I was prepared to go. As the time grew closer and staffers were being chosen, I realized that it wasn’t even being suggested that my keen insight into world politics might not be required.
So I straight up asked to be assigned to report on what is possibly the most significant politically charged Olympic Games since the U.S.- and Russian-inspired boycotts of the 1980s.
Shockingly, not only was I told “no,” but I also was ordered to not leave Utah. What follows is not a verbatim transcript of the conversation I had with Editor Jennifer Napier-Pearce, but it is close.