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1 Cold War and Rhetoric: Conceptually and Critically Robert L. Scott On February 1, 1980, President Jimmy Carter addressed the National Conference on Physical Fitness and Sports for All. After a brief introduction in which he quipped about his well-known penchant for jogging being no threat to marathon runners Bill Rogers and Frank Shorter, the president said: This is a time of determination, a time of sober assessment, a time of challenge. changed my prepared remarks at the last minute to say a few things that I think are important to the American people and particularly to you. I'd like to begin by paying a special tribute to a group that deserves the praise and support of all Americans, the United States Olympic Committee. Recently, I declared on behalf of the American people that unless the Soviet forces are withdrawn from Afghanistan, that the 1980 Olympic games should be moved from Moscow, canceled, or postponed. Both Houses of Congress, I think speaking accurately for the American people, have concurred strongly in that judgment. And last weekend, the United States Olympic Committee voted, I believe unanimously, to support the strong national sentiment on this issue. It was not an easy decision for me, nor for the Congress, nor for the U.S. Olympic Committee. Their decision was difficult, and it was a courageous action which deserves our praise and our support. I Of course we know now that the Olympics were neither moved from Moscow nor canceled or postponed, and that few other nations joined the United States in boycotting the summer games. Further, the boycott raised some controversy in this country. Soviet troops remained in Afghanistan .What did Jimmy Carter hope to achieve? That question is difficult to answer in detail, but it is not risky to say that he hoped to achieve more than he did. In almost any human situation, response is important. Carter indicates as much in his speech in citing the action of Congress as "speaking accurately for the American people" and the action of the U.S. Olympic Committee. The national executive worked hard to assure those 2 Robert L. Scott responses. That the president of the United States will respond in some fashion to any important action of the Soviet Union in today's world can be taken for granted and, to some degree, the nature of that response can also be taken for granted, for the United States and the USSR have been locked for decades in a Cold War. The Cold War is not entirely a war of words; in the instance at hand, the presence or nonpresence of athletes representing the United States in Moscow in the summer of 1980 was an important moment in that war, just as was the embargo of grain shipments from this country to the Communist world. Standing up to the USSR has been a mainstay in the conduct of U.S. foreign affairs since the end of World War II. Just what that phrase means, however, is constantly being interpreted by various parties within this country and abroad. Actions are justified by that phrase, and alleged lack of action, condemned. We constantly interpret what others do. Carter could scarcely help doing so: "Some have said, many have said, that we should not allow politics to interfere with Olympic competition. I agree completely. ,,2 Here the word "politics" is key in assigning meaning to the situation. "Some" or "many" had responded to Carter-for indeed the possibility of the Carter administration's involving the Olympics in its reactions to the Soviet's entering Afghanistan had hit the news in early January and had been avidly discussed since-and Carter responded: "But the issue now before our country and the world is not politics by any reasonable definition of that word. ,,3 But what is a reasonable definition? It is not politics when one nation sends 100,000 of its heavily armed troops across a border and subjugates its peace loving, deeply religious neighbor. It is not politics when one nation invades this nation's capital, installs a puppet regime, and participates in the assassination or death of the leaders which it does not like, including the families of those leaders. It's not politics when an army of invaders sweeps the countryside, as is presently taking place, killing those who dare to stand in its way. It's aggression, pure and simple. And I'm determined that the United States will make it clear...

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