The Olympic opening ceremonies.
Despite protests from Tibet and Darfur activists, they proceed with great fanfare and elaborate ritual. The conspicuously absent teams - England, Canada, Switzerland, most of NATO - hearken back to the Cold War era. A defiant Chinese team proudly and enthusiastically takes to the track in their gleaming, modern uniforms. They are followed by resurgent Russia and a majority of the world's nations.
And then, the US flag appears. A shockingly small delegation - the captain of each US relay team, running, swimming and the rest - marching subdued but proud, the Stars and Strips streaming behind them as they, one by one, hand off the relay baton that each of them will be competing with to the next in line.
As they reach the middle of the track, the final runner receives the baton, and as if on command, the entire team stops at attention as this last runner trots over to the audience and hands the baton up to President Barack Obama, who stands up and says, first in English and then in his native Bahasa Indonesian:
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