Some of you may have heard about the recent controversy involving the Olympic Torch Relay. First, let me say I think it’s very cool to have the torch relay go around the world rather than just across one country. So, points to China for smarts with that.
On the other hand, their rather brutal crackdown in Tibet… not so much.
The Olympics are supposed to be a time for sports, but there’s always at least some politics involved. The 2008 Summer Olympics seem likely to be the most controversial since the 1980 games.
There’s been calls by several people, including Hillary Clinton, for Bush and other world leaders to skip the Opening Ceremonies of the games. I gotta say I agree with this notion. Let’s keep the games going, make sure our athletes get there and get to compete, but let’s have our President skip the opening. That’s nothing more than China showing off how magnificent they are, anyhow, and while I have no problem with that in principle, given the recent events in Tibet, I think we can give it a miss.
BTW: It is worth noting here, I think Tibet needs to be free, as do all nations currently opressed. That said, I don’t want a return to rule by the lamas. I’d love to see them set free and allowed to elect a democratic government. Hopefully it will happen. Hopefully soon.
April 10, 2008 at 1:23 am
I think it is a shame that the athletes themselves who have trained so hard to get to the Olympics will get caught up in this mess.
April 10, 2008 at 2:09 am
http://www.thewe.cc/contents/more/archive/atrocities.htm
April 10, 2008 at 2:32 am
Well, I’m hoping we can keep the athletes out of the problem as much as possible, which is why I want Bush to avoid the opening ceremony, but let our people compete.