I agreed with Marc A. Thiessen’s Feb. 27 op-ed, “The outrage mob is ruining a golden moment.” What a breath of fresh air to see the U.S. men’s hockey team being proud of their country, thrilled to have won as representatives of America. It was heartwarming, especially compared with the vitriol from other Olympic competitors.
Kimberly Brockway, Random Lake, Wisconsin
The gold-medal-winning men’s hockey team attended President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. The gold-medal-winning women’s hockey team declined the invitation. If this isn’t proof that the fairer sex is also the more intelligent, then I don’t know what is.
Tom Scorby, St. Charles, Illinois
The 1980 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey championship team is remembered for the “Miracle on Ice.” The 2026 U.S. men’s Olympic hockey championship team will be remembered for the “Meltdown on Ice.” They were lucky to win the championship due to some poor shots in the end by the Canadian team, which completely dominated the game.
Thank God for the poise, perseverance and dignity of the 2026 U.S. women’s Olympic hockey championship team. They displayed tremendous skill, courage and teamwork during all the games they played. More importantly, they put their principles before partisan politics, gracefully informing the United States that their victory cannot be manipulated nor maligned. They will go down in history as the “Moral Code on Ice.”
Brian Jordan, New York
Immediately after the U.S.’s win against Canada in men’s ice hockey, as the Canadian team lined up for their silver medals like it was a trip to the gallows, I sought out a Toronto sports radio station. I was eager to hear the outrage and finger-pointing for a devastating loss that was marked by missed opportunities by Canada’s best players. Imagine my disappointment when the callers into the station did not vent the type of apoplectic and entertaining anger that I enjoy so much from American sports radio in the aftermath of a crushing loss. Instead, there was disappointment partnered with credit to both sides for a great game, and lots of acknowledgment of the outstanding performance by American goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
I almost got what I was looking for when a caller wondered whether, now that American Auston Matthews had actually won a championship, he could now carry his Toronto Maple Leafs further into the NHL playoffs. But the caller said it without an ounce of sarcasm! He was genuinely hopeful and trying to find positivity after a gut-wrenching loss.
What was going on? No rage, no scapegoats, no insults. It was just so … Canadian.
Jon J. Carter, Fredericksburg, Virginia
I am deeply embarrassed by FBI Director Kash Patel’s locker room celebration, wearing a gold medal and chugging a beer. What is it about Trump appointees that makes them treat public service as a fantasy camp? How are we supposed to deal with Americans being killed by federal officers, or confront more mass shootings than there have days in this year, when this is the face of federal law enforcement? Between Attorney General Pam Bondi embracing her role as a mean girl to fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem focused on cosplay photo shoots, this is an administration that values ego and image over competence and professionalism.
John Ennis, Los Angeles
Of the United States’ 12 gold medals at the Milan Cortina Olympics, eight were won by women. Of the 33 total U.S. medals, women earned 21. Their performances are not supplementary to American achievement; they are foundational to it. Yet in the president’s phone call inviting the U.S. men’s hockey team to the White House, he joked, “I must tell you, we’re going to have to bring the women’s team,” adding that he “probably would be impeached” if they were not invited. Laughter followed.
Of course, there are those defending the remark as harmless: just locker room talk, just a joke — a “bad joke,” Marc A. Thiessen conceded. But over time, these “jokes” and these dismissals accumulate, shaping expectations about who belongs and whose accomplishments are taken seriously. The most meaningful response from the men’s team would require solidarity: a unified public acknowledgment that women deserve equal respect, that jokes minimizing their inclusion are harmful, and that teammates across gender lines stand together (as Quinn Hughes, Jack Hughes, Megan Keller and Hilary Knight literally did on last week’s “Saturday Night Live”).
Years from now, few will remember the precise wording of a joke. But they will remember athletes choosing respect over comfort and unity over silence. They will remember players who understood that how victories are carried matters as much as how they are won.
And people are watching. Not only young girls, but young boys and children everywhere are learning what respect looks like in real time. They are learning whether success excuses dismissal or whether excellence includes standing up for others. They are learning how men treat women when recognition and power are on the line.
Jodi Norgaard, Glen Ellyn, Illinois
Marc A. Thiessen was right that people let their politics dominate their reactions to things. As Andrew Van Dam reported in his Dec. 15, 2024, Department of Data column, “A census shake-up challenges our perception of Americans’ origins,” the most common ancestry in America is German. What if next year’s Super Bowl halftime show were exclusively in German? You would see the same people who supported this year’s all-Spanish show freaking out.
Tom Scott, Spotswood, New Jersey
I watched a great deal of the Milan Cortina Games. For me, the highlight of this year’s Olympics was not a victorious performance. It was after “Quad God” Ilia Malinin’s disastrous performance in the men’s free skate, when the heavy favorite immediately went to hug and talk with the surprised winner, Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan. That should make us all proud.
Denise Costley, Catharpin
A thousand points of light
I am grateful for Dana Milbank’s March 2 Health column, “We’re about to turn night into day. Is that a good idea?,” which warned of plans for many thousands of orbital satellites broadcasting solar power back to the surface of our planet and hosting data centers. It’s easy to pick out the downsides of this approach in terms of enormous costs, light pollution and uncontrolled expansion of artificial intelligence. But the core issue is that we are not trying to solve the right problem. Will AI tell us how to use clean energy to solve climate change? We already know how to do that, and we aren’t.
If we can’t build enough clean energy on the surface of our planet, then we should reform our permitting process so we can. If AI is as essential as we pretend it to be, then we need to mandate that it’s powered with clean energy. This does not require turning night into day — solving a problem by creating another one.
Chris Wiegard, Chester, Virginia
Following Neal Katyal’s Feb. 25 op-ed, “Tariffs were illegal. Now Trump wants to delay refunds.,” Post Opinions wants to know: If you run a business, what opportunities did your company lose because capital was redirected to tariffs? Send us your response, and it might be published as a letter to the editor. wapo.st/tariff_costs
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