And in the midst of competition, a spectator might forget that most of these runners are missing limbs.

The 2013 Warrior Games gathers more than 260 injured service members from all over the world in Colorado Springs, Colo., to go head-to-head in various sports, including sitting volleyball, archery, swimming and competitive shooting.

“For some of these guys, maybe two years ago they were lying in a hospital bed, told they would never walk again or never be active and in a wheelchair the rest of their life and never do anything,” says Sgt. JR Salzman, who competed on the winning team in the 4×100 race this year. “And now they’re swimming laps in a pool or they’re on a cycle barreling down hills at forty miles-per-hour.”

Salzman is a retired Army sergeant who first heard of the Warrior Games when he covered them as a freelance journalist last year. He lost his right arm while on assignment in Iraq as an infantryman in 2006 when an improvised explosive device went off. But as a lifelong athlete, Salzman didn’t let his injury keep him from living an active life. He continues to compete as a professional lumberjack when he is not training for the Warrior Games in his spare time. In addition to his gold medal for the Army team in the 4×100 this year, Salzman also won a silver in cycling, and a silver in the 100 meter run.

For Major John Arbino, training for the Warrior Games has given him back a renewed sense of life since his illness has confined him to a wheelchair.

“I”m not one to sit around in a wheelchair and I was trying to find what I was going to do with my life,” says Maj. Arbino. “[Adaptive sports] gave me a whole new lifeline, gave me a whole new opportunity to do things I thought I could no longer do.”

Arbino was diagnosed with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis in January 2009, and had to begin relying on a wheelchair just nine months ago.  But it was when he started training for the Warrior Games in December that something inside the major came back to life.

“I turned to them, the other 49 Army guys [on the team], as my inspiration, cause I see what they’re going through, and they’re fine with what their situation is,” says Arbino. “I look at my situation, and I’m just in a wheelchair. So I can do this.”

The major took home the gold medal in shooting this year, a proud accomplishment after spending three weeks a month over the last six months away from his wife and three sons.

The Department of Defense and the U.S. Olympic Committee Paralympic Military Program have been teaming up since 2010 for the games. Service members from all branches of the military participate.

“I think it sort of reaffirms where we all come from. We all have different stories,” says Sgt. Salzman. “You are surrounded by your own in that people know the sacrifice you’ve given and know where you’ve come from and what you’ve had to go through to get here.”

The global competition this year received a royal visit from Britain’s Prince Harry. The prince teamed up with the British sitting volleyball team for practice Saturday, and also decided to compete with his fellow countrymen. Prince Harry returned to the games Monday to hand out three medals to the U.S. Army cycling team.

The Army-Marine rivalry was as heated as ever. The two teams tied with 34 gold medals a piece, but the Marines edged out Army in the final medal count, 93 to 81. The Air Force came in third with 30 total medals.

“I think we’re kind of all winners in that we’ve all managed to survive what we’ve all had to go through,” says Salzman.  He pauses, then adds, “And a lot of other people did not.”

Actually, the lawmaker’s path back to the Tea Party spotlight began at the Conservative Political Action Conference back in March. During her speech, Bachmann drew material from a thinly-sourced book about President Obama’s lifestyle in the White House. “A new book is out talking about the perks and the excess of the $1.4-billion-a-year presidency that we’re paying for,” she said. “And this is a lifestyle that is one of excess. Now we find out that there are five chefs on Air Force One.”

These statements later proved to be factually-challenged. When CNN’s Dana Bash attempted to follow up with the Congresswoman, Bachmann practically ran away, all the while pointing out that the real point of her speech was the attack in Benghazi.

Days later, Bachmann took to the House floor to reprise her warning us about the perils of Obamacare. “Let’s repeal this failure before it literally kills women, kills children, kills senior citizens,” she said.

Now to this week. On Thursday, Bachmann joined fellow Tea Partiers like Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert to address developments on the Internal Revenue Service’s improper targeting of conservative-leaning groups prior to the last election cycle. Bachmann was arguably the voice of reason in the group of speakers, stressing that it would be wrong to “jump to conclusions” and start considering impeaching President Obama so early in the investigation.

There are still 17 months before voters in Minnesota decide whether Bachmann will get another term in Congress. It’s looking like she will once again face off against Democrat Jim Graves, a hotel executive who narrowly lost to Bachmann in the most recent election.

As television viewers in Minnesota found out yesterday, Bachmann is getting an early start on the 2014 campaign. Her first ad buy took effect today, in the same week that House Republicans made their 37^th attempt at repealing Obamacare. The repeal passed by a 229-195 vote.

“Great news!” Bachmann begins in the ad. “The U.S. House just passed my bill to repeal Obamacare.”

Of course, there’s no chance the bill could become law in the Democratic-controlled Senate and the White House’s promise to veto such a measure.

Still, at yesterday’s briefing, Speaker of the House John Boehner confirmed that the door to attempt #38 was in the cards.

Take a look at the Hardball Sideshow for more!

I believe the best way to deal with this week – for the President – is to adjust the way he does business.

This is his second term. It’s a dangerous time because it tends to be when Presidents get into trouble.

Think of Iran-Contra. Think further back to Franklin Roosevelt’s second term when he tried to “pack” the Supreme Court.

What happens is that you get surrounded by people who are afraid to challenge you. Maybe they think you’re too great because you’ve been elected twice to the American presidency.

The problem is the people who survive into second terms can include cheer-leaders who don’t help when you need help – when you’re on the verge of doing something wrong.

This president needs a team for offense – a team to find ways of getting things done he wants done – has promised to get done – making healthcare work; writing an immigration law this country intends to enforce; creating millions more jobs.

He also needs a defensive team that enforces solid, honest, progressive action by the government agencies and troubleshoots problems.

He shouldn’t have to read in the paper that some agency is screwing up… shouldn’t have to learn second-hand about what his Justice Department is up to.

Offense and defense. He needs a team that will deliver on both.

President Obama, who said he was not aware that the tax-collecting agency had wrongly targeted conservative groups 18 months before the 2012 election until media reports surfaced late last week, has expressed his outrage, leading to the resignation of two top IRS officials. Obama has also promised to hold other IRS officials accountable and work with Congress to make sure “this doesn’t happen again.”

The trouble began, according to the inspector general report, in March of 2010 when IRS agents began zeroing in on tax-exempt applications with keyword searches for words like “Tea Party” and “Patriots.” In June 2011, lawmakers began sending letters to the IRS asking they explain complaints that conservative groups were being given extra scrutiny. That’s snowballed to where are today: an IRS with a bruised and battered image, Tea Party outrage, and Republicans wanting to know just how much the Obama administration knew.

As the hearings continue, here’s a who is who in the unfolding controversy.

Lois Lerner: At the end of June 2011, Lerner, who oversees tax-exempt groups at the IRS, learned at a meeting that conservative groups were being targeted, according to the IG report. The division subsequently switched to more general search criteria. Six months later, she met with some members of Congress to discuss the issue, but didn’t bring up the targeting of conservative groups, according to the IG report.

Lerner, last Friday, was the first IRS official to publicly acknowledge that the agency had targeted the groups, calling it “absolutely inappropriate.” She argued, however, that the motive was not  political and that it was merely an effort to handle the influx of applications of groups seeking tax-exempt status. Some are calling for her resignation, and Lerner –who started at the IRS in 2001, has reportedly lawyered up. It’s not clear if Lerner will testify in front of Congressional members next week.

Douglas Shulman: The former IRS commissioner was appointed by George W. Bush. In Oct. 2011, GOP Rep. Charles W. Boustany of Louisiana, sent a letter asking Shulman to outline the policies of the tax-exempt division. In March last year, he told Congress that there was “absolutely no targeting” of groups based on their politics. His tenure at the IRS ended in November.

Steven Miller: He’s been the acting IRS commissioner since November and was the first to announce his resignation at the behest of President Obama on Wednesday. He testified in front of members of the House Ways and Means committee on Friday, insisting the targeting of conservative groups was a “mistake, not an act of partisanship.” Miller is expected to stay in his post until June to help with the transition.

Joseph Grant: On Thursday, Grant–the commissioner of the IRS’ tax exempt and government entities division–became the second top official in the agency to step down. He joined the IRS in 2005, and became the deputy commissioner of the tax exempt division in 2007. He was only promoted to his current post last week.

Sarah Hall Ingram: The former head of the IRS’ tax exempt division is now in charge of the IRS office responsible for overseeing the new tax laws in Obamacare. (Grant took her job after she left.) Ingram was in charge while the unit inappropriately targeted conservative groups. Some are speculating that she could be the next person to be given the ax.

J. Russell George: The Treasury inspector general for the tax administration was the one who released the damaging report on the IRS. He testified in front of the House Ways and Means committee on Friday. George, who was appointed in 2004 by then-President George W. Bush, said his findings raised  “troubling questions” but there was no evidence the targeting was done for political purposes.

Daniel Werfel: President Obama said Thursday that he would assign Werfel, who’s currently the controller of the White House Office of Management and Budget, as his new acting IRS Commissioner. He’ll be tasked with the duty of repairing the IRS’ image. Werfel has held a number of positions at the OMB, including  policy analyst, chief of financial integrity, and deputy controller. Werfel served under former President George W. Bush on the Federal Accounting and Standards Advisory Board.

Republicans once again voted to repeal Obamacare, a fool’s errand that has no chance of ever becoming law because the Senate won’t go along with it and the president, of course, won’t sign it. But make no mistake: Republican zeal over the IRS scandal is all about trying to dismantle Obamacare, and this may be their last chance.

Former ambassador Thomas Pickering joins us on Hardball tonight to set the record straight on Benghazi. And now that we know more about those emails, it sure looks like a case of Republican hyperbole.

As Republicans continue to block everything President Obama proposes, including cabinet and judicial nominees, Senate majority leader Harry Reid is once again considering changing the filibuster rules in what many in Washington are calling “the nuclear option”.

Should Obama have known about the Justice Department’s probe?

The White House’s legal office was informed of the Inspector General’s report a few weeks ago, while the White House itself was not informed at all that Justice Department looked at phone records from  April and May of 2012 of AP reporters. The investigation centered on the disclosure of classified information having to do with a CIA operation in Yemen to stop a bomb plot, which the AP wrote about in May 2012. The White House also said it was not informed of Attorney General Holder’s recusal from the case and his subsequent decision to hand over the baton to his deputy, James Cole.

Hardball host Chris Matthews asked White House spokesman Jay Carney on Thursday: “If this is the way the president operates, getting the news late, or getting it as he says in the newspapers, how can he be an aggressive chief executive?”

Carney said it was “entirely appropriate” Obama had no idea about the probe.

“I would turn this around. Imagine what reporters would be saying and people like you would be saying if the president of the United States and the folks in the White House were being informed of and engaged in on a criminal investigation into a leak that presumably, because it’s a leak of classified information, has to do with a leak that emanated from somewhere within the federal government? That would be viewed as absolutely inappropriate and in past history of previous administrations, beyond inappropriate,” said Carney.  ”It is entirely appropriate that we are not informed of the progress or the methods used by federal prosecutors in criminal investigations.”

In response to outrage of the DOJ’s investigation, on Wednesday, the president said he backed a federal shield law for reporters seeking to protect their confidential sources. The White House asked Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer to reintroduce a shield law he proposed in 2009. It says reporters do not have to disclose the names of confidential sources or their means of communicating with them.

On Thursday, Obama carefully tried to strike a balance between being concerned about the country’s security while also demonstrating his commitment to a free press.

“You know, leaks related to national security can put people at risk,” he said. “It can put men and women in uniform that I’ve sent to the battlefield at risk. They can put some of our intelligence officers who are in various dangerous situations that are easily compromised at risk,” the president said.

“The flip side of it is, we also live in a democracy where a free press, free expression and open flow of information helps hold me accountable, helps hold the government accountable, and helps democracy function,” Obama added, insisting the federal shield law could help balance the two.

Former Republican National Chairman Michael Steele strongly disagreed with Carney, insisting the president should have been aware of the AP probe.

“There’s a difference between the president being involved in an investigation and the president being informed,” Steele told Matthews. “Nobody is asking the president to get a blow-by-blow of what the attorney general is doing and finding out in an ongoing criminal or other type of investigation. What we would think, though, is that someone from the Justice Department would inform someone in the White House to inform the president that this is going on.”

Iowa Congressman Steve King has said that “if you link Watergate and Iran-Contra together and multiply it times maybe 10 or so, you’re going to get in the zone where Benghazi is,” and Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe calls it “the most serious, most egregious cover-up in American history.” The facts don’t seem to be on their side, especially after the White House release of 100 pages of emails regarding the construction of the CIA talking points.

That’s just a taste of what we’re hearing from the crowd who pounce on any opportunity to blast the president’s leadership. However, if you had to name a couple of Republicans who should probably refrain from weighing in on national security, who would you go with? How about Donald Rumsfeld or Dick Cheney?

It appears they missed the memo. Both Cheney and Rumsfeld have been making the rounds this week, suggesting the Obama administration was unprepared for the tragedy that unfolded in Libya.

“I think it’s one of the worst incidences, frankly, that I can recall in my career,” Cheney said on Fox News earlier in the week. “They claimed it was because of a demonstration video, so they wouldn’t have to admit it was really all about their incompetence.”

“The idea that it was somehow related to a YouTube video and that that narrative kept being promoted, I suppose it’s because it fit their hopes and what they wanted to be the case,” Rumsfeld said.

Yes, that was in fact Donald Rumsfeld suggesting that the current administration constructed a narrative about an international situation in order to promote a certain agenda.

There’s no evidence to suggest this is a correct summary of the actions of the Obama administration’s reaction to Benghazi, but even if it were, this might be a case of “pot, meet kettle,” for the history books.

The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart had a lot to say about this one. Stewart referred to a photo of Mike Tyson (with face tattoo) in order to help make his case. “It’s like this. That’s Mike Tyson. He doesn’t get to make fun of someone’s tattoo.”

Take a look at the Hardball Sideshow for the return of the Bush administration, and Jon Stewart’s flummoxed response.

Do you know what would be great?

Having two parties in this countries trying to do good, to do the things the country needs do.

We don’t. We have one party, the President’s, trying to improve our health care system, trying to protect the country, trying to improve and strengthen the way we let people become part of our country.

And we have another party, most of it sitting around cheering for disaster, a dozen or so of its members lighting fires, igniting anger at the very idea of government.

I cannot remember a time when one of our political parties was so overwhelmed by the negative – the nasty news conference, the over-the-top indictment, the obsession with investigation.

The Republican party of Washington today is a party of presidential destruction and any means to achieve it. It doesn’t want power so much as it wants the other party, the president’s, from having it.

It doesn’t so much want the White House – try to think of someone they honestly want to see there – as it wants to imagine that Barack Obama isn’t really President after all.

“That” is their dream, not doing something, but finding a way that they can achieve their nirvana — no President Obama.

No.

No.

No.

The White House has appointed a new acting Internal Revenue Service Commissioner, saying that Daniel Werfel, current controller of the Office of Management and Budget, would be named acting IRS chief, effective May 22.

“The American people deserve to have the utmost confidence and trust in their government, and as we work to get to the bottom of what happened and restore confidence in the IRS, Danny has the experience and management ability necessary to lead the agency at this important time,” President Obama said in a statement.

–

Obama, trying to douse three political fires threatening to engulf his second term, seized on his renewed offense on Thursday, taking questions from reporters and insisting he’s doing all he can to contain these political disasters.

It’s Obama’s third press conference this week, demonstrating that the administration is clearly in damage control mode over Benghazi, the IRS, and the AP, and is trying to show both competence and transparency.

Critics have been tossing around words like “Nixonian” about the Justice Department’s decision to seize two months of phone records from Associated Press journalists. When asked about the comparison to one of the most unpopular, scandal-ridden presidents ever, Obama would not take the bait.

“I’ll let you guys engage in those comparisons,” said Obama. “You can go ahead and read the history, I think, and draw your own conclusions.”

On the IRS, Obama reiterated his outrage Thursday that some officials at the tax-collecting agency had wrongly targeted conservative groups. The president, who fired the acting IRS boss earlier this week, promised those officials would be held accountable.

“We are going to identify any structural or management issues to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said Obama, who was joined by visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Obama also said he fully supported Attorney General Eric Holder, who has come under scrutiny for the Justice Department’s investigation of AP journalists having to do with a top-secret CIA operation in Yemen to stop a bomb plot. The AP wrote a story about it in May 2012. Some Republicans, including Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus, have called for Holder’s resignation.

“I have complete confidence in Eric Holder,” Obama said Thursday. “He does his job with integrity and I expect he will continue to do so.” Holder has said he recused himself from the investigation and had handed the reins to his deputy.

Obama carefully tried to strike a balance between being concerned about the country’s security while also demonstrating his commitment to a free press.

“You know, leaks related to national security can put people at risk,” he said. “It can put men and women in uniform that I’ve sent to the battlefield at risk. They can put some of our intelligence officers who are in various dangerous situations that are easily compromised at risk,” the president said.

“The flip side of it is, we also live in a democracy where a free press, free expression and open flow of information helps hold me accountable, helps hold the government accountable, and helps democracy function,” Obama added, insisting the federal shield law could help balance the two.

And on Benghazi, Obama called on Congress to beef up security at U.S. diplomatic posts around the world. “We need to come together and truly honor the sacrifices” of those who died in the Sept. 11 attack last year, he said.

His remarks come as some Republicans have been claiming that the Obama administration was involved in covering up last year’s deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stephens.

Still, while Obama may be may be taking the bull by the horns when it comes to wrangling the trifecta of controversy that has dogged the White House this week, Republicans don’t seem to be loosening their grip on the commander-in-chief at all.

The president also took the opportunity at the press event to weigh in on U.S.-Turkey efforts to stop the bloody civil war in Syria. The Obama administration said last month that Syrian President Bashar Assad had likely used chemical weapons on its own people, something Obama said was a “red line” the country could not cross.

“We’re going to keep increasing the pressure on the Assad regime and working with the Syrian opposition,” said Obama. “We both agree that Assad needs to go.”

GOP lawmakers still came out swinging after Obama on Wednesday released more than 100 pages of emails on Benghazi, announced the acting head of the IRS was resigning, and backed a federal shield law for reporters in response to growing criticism that he was acting too passively to the political firestorms.

Obama also promised to work with Congress to further its oversight of the IRS and to make sure such actions are never taken again.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said that having acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller step down at Obama’s behest—following reports the agency was targeting conservative groups—was “not enough.” Priebus tweeted, “This is clearly a scapegoat that distracts from answering the core” questions. And added, “The president still owes Americans—especially the targeted groups—an apology.”

Earlier, Priebus called for Attorney General Eric Holder’s resignation after it was revealed the Department of Justice had issued a subpoena for the AP’s phone records over the course of an investigation into the disclosure of classified information having to do with a CIA operation to stop a bomb plot in Yemen last year. Holder had recused himself from the investigation, putting his deputy in charge.

Like Priebus, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also suggested the IRS mess was far from over. “If the president is as concerned about this issue as he claims, he’ll work openly and transparently with Congress to get to the bottom of the scandal—no stonewalling, no half-answers, no withholding of witnesses.”  He added “We are determined to get answers.”

House Speaker John Boehner, on the other hand, was not pleased about the Benghazi emails that were released, saying through his spokesman that they raise more “questions about the motivations of these changes and who at the State Department were seeking them.” Republicans have been claiming that the Obama administration was involved in covering up last year’s deadly assault in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stephens.

“This release is long overdue and there are relevant documents the administration has still refused to produce. We hope, however, that this limited release of documents is a sign of more cooperation to come,”  Boehner’s spokesman Brendan Buck, added.

And then, there’s the Tea Party. Lawmakers, including Rep. Michele Bachmann, Sen. Rand Paul, Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Louie Gohmert, held a press conference Thursday on Capitol Hill to criticize the president’s efforts.

Bachmann, who spearheaded the conference, warned the latest turmoil in the IRS could lead to further government abuse and pointed to implications for Obama’s health care plan.

There could be “political implications regarding health care, access to health care, denial of health care—will that happen based upon a persons’ political beliefs or their religiously held beliefs?” the Minnesota lawmaker asked.

Paul went a step further than Bachmann, saying,  “Someone needs to be held responsible, someone  needs to be imprisoned. Someone needs to be prosecuted.”

Gohmert said the AP story has taught a valuable lesson to the media. “When there is a tyrannical despot, the media will be one of the early victims. You will be used as helpful savants for a while and then when you are no longer needed, you will be pressured and put out of business as well,” he said.

Of course, it’s not in Republicans’ interest to let the controversies go. If Obama cannot quell the criticism, many say he’s in danger of being permanently weakened. Democrats have worried that his ambitious second-term agenda—gun control, immigration reform, and a budget deal—could be derailed.