If race, gender, immigration and even our definitions of success are dividing us as citizens and voters, they’re uniting us, if only temporarily, as fans of Team USA. Laurie Hernandez is Puerto Rican, and the team is rounded out by two white gymnasts, Aly Raisman, who is Jewish, and Madison Kocian. The irony is that what makes for a divisive falsehood in an election is, in fact, true of Olympic gymnastics. By now in this column, you’ve probably noticed another theme of the Rio Olympics: the prominence of American women. As Rio is making unmistakably clear, the parts of American life that Trump wants to change to “make America great again” are some of the very things that make America great just as it is.

Source: Washington Post August 12, 2016 23:37 UTC