I’m sorry that Boston rejected the idea of hosting the Olympics. I think it’s a victory for American smallness. Americans should host the Olympics, and want to host them. We’re a big power. We’re a natural for the Olympics. The eyes of the world are upon us, still. We’re the primary global nation.

There’s a certain kind of conservative who recoils at the idea of the Olympics or any other significant public project. Who, indeed, recoils at the idea of a leading American role in the world. That type of conservative likes to say “Coolidge” and flatters himself that he, and he alone, is a true conservative while the rest of us are phonies.

Don’t listen to that nonsense, and don’t kid yourself. Boston’s shrinking from the Olympics is a sign of just that: American shrinkage, American withering, American smallness.

What a bunch of midgets we’re on the road to becoming . . .

P.S. Ronald Reagan positively reveled in the L.A. Olympics of 1984. The Left hated him for it (and everything else). Conservatives got a kick out of it. What a wonderful year. (Reagan’s reelection, the Tigers’ capturing of the World Series . . .)