President GW with US Athletes at Olympics
Posted on 02/09/2002 7:17:57 AM PST by summer
February 9, 2002
U.S. Athletes Buoyed by Bush's Speech
By DAVID SANGER
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 8 — In a day of Olympian dashes that took him from the Mormon Church to an emotional greeting of the American athletes to his role declaring the Olympic Games open, President Bush paid parallel tributes today to the heroes of Sept. 11 and to the Games, which he said would celebrate American virtues and help heal the nation's wounds.
"These Games come at the perfect time for us," Bush told the members of the United States Olympic team as they gathered on a basketball court not long before the opening ceremony.
His voice hoarse, and on the verge of choking up, the president looked out at the young faces of the athletes and told them: "It is a chance for the world to see that in a time of war, we can come together in friendly competition."
And then he delivered the words of Todd Beamer, who helped take on the hijackers of Flight 93 before it crashed in Pennsylvania. "Let's roll," the president told the Olympic athletes. "God bless."
Bush's meeting with the athletes came just a few hundred yards from the Olympic stadium, in a city gripped in a Utah chill, and locked down by the police, the Secret Service, the military and counterterrorism teams.
On the podium with the president was the tattered American flag from the World Trade Center that, after considerable controversy over whether it was the suitable symbol for games dedicated to peace, was paraded at tonight's ceremony.
Bush was not alone in greeting the athletes: when they were not flocking around him and Laura Bush, the competitors were seeking autographs from the rest of his entourage, including Cal Ripken Jr., the retired Baltimore Oriole, and Lance Armstrong, whose victories at the Tour de France left many of the American athletes in awe.
So it quickly became an afternoon of mutual gawking. Bush was clearly happy to chat with Picabo Street, the Alpine skier, and with Michelle Kwan, the figure skater..
And for Brian Martin, a 28-year- old from Palo Alto, Calif., the magic of the day was that his berth in the luge doubles competition had brought him face to face with the nation's leader.
"It was neat to be 5 feet away from the most powerful man in the world," Martin said. "He's as dedicated in his own way to what he's doing as we are to what we're doing."
At the ceremony, Bush was mostly a spectator — but he added an opening phrase to the traditional declaration by the head of state of the host country. "On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation," Bush said shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern time, "I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City, celebrating the Olympic Winter Games."
Bush stayed in the stadium for hours, usually behind glass, but open to the chill wind blowing down the Wasatch Range. But to the consternation of his security team, he was on the field of the stadium for lengthy periods, reminiscent of when he threw out the first ball at Yankee Stadium during the World Series last fall. He later recalled that moment on the mound in tones that suggested it was one of the few moments he felt personally vulnerable in a season of national terrors.
But tonight, he said that Salt Lake City was different. "I'm so confident about the security condition that I've come," he told reporters. Later, in an interview on NBC, which is broadcasting the Games, he said he never thought of canceling the Olympics. "It would have been a victory for the terrorists," he said.
Like many tourists to Salt Lake City, Bush began his visit with a trip to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang, and Bush spent half an hour with Gordon Hinckley, president of the church, talking about genealogy; the church keeps the country's most complete genealogical records, and it turned out that the Bush family was in the files.
"Before you tell me," Bush said to his hosts, "are there any horse thieves in there?"
But while Bush came here to celebrate the Olympics, he also used the day to rouse the country to the next phase of the war on terrorism. He offered a more specific rendition of the vow he made in his State of the Union speech last month to pursue any nation developing weapons of mass destruction.
One of the countries Bush specifically mentioned — Iran — fielded a team of two for the Games, and the two athletes marched past the president as he sat in the stands. They carried the Iranian flag and a sign that said "Islamic Republic of Iran," as the president watched. The two other countries Bush said belonged to an "axis of evil," Iraq and North Korea, did not send teams here.
All three countries were clearly on the president's mind as he spoke to a convention of cattlemen in Denver in the afternoon. Bush said he was determined to disarm "nations which develop weapons of mass destruction aimed at destroying America and attacking our friends and our allies."
For the first time, he added a further description of his targets, saying he was aiming at nations that "have shown us clearly that they hate freedom, they hate transparency, they hate the rule of law."
Mixing the Sept. 11 remembrances with the apolitical intent of Olympics has proven a delicate task, and Bush seemed determined today to blur the dividing line. Rescue workers from ground zero accompanied Bush as he spoke to the American team members this afternoon, and the workers held the flag during the ceremony.
And for the first time, Bush today talked briefly about the controversy surrounding whether the tattered [USA] flag recovered from the ruins of the World Trade Center should have been part of the opening celebration.
"I knew that there would be an accommodation reached; I talked to some friends about it," he said. "So I'm happy with the outcome of the accommodation."
I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during those "talks" with "some friends." You've got to love this President's understatements.
"Before you tell me," Bush said to his hosts, "are there any horse thieves in there?"
I wonder what kind of information they have on Clinton's family history?
I thought the Pres did great last night
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