The President and Mr. Miller

Bode Miller was the perfect candidate for the packaged American Hero, a good-lucking lad who played the rebel to perfection for the image-makers, and ran with the hype and the credit card ads to the 2006 Olympics. Miller was a portable symbol of American lone rangers, the guy who did it his way and reached for the gold. Except he didn't reach. He turned up hollow and empty and unwilling to sacrifice. He skiied off the course, and he skiied off the story-line.

Just as the Bridge to Nowhere is the perfect metaphor for rudderless national leader of the Republican Party, so the ski bum Bode Miller and his devil-may-care attitude toward spectacular failure on the world stage makes a fine stand-in for the President of the United States.

Compare the scorecards. Downhill, Combined, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom ... 5th, Disqualified, Did Not Finish, 6th, Did Not Finish. Spygate, Iraq, Katrina, Torture, Port Security. Or pick your own issues, any issues. No medals, folks - just ignominy and embarrassment before the world. What Bode Miller is to Olympic triumph, George Bush is to Presidential history, flopping off the slick course of national politics like James Buchanan in Team USA spandex.

Of course, it's one thing to be an over-hyped, overweight slalom slacker hanging out till all hours in the bars of Turin, letting down your sponsors, your teammates, and your fans. To me, athletes never really let their countries down - that nationalistic stuff is just for T-shirt sales. The Olympic movement is about as idealistic as the Nike advertising budget. In the end, Bode Miller really disgraced no one but himself. His stupid little episode will fade, and his moment on the public stage is nearly at an end. George Bush's incredible failure will be with us for many, many years. Increasingly isolated (if that's possible) and with his dream team riddled by buckshot and scandal, our national ski bum has the country on the icy, dangerous downhill towards disaster.

George Bush in the flight suit on that carrier was Bode Miller in the Nike ads before the Olympics, all image and promise. No substance and sacrifice, no guts and inner fire. Here's what Mr. Miller told the (obviously angry) team at NBC Sports:

"The expectations were other people's.  I'm comfortable with what I've accomplished, including at the Olympics ... I wanted to have fun here, to enjoy the Olympic experience, not be holed up in a closet and not ever leave your room. I got to party and socialize at an Olympic level ... I just did it my way. I'm not a martyr, and I'm not a do-gooder. I just want to go out and rock. And man, I rocked here."

Replace Olympics and Olympic with Presidency and Presidential, and how far are you really from the life and times of George W. Bush - who, after all, can always say he got to party and socialize on the Presidential level after a life partying and socializing on the silver spoon circuit.

Bode Miller is right. He is not a martyr. And he has absolutely nothing in common with the American men and women who are dying in our name in the streets of Iraqi cities as the Bush-triggered civil war rages. He has nothing in common with the 2,500 killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is nothing like the young Americans in military hospitals in Germany and Maryland and Texas and elsewhere, kids missing limbs and suffering paralysis and blindness, young people who time and time again tell the politicians and reporters who come around their beds: "I just want to get back to my unit."

Bode Miller is just another selfish American, another potent symbol of our self-satisfied society, but at least he doesn't ask more from others than he is willing to contribute himself. His failure is his own.

George Bush's failure is ours.

UPDATE: I have apparently offended Mr. Miller's "Bodelicious" fans by comparing him (favorably) to the President of the U.S. Here's a sample of the mail I'm getting: "I wanted to remind you - George W. Bush did not achieve anything, while Bode Miller has achieved a lot." I love this medium! (Oh, and for all you Bode defenders - nice how he treated his hometown newspaper columnist).

Comments

[synykyl]

I feel a little funny defending Bode Miller, but I think your criticism was a bit unfair.

I think Miller's devil-may-care attitude about his performance in some overblown sporting event is entirely appropriate. He's not the first guy who failed to live up to the expectations of his sponsors or fans, and he won't be the last. As professional athletes go, he's not the biggest jerk either.

Anyway, that's my two cents. I enjoy your writing very much. Keep up the good work.

[Tom W.]

Decent point - comparing him to the President may have been a low blow.

[bigezbear]

This is good. Clever and succinct. It says a lot. Thanks.

[Kaya]

Do you even KNOW anything about skiing? What makes you qualified enough to compare the best skier the USA has had in 20 years to the worst president the USA had in 500 years?

[Tom W.]

"500 years" - good one, Kaya...

[Tom K]

*Do you even KNOW anything about skiing . . .*

I can tell you for sure, Tom W knows that certain types of it are performed on snow, and that these are the kinds that are featured in the Winter Games.

[kaya]

So, I added a year or 2 to the period the USA actually gets to have a president. Boo-hoo. Do you know anything about countries that are not your own?

And I applaude you skiing knowledge. Apparently, you know just about as much about it as Dubya&co know about ... well, anything really, except hunting quails perhaps.

One question, though, why do you hate Bode Miller so much? Because he didn't medal? A lot of the Americans didn't medal, but they could have or/and should have. Apparently, all of you are upset because the USA didn't come 1st in the medals table. And somehow that's one man's fault. Aren't you supposed to be a leftist? A voice of reason? The anti-capitalist? Your hunger for medals and some sort of confirmation of your country's supperiority can be matched only by Bush' hunger for foreign oil. Ironic, ha?

[Tom W.]

Kaya - you might check out some of the other posts on this blog.

[floopmeister]

Bode who?

[Boing!!!!]

Clearly the segment of the skiing populace that finds its economic experience limited to asking mom and dad for money and selling adulterated pot to each other has come to defend Miller against charges of being exactly like a president who merely resembled such a person.
A year or 2 or 270 or whatever, man. You are bumming me out in an egregious fashion, man. Dude, not cool, man, not cool.
Thank the flying spaghetti monster for Rosie Fletcher, Alaskan snowboarding babe extraordinaire!

[paul]

Bode Miller is a chump, Kaya. He skied well enough to be chosen to compete against the best skiers, and he decided to blow it off, to party and hang out, rather than train and compete.

I don't care about the medal standings or what country got how many of what. But it is an insult to those who show up and do their best, as well as to those who aren't chosen, for someone to take an opportunity and wipe their butt with it.

Look up the story of Eugenio Monti and see how Mr Miller compares.

The Olympics are just about all that's left of amateur athletics, where people compete for the love of their sport. Someone who takes an Olympic berth as a ticket to party isn't deserving of the opportunity.

[oscar]

"but at least he doesn't ask more from others than he is willing to contribute himself. His failure is his own."

If he had won a medal on just his own contribution would his win have been ours? Everyone seems to think so. Or at least I think thats why everyone is so mad at him.

Who started this comparing a guy that skis for a living to a guy that causes wars for a living? You aren't the only genious to come up with that. It's all over the place. It sort of makes light of an administration that has caused the deaths of over a hundred thousand people.

[jillbryant]

I understand what you are trying to say but...I do think a 20-something(?) skiier in the Olympics who has always been exactly as he represented himself (he said he didn't care about medals before he went in, he did things his coaches didn't like before he went in - like finishing a run on one ski, he said he liked to party, etc.) It also isn't exactly a team sport -I suppose someone else could've had his space and, from what I could tell in how his coaches' reaction to him - they would've put someone else in if they had been close but he did win something big - World Cup? I think he is just the usual kid who thinks he will have opportunity after opportunity - perhaps goofs off in college because that's how he wants to spend those years. Now - if he hasn't grown up and we elect him President in 30 years...we're the fools, aren't we

What I think is very valid about your point is what America falls in love with is more about appearance than substance and are often part of the American mythology. Bode grew up very poor - child of rebels - and is a great skiier in spite of (or because of) breaking the European form. He has made more money than I'm sure he ever dreamt of and he did it on his own. That is very American. George Bush is the rich son of a powerful established American family who has been picked up and supported through all his many failures. But, he does give off this same appearance of son of America does well to the people that should despise him. He learned no sense of noblesse oblige - in fact the exact opposite. He is being used as a front by a group of self-interested corporate individuals and doesn't have to do one thing for himself. And, yet, this is the guy middle America wants to have a beer with.

[Tom K]

The only one he owed a better effort was himself. He'll regret it some day, I suspect, but who knows? It's his issue, and his alone.

[chuck]

Kaya and Oscar -- It ain't that Miller equals Bush ... it's that the packaging for both is the same: shiny, empty, bogus. Miller's failure is a metaphor, not a moral equivalent. Get it???

[Tom W.]

>>>>The only one he owed a better effort was himself.

I agree, basically. I'd possibly add his teammates and the sponsors who paid him a million bucks. But that's probably too business-oriented for the Olympics. Still, they did pay him the mil.

[Tom W.]

Chuck - thanks for the translation! Sorry to all for having been so obtuse....

[chuck]

Tom, I thought you were very clear. You used words like "metaphor" and "symbol". All due respect, twasn't you being obtuse!

[Steve Paradis]

Miller was just using David Chappelet as a role model, except for that part where he actually won races.

[hack]

Bode, Zell, Judy, Dennis...what is it about the name Miller that attracts such human detritus.

[Luther]

If Mr. Miller wasn't interested in medals how the hell did he get on the olympic team? Past performance? This entire olympic season has been a public relations disaster for the Untied states. We come accross to the world as a bunch of arrogant obnoxious drunks who are too full of ourselves to actually do the hard work it takes to win.

Given the limited self control Mr. Miller has, I don't expect he will have his money very long.

[Jesse]

One more distinction: while Miller's smug insouciance might have cost him at the Olympics, it's also what got him to the Olympics to begin with, and the two merely differ in degree, not kind; in both cases, you are basically going down a hill on sticks real fast, and acting like a goofball could help one keep the right frame of mind for what is in the end a delightfully trivial affair.

The bogglingly varied effectiveness of Bush's smug insouciance, on the other hand, is Exhibit A in how the skills required for campaigning are, at this point in history, not merely orthogonal to those required for governing; they're actively opposed. In elections, you really do get to create your own reality, if you're skilled enough, and I'm not even talking about Diebold. In governing, though, reality is its own final judgment upon itself. It's enough to make a smug man quail.

[cedichou]

That is silly. Bode Miller did perform reasonably well during the Olympics. 5th in the downhill is nothing to be ashamed off. Missing a gate in a slalom (disqualified or DNF) is a consequence of taking risks, sometime it pays off, sometime is does not. It seems you are disappointed he did not get a medal, but except for a Killy, Tomba, Aamodt or Zurbriggen, it's pretty hard to predict who's gonna win. One of the best ever, Marc Girardelli, never won a gold. This is downhill skiing, it is not the basket-ball, where the US dream team wins no matter what.

[Jonothan8]

"Bode, Zell, Judy, Dennis...what is it about the name Miller that attracts such human detritus."

Hack, you're a genius!

[Phoenix Woman]

If Bode Miller were black, he'd be accused of being dangerously "angry" and it would be implied that his actions showed that he was a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any moment.

Go check out how a far better-behaved black speed skater, whose sole crime was not obeying his Texan leader and racing in a race for which he wasn't trained (and daring to speak up about it), has been treated.

[actor212]

I didn't see Bode running for the hills when he was on the cover of Time and Newsweek simultaneously, pleading that he wasn't going to have expectations to live up to.

He begged for the coverage, he begged for the hype and he got stung for that begging. Sure, he screwed a few hundred million dollars in ad revenue for people bigger than he is.

He'll get stung even worse as the days go by.

[sean]

No one would have cared about Bode or his failures if it weren't for the pre-games hype (Newsweek, 60 minutes)questioning his "integrity" or dedication or whatever. This thread continued in those 30 second spots (for Nike?), designed apparently to position this guy as some sort of outsider. Bode may be a self-satisfied American, but he's really not a failure, compared to where he set the bar. For true failure, take a trip up to Montreal or Toronto or anywhere north of the border, and ask why the Canadian hockey team embarrassed themselves so much.

[Jim]

Phoenix Woman....are you serious? Isn't Shani Davis is the captain of that team? Yet he clearly takes the me first, chip on my shoulder attitude that so many athletes take. Chad Hedrick wanted him on the pursuit because that would given them a real shot a medaling in a "TEAM" event. I notice most if not all the other countries have their best skaters in the relays. Same w/ the US swim team in the summer olympics. Hedrick never ordered him to do anything, he pleaded, asked, or whatever you want to call it. The first interview I saw w/ Hedrick AFTER he won the first gold for the USA, he said if Shani doesn't want to do it, and wants to concentrate on his own events, thats fine. He'd love for him to skate w/ them, but if not, so be it. This was a media fueled circus between them, that's it. Shani never congratulated Chad for winning anything, at least not that I saw. why should Chad have to congratulate Shani? The old "do as I say not as I do" huh.

[Tom K]

*I'd possibly add his teammates and the sponsors who paid him a million bucks.*

On the teammates, I can only slightly agree. It's not principally a team sport. I'd more quickly agree that Doc and Straw owed their teammates more. If he were on my team, I wouldn't appreciate the lack of dedication, but I suppose I'd look at it as clearing some room at the top for other US contestants.

On the sponsors, morally I feel they probably bought Bode as iconoclast, and got the good and the bad with that. Legally, you'd have to look at his endorsement deals and see what kind of "best efforts" language they contain. But whatever the legal-ese, I can't work up too much sympathy for them, given that they were award of, and presumably attracted by, his personality.

[Wallace]

I had never seen or heard of Bode Miller until about a month and a half ago, when I caught him on Good Morning America. And then I came in to work that very day and noticed it was the same guy on the covers of both Time and Newsweek.

I sympathize with Bode's attitude. To hell with it. This is his experience, and he made it what he wanted it to be. And too bad for you if you wanted him to treat the experience differently - it is, after all, just a bunch of over-marketed bs. I kind of appreciate that attitude, except that it's a tough sell to those two or three skiers who might have otherwise taken Bode's place on the US team to ski the five events Bode skied.

But, in response to Kaya, the criticism of Bode does take place in the context of over-the-top hype before the Olympics about Bode Miller, which I suppose was meant to get us to all tune in.

[Jon Swift]

Bode Miller and our other Olympic athletes were perfect examples of what is unique about the American spirit:
http://jonswift.blogspot.com/2006/02/americas-olympic-heroes.html

[Alex]

Wow. The Bode-luvahs certainly have their panties in a bunch.

I don't think it's a low blow to compare Bode and Bush. In fact, I don't think it goes far enough.

I think a more accurate comparison would be Reagan. Or Nixon.

If Bode wants to have fun, and not win medals; cool. Go work ski patrol and chase tail. If he doesn't want to bust ass, show up in shape, and go for gold; DON'T FRICKIN' BE ON THE OLYMPIC SKI TEAM, MORON. Same for Bush II. If he doesn't want to do the "hard work"; DON'T FRICKIN' RUN FOR PRESIDENT, MORON. Six of one.

[space]

I actually like the Bush/Bode comparison, if you limit it to the Olympics and focus on Bode's attitude rather than performance.

Having said that, overall it is a pretty weak comparison. I'm no Bode lover. He strikes me as a class A jerk. But, he's no poser. You don't win the World Cup with spin.

But, to me, the biggest difference between Bode and Bush is that you can't replace Bode with someone else. Bode wasn't keeping anybody with any medal hopes from competing. He was the best that we had, partying and all. On the other hand, you could replace Bush with thousands of more capable people.

[space]

To address the Shani Davis/Chad Hendrick feud tangent:

First, Davis isn't the captain. Hendrick is.

Second, this is the first time the team pursuit was an olympic event. Speed skating isn't a team sport. Davis went to the olympics to win a gold medal in an individual event. He did it. Along the way, he thought that competing in the team pursuit would have a detrimental effect on his chances to win gold in the 1000. Fine. I have no problem with that.

Third, Hendrick has admitted that competing in so many events cost him in some individual events (see his 10K performance). Why should Davis be expected to pursue a similarly questionable strategy of being pretty good in many events rather than ok in a few.

Fourth, Hendrick already had his gold by the time the team pursuit rolled around. Davis still had his best events to go. I am sure that had Davis already competed in the 1K and 1.5K, he would have joined the team pursuit.

Fifth, even if Davis did act selfishly by failing to go to the opening ceremonies and failing to compete in the team event, it wasn't a personal attack on Hendrick. Hendrick was petty and childish to refuse to shake Davis' hand after Davis won gold.

Sixth, Davis is still one odd dude. His post-gold interview was one of the most bizarre interviews I have ever seen in sports.

[Jerry]

He just got sick of all the B.S. at the wrong time.Plus the hill was set up to favor the more exact/less athletic skiers.Bodie was rased by leftist hippies and would hate having been compared with the Chimpster.

[Katrina]

Making any Bush and Bode comparison is just ridiculous.
You should not go writing about Bode when you obviously know nothing about him other then the articles in the press written by other journalists that also know nothing about him or skiing. Bode playing the part of the rebel, Bode was being Bode. He always speaks his mind with honestly and is unafraid of the consequences. The media makes it seem like he put on this big show to get attention before the Olympics, but he has always been this way. No he didn't let his fans down, he never promised to bring home 5 medals, that was all contrived by the media. Bush, he feeds the American people what they want to hear. You state about Bode, "No substance and sacrifice, no guts and inner fire." Bode has dedicated almost his whole life to ski racing, works out until he pukes, lives with constant pain in his left knee and at the end of a season can barely walk up a set of stairs because his body is so badly banged up. I would classify that as sacrifice. No guts, lets see you try and ski down an icy mountain reaching speeds of 90 miles per hour with nothing but a helmet on for protection. After taking all of this criticism Bode never backed down or tried to portray himself as someone he is not, that takes guts and inner fire. Something a puppet like Bush could never do.

This whole thing about Bode's, "moment on the public stage is nearly at an end" is not valid. In Europe Bode has been rock star famous for about 5 years now. Because of Bode, American hating Europeans wave American flags. If only Bush could come anywhere close in terms of gathering respect and admiration from Europeans.
Do you realize that Bode is one of the few professional athletes that had the courage to speak out against the president and the war? You picked the wrong athlete to compare to Bush. Metaphore or not.

For a little background on where Bode comes from, sorry no comparison between the Bush and Miller family. Bode was raised in the backwoods by hippy parents that were so far out there that they thought chairlifts were bad because they disrupted the natural ecosystem. He was never prepared to be rich and famous, his parents told him to do what he loves. He loves the pure enjoyment in skiing fast and finding the perfect line and also happens to be extremely talented, maybe the most talented person to ever put on skis. Talent and hard work got him where he is today not a free ride from his wealthy family.

[Houston]

I'm assuming something here, so pardon me if I'm off, but you straight guys seem to take the Olympics way too seriously. So Bode didn't perform to your expectations. So, dude, when was the last time you were in some sort of skiing finals, on any level? Bode has just been Bode. Compare him to Bush if you will, but you do so on a superfacial level that speaks more about you than it does Bode.

Live fast, be careful, and have fun. What have you done to inspire anyone lately?

[Fitz]

TW,

Congratulations!

You got more people to comment about the Olympics than NBC got to watch the Olympics.

[Pierre Tristam]

Why Bode Miller is a Hero (and Tom Watson is only half right):
http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/Archives/C022806.htm

[Jon Husband]

the skiers atr all just (at most) a couple of seconds apart. No one has come close (even Nixon) to doing the kinds of damage (careless or otherwise) that the Junior Twinki King has managed to accomplish.

But, you held him up just as a symbol of non-taking responsibility, right ? The way I read his comments, BM did take responsibility .. it's just that few others liked the way he took responsibility for himself.

[Buddy]

Bottomline, no wins in five Olympic events makes Bode Miller a five-time LOSER!

[george w]

Bode hates me, George W. I invited him to my White House and he said no; something about Iraq. I now know Bode was raised by idealists who like Emerson and Thoreau; some guys who used to write books, say good stuff about America and spend time in the woods. Somehow my staff missed that; apparently they were disinformed by CIA, like I have been...But, I know Bode is a great skier and great American. He parties hard and helps us sell US beer abroad, which is important for the economy. His name is Miller after all. Maybe that's his family business, but I hear the hills are small in Milwaukee so it's amazing he's done so well in skiing. I realize Bode is not like our boys and girls in Iraq, but that's OK, since I too was against war when I was a kid and my Dad got me out of Vietnam
so I wouldn't have to through that stuff. I know Bode likes his Dad too, so we have that in common. Still, I wish he'd like me and come to my house for a couple of beers. We could talk about golf, fishing, New Hampshire, and the importance of social life. I bet I could even give him pointers.

[Bunnee]

I hate you guys. I would never blame Bode Miller for any kind of failure without putting my own life & your's out on the table to be critized over. Bode Miller was happy about what he did & may I remind ALL of you BODE hater's that he skied all of his races in severe pain w/ a very trashed knee? Yeah, no one knew but his friend's, his coaches & him. Many people commented on why he was limping.. Walking up to the last race, to the start house, Bode "was" asked if he wanted to even compete at that point due to pain. He said, "Yes." That's Bode Miller being himself. Do anyone of you dorks on here know him well enough to bitch such strong & such childish remark's about him? Anybody?..Waiting...No friends of Bode Miller on here that have met him & have got to know him as a real person? Nah, I didn't think so. Yep, It sure would be nice if someone on here or the other blogs ever met Mr. Miller or skied w/ him for that matter. Then, perhaps all of this belly- aching you idiots are doing over him would make sense. Jerks!! He tried & failed. Big Deal. Hell, Do you think Mr. Miller wanted to end up at the bottom of that hill in a million pieces? Hell..No! Bode withdrew by running over a gate due to not wanting to get injured further. The damn Media caused all of this crap. Bode Miller is who his is. He has always been this way. How many of you heard of him before these XX Games? I have. I knew him when I met him in Lake Tahoe when he was 19. Yep, I was 16. I saw something coming down the mountain like a bolt of lightning, he almost ran me over. I was able to get to know him from there. Hell. you guys/ girls here have no idea how great of a speed skier this young man is. He is this brilliant work of art to watch skiing. Have anyone of you watched him free style ski down a huge massive mountain side? I have.. It's amazing what he does when camera's & the stupid Media is not around. I saw it first hand. Bottom line, leave him alone & shut your yaps. He is a champion & the greatest skier "I" have even seen. Yes, I do extreme skiing if anyone care's to ask? So shut your yaps already.