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.
Everyone knows that anything above 60 million is a statistic anyway.
Here in Indiana, Luck just quit, and Manning kept going.
Can the rest of you FReepers tell me how I should feel about these two men?
Works for me!
Matthew 2:13
Now when the Magi had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him."
Can’t help you. I am into women, not men. You are on your own.
Luck had a pretty limiting injury. Enjoyed watching his collegiate career, quite a thrower when healthy and mobile.
Peyton, also beatup like an old dump truck, will be still twitching&calling plays in the coffin when they lower him.
Feeel? Maybe the gridiron gods will shine on your team, all indications so far, uhh, maybe not. Trade ya Cousins for some donuts, you can have the Vikes coach too.
Re: 30 - How about Steve Blass?
After the ‘71 World Series, he lost all control. Just lost it. Was never the same.
Miss him doing color on the Pirates radio.
She is a full adult and has been for years.
Adults act like adults.
She acted like a petulant child.
I am the greatest of all time.
Oh I goofed!
I quit.
But only the team.
Oh wait, now I quit everything because people are not buying my whine and I might lose ALL my endorsements.
Posted by some anonymous, arrogant idiot who has never experienced the ultimate pressure imposed on an Olympic athlete who has reached the pinnacle of their sport...
And the expectations of idiots like you to continue that excellence while never once knowing what it takes to actually reach that level of excellence.
LOL!
I don’t watch much anymore, unless the wife has the remote.
She’s the sport nut.
I have not, but since the mainstream media says this is such an important topic, I will weigh in with my thoughts:
IDGAF!
That is all.
I see the “American Hero” is making her return. PR hit must be touching the $$$ train.
Funny, you don’t hear much about the WHITE gymnast who took tier place and earned a Silver metal.
How about that?
More good news from the Olympics: No Gold metal for the “women’s” soccer team. They lost to Canada. Yay, Canada!
I never was a fan of the Olympics. Not I’m happy when “my” team loses. And I’m not alone.
Thanks for “waking” me up.
White American took Gold in Floor exercises. Suzy Snowflake only got a Bronze on the balance beam.
Most of our athletes probably aren’t scumbags, I don’t root against team USA but I’m not broken up about the Soccer dykes. Pathetic. Meanwhile the US Men win the Gold Cup.
“ Suzy Snowflake”: How ironic.
Good point - most/many/some probably are not scumbags. But the media focuses on said scumbags and those bad apples do spoil the barrel.
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