POLITICO NIGHTLY: It’s OK to love the Olympics

 

BY RYAN HEATH Presented by With help from Renuka Rayasam OPINION: JUST REMEMBER TO HATE THE IOC — Global Translations author Ryan Heath, currently in training for the 2032 Brisbane Games, says don’t hate the players, hate the Games: Boycotts may be the only drama the Tokyo Olympics has managed to escape. There’s even a tropical storm on track to hit Tokyo next Tuesday. The Games have been turned into a 24/7 Covid obstacle course, but that’s the International Olympic Committee for you. The key is not letting the silent stadiums and self-involved officials spoil the global summer party. It’s true that the committee doesn’t know how to retreat: “The Games must go on” was its rallying cry in 1972, when 11 Israelis were abducted from the athletes village and assassinated. Defiant as ever, the IOC is now delivering a Games largely unwanted by its hosts and defined by isolation, while demanding we all feel connected by it. “Stronger, higher, faster, together” is the new Olympic motto, unveiled today by IOC President Thomas Bach. The Olympic Rings are seen outside the stadium as fireworks go off during the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. | Lintao Zhang/Getty Images But are we in it together? American track star Sha’Carri Richardson is banned for marijuana use, but most of the Russian team, after repeated systemic performance-enhancing doping and a formal ban, is competing in suspiciously Russian-colored “neutral” uniforms. No such luck for Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, two 18-year-old female runners from Namibia. They’re banned from the women’s 400-meter dash because the International Association of Athletics Federations says their natural testosterone levels are too high. Still, if checks on athletes are arbitrary and inconsistent, at least they exist. Games organizers don’t seem to get so much as a background check. It took until yesterday for organizers to realize the director of the Opening Ceremony had a history of Holocaust jokes — after his predecessor was fired for referring to a plus-size female comedian as an “Olympig” and the event’s composer was fired for boasting about abusing disabled children. Did I mention the Games CEO resigned after saying women “talk too much”? Self-reflection has never been the IOC’s strong point. They bolstered women’s participation numbers in the Games while continuing to welcome sports federations that make female beach volleyball players wear bikini bottoms (and issue fines when they don’t). Competition slots are reserved for nations that are not traditionally good at swimming, but swim caps designed for Black hair are banned. There’s been a lot of debate this Olympic cycle about whether it’s OK to conduct a political protest from the medal podium. We can expect those protests to take place over everything from Black Lives Matter to drug cheats, and they’ll appear as filters on countless social media posts. The British Olympic team has said it will support its athletes if they choose to raise their voices. First Lady Jill Biden is trying to rise above these culture wars, telling America’s athletes in Tokyo that “becoming an Olympian is a rare accomplishment in a normal time. But you did it during a global pandemic. In these moments we are more than our cities or states or backgrounds. We are more than our jobs or our political parties. We are Team USA.” Biden offers wise advice for TV viewers: It’s the individual and team excellence that count, not the petty IOC sideshows. Barring full-scale Covid disaster, those inspiring stories that will fill our hearts, not just our screens, over the next two weeks. But when the Games move on to Beijing in barely more than six months and eventually land in Los Angeles in 2028, delivering more excellence and less sideshow will probably require giving athletes a bigger voice in how the Olympics are run. The athletes will have to fight for that voice. Nothing happens quickly or by accident in the IOC’s world. It took 49 years of fighting, but the IOC commemorated those 11 murdered Israelis in today’s opening ceremony. “Justice has finally been done,” said widows Ilana Romano and Ankie Spitzer. Welcome to POLITICO Nightly. Reach out with news, tips and ideas for us at nightly@politico.com. Or contact tonight’s author directly at rheath@politico.com or on Twitter at @PoliticoRyan. A message from AARP: Americans are sick of paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs — more than three times what people in other countries pay for the same medicine. The President, members of Congress in both parties, and the people agree: we must cut drug prices. By giving Medicare the power to negotiate, we can save hundreds of billions of dollars. Tell Congress: Cut prescription drug prices now.   WHAT'D I MISS? — New Capitol Police chief takes charge amid turmoil at department: Thomas Manger is assuming the top position at a time when rank-and-file officers don’t have much confidence in the leadership team, which has faced scalding criticism in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack from the USCP Inspector General, an outside analysis from Lt. Gen. Russel Honore and a Senate investigation. On his first day on the job, the new chief has not yet spoken to the union representing the thousands of rank-and-file officers who protect the Capitol. — Alabama governor says it’s time to blame unvaccinated people: Republican Gov. Kay Ivey issued an impassioned plea for residents of her state to get vaccinated against Covid-19. “It’s the unvaccinated folks that are letting us down,” she said Thursday. The White House took a different approach when asked about Ivey’s remarks today. “We’re not here to place blame or threats; we’re here to provide accurate information,” press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters. — Huawei hiring former Democratic super lobbyist Tony Podesta: Podesta will aim to help the controversial Chinese telecom giant warm relations with the Biden administration, according to two people familiar with the matter. Huawei faces a host of challenges in Washington, including Justice Department charges. — House Freedom Caucus asks McCarthy to try to remove Pelosi as speaker: In a letter today, the group asked Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to file and bring up a privileged motion by July 31 “to vacate the chair and end Nancy Pelosi’s authoritarian reign as Speaker of the House.” The motion is all but guaranteed to fail in the Democratic House, but it signals a stewing anger on the right toward the speaker. —Trump ally Tom Barrack set to be released on $250 million bond: Barrack, a wealthy private-equity investor and Trump 2017 inaugural chair who now faces criminal charges of secretly acting as a foreign agent in the U.S. for the United Arab Emirates, was set to be released on bail today after prosecutors and his defense reached an agreement for him to pledge $250 million to secure his future appearance. The deal spares Barrack — who was arrested Tuesday in the Los Angeles area — from the prospect of spending the weekend in jail and of being transferred in government custody to Brooklyn, N.Y., where the indictment in the case was brought.   SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel.     CLIMATE WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE — Floods. They’ve been on my mind this week as water poured through New York City’s subway system, left a trail of detritus and death in Western Germany, and submerged passengers in the trains of Zhengzhou, China, writes Nightly’s Renuka Rayasam. It’s a sign — along with wildfires and droughts — that even if the U.S. and other countries around the world do everything they can to zero out emissions in the future, we have to learn to live with climate disasters today. The Biden administration has touted a provision tucked into the bipartisan infrastructure package that would allocate about $47 billion to climate resiliency. The details aren’t totally defined, but the money would probably include things like hardening roads and bridges against extreme weather, erosion prevention measures in lakes and rivers, help for coastal communities dealing with rising sea levels and protecting transit systems from storms. When heavy rain hits, for example, it needs somewhere to go to prevent flooding. Channeling that water somewhere else counts as climate resiliency. But there’s a divide among climate change experts about whether fortifying infrastructure against the impact of climate change detracts from the larger fight: stopping climate change. Much of our current infrastructure is already past its prime and should be repaired so that it can withstand extreme weather, said Constantine Samaras, director of Carnegie Mellon University’s Center for Engineering and Resilience for Climate Adaptation. When aging roads and bridges get washed out in a flood, rebuilding them amounts to a sort of climate tax. It’s better to upgrade things ahead of time, he said. Even if lawmakers and the administration don’t want to admit it, much of the spending on roads and bridges and transit and waterways is a climate bill in disguise, he said. “The infrastructure we have right now was generally designed for the weather and climate of the 20th century,” Samaras said. Take New York City’s subway system. It’s long since had a water problem — even on days when it doesn’t rain, 14 million gallons are pumped out. Making even basic repairs would better equip the system to deal with the likelihood of more frequent downpours. After Hurricane Sandy nearly a decade ago, the city spent nearly $3 billion on fortifying subway openings against flooding. But those repairs weren’t enough when heavy rain hit the city earlier this month. That’s why Deborah Gordon, a climate researcher at Brown University, believes that with the limited resources — and limited Congressional attention span — the most urgent focus is preventing climate change, not accommodating it. Her fear that too much investment in resilience could be wasted. It would be nearly impossible to plan for the type of flash floods that submerged entire European villages this week — a bridge could never be raised high enough. One Belgium official said, “It’s an illusion that we can prepare or plan for everything.” She also worries that such preparations could backfire by giving people a false sense of security. Having back up generators on hand, for example, can mitigate the impact of weather-related power outages like the one that occurred when Texas’ electrical grid froze. “But that doesn’t help climate change,” Gordon said. There are infrastructure projects that have little to do with resiliency but could have a major impact in lowering carbon emissions, like preventing methane from leaking from a pipeline. Another, more radical idea: give people incentives to relocate. Maybe people shouldn’t live in fire or flood prone areas at all. Samaras thinks we don’t have much of a choice right now. Extreme weather is here. We have to fix and raise bridges, create better drainage and more parks to prevent road flooding, plan evacuation routes in coastal communities and fortify levees and dams. “Infrastructure is boring when it’s working,” Samaras said. “But people died this week. It’s like an infrastructure week siren going off all the time.” Samaras and Gordon agree that in an ideal world Congress should focus on both hedging against climate disasters and preventing them. We do not live in such a world.       AROUND THE WORLD VIOLENCE OUTSIDE HAITI FUNERAL — The funeral for slain Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was briefly interrupted today by nearby gunfire and tear gas as well as agitated supporters that caused U.S. and U.N. officials to leave before his widow spoke publicly for the first time since the attack. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the private compound where Moïse’s funeral was held as some mourners inside shouted, “Justice for Jovenel!” and cheered when Martine Moïse, who was seriously injured in the July 7 attack at the couple’s private home, rose to the podium at the end of the ceremony. Smoke and ash from burning barricades that demonstrators set up around the compound, along with tear gas fired by police, blew through the ceremony as Martine Moïse and others spoke. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said later today that all members of the U.S. delegation were “safe and accounted for” and that those who traveled from Washington, D.C. for the funeral had arrived back in the United States.   SUBSCRIBE TO "THE RECAST" TODAY: Power is shifting in Washington and in communities across the country. More people are demanding a seat at the table, insisting that politics is personal and not all policy is equitable. The Recast is a twice-weekly newsletter that explores the changing power dynamics in Washington and breaks down how race and identity are recasting politics and policy in America. Get fresh insights, scoops and dispatches on this crucial intersection from across the country and hear critical new voices that challenge business as usual. Don't miss out, SUBSCRIBE . Thank you to our sponsor, Intel.     PUNCHLINES OUTER SPACE — With Matt Wuerker away, Brooke Minters takes us through a week of cartoons on rising Covid numbers and Jeff Bezos’ space flight. NIGHTLY NUMBER More than 4,500 The number of tips that an FBI tip line received for an investigation into Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations about Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, according to a letter that the FBI sent to two senators on June 30. In the letter, Assistant FBI Director Jill Tyson said the tips were provided to the Office of White House Counsel, prompting concern that those tips may have been dismissed or underinvestigated by the Trump administration as it sought to install Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. PARTING WORDS GUARDIANS OF CUYAHOGA COUNTY — The Biden administration is supportive of Cleveland’s baseball team changing its name to the Guardians, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said today. The Major League Baseball team announced earlier today that it would be dropping its long-standing Indians moniker after years of criticism that it appropriates Native American imagery in ways that were insensitive and offensive. Cleveland’s name change is part of a broader movement to change or revisit casual use of Native American symbols, particularly within sports and schools. A number of Republicans decried the name change as evidence of overbearing political correctness, including former President Donald Trump. He said the team, which last won a World Series in 1948, was soiling their “storied and cherished baseball franchise” in changing the name they had used for over a century. He also claimed that few Native Americans objected to the team name. “Wouldn’t it be an honor to have a team named the Cleveland Indians, and wouldn’t it be disrespectful to rip that name and logo off of those jerseys?” Trump said in a statement. Did someone forward this email to you? Sign up here. A message from AARP: It’s outrageous that Americans pay more than three times what people in other countries pay for the same medicine. And these unfair prices keep going up. Even during the pandemic and financial crisis, the prices of more than 1,000 drugs were increased. It’s time for the President and Congress to cut prescription drug prices. Currently, Medicare is prohibited by law from using its buying power to negotiate with drug companies to get lower prices for people. This must change. Giving Medicare the power to negotiate will save hundreds of billions of dollars. And the American people agree. In a recent AARP survey of Americans 50+, a vast majority supported allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies for lower prices, including 88% of Democrats and 85% of Republicans. Tell Congress: Act now to lower prescription drug prices. Let Medicare negotiate.     Follow us on Twitter Renuka Rayasam @renurayasam Chris Suellentrop @suellentrop Tyler Weyant @tweyant Myah Ward @myahward   FOLLOW US

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