: frogjerk

There are Champions and those that are not. Champions always try and fail many times until success. The woke culture today prevents children and young adults from the experience of character strengthening failure. Damn shame because she is a fantastic athlete.


18 posted on 07/31/2021 6:06:29 AM PDT by mosaicwolf
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To: frogjerk

Have you performed at that level in gymnastics? She has done this for years.

Who are you or me to criticise her decision?


19 posted on 07/31/2021 6:12:31 AM PDT by Cronos ( )
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To: maro

Thank you.


20 posted on 07/31/2021 6:16:12 AM PDT by grame (May you know more of the love of God Almighty this day!)
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