thoughts on the Olympic Opening Ceremonies part 1

The drums were great. Totalitarian, but great. But, as Matt Lauer mentioned, they smiled more.
I thought it was nice that the children brought in the Chinese flag. So many girls! and one boy with glasses!
It turns out that NBC erred and the Chinese anthem was muted -- they seem to have lost the audio feed. As soon as it went off, Toby Keith's "Beer for my Horses" was playing on the radio.
They talk so much about the concept of "harmony." All collectivist ideologies like this concept. I don't think it would be a stretch to say that in some ways, the US is the most disharmonious society in the world, precisely because it is the most free.