I’ve seen a lot of calls to protest China’s human rights abuses by boycotting the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, yet still letting our athletes play in the games.
Which is like condemning prostitution by having sex with a filthy whore, but skipping the foreplay.
We boycotted the Olympics LAST time it was held by communists. I see no reason to change now.
Why would we boycott a country who is hostile to our military, flagrantly oppressive to its people, puts on daily cyber attacks to our government networks, and sells toy that for some unconceivable reason contains lead?
We like that we always dominate the olyimpics?? That’s my guess.
But it was Jimmy Carter’s idea to boycott last time. Look at what that gave us – the Goodwill Games by Ted Turner!
You don’t want to agree with Jimmy Carter, do you?
Considering the horrible pollution in Beijing, we might just save some athlete’s lives with a boycott.
The problem is, if it is our policy to not attend games in commie countries, then it will be their policy not to attend ours.
Maybe that’s ok, but it doesn’t seem like the Olympics like that. It would sort of be the end of the Olympics.
I could live well without the Olympics. But I feel for the many athletes who would be deprived of a world competition.
I dislike China as much as the next guy–in fact, China is the epitome of all the nasty things people say about America…
But the thing is, I don’t mind agreeing with Jimmy Carter about boycotting, but I STRONGLY disagree with this being a matter of politics. Instead of boycotting them, he should have invaded their countries, killed their leaders, and converted them to Christianity. Otherwise, it’s not something that should be involved in politics.
I do not think we should boycott the Olympics or even the opening ceremonies.
Instead, all of the free nations of the world should change their athletes uniforms for the opening ceremonies –
To the orange robes of Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns.
Marie – I understand your point and I’m sympathetic. However, the Olympics are not the only international amateur track and field competitions in existence, just the most famous.
http://www.iaaf.org/index.html
Frankly, boycotting the Olympics in 1980 to deny Russia a propaganda coup was one of the VERY few things Carter did right besides not giving in to Iranian terrorists.
Even a stopped clock, etc.
Um, China IS converting to Christianity at the rate of over 1000 converts a day. At that rate, China would become a Christian nation in something like, um, 10,000 years or so.
If you want to participate in the Olympics these days, you have to acquiesce to the political actions of the host country. And the Chinese are insisting on that already from their press and internet censorship to their blue-uniformed, torch-chasing pseudo-cops who are pushing people around on foreign streets.
I notice today that we have matched their uniforms on our own squads of torch defenders. It’s clear that the Olympic torch is now worth more than a single human right (let alone Tibet’s) – and that’s how China sees it – and that’s how it WILL be. The Olympic torch has become the Holy Grail of the 21st Century. All WILL bow to it and it’s People’s Republic.
What’s more important, supporting the rights of the people of China and Tibet or reclaiming the gold in basketball? Exactly.
Coach K beats the Dalai Lama every time, except in golf. Big hitter, the Lama.
China may invade the USA some day but their navy and airforce are still third rate so how do they get their vast armies to our shores? Have you ever heard the story about how if all the Chinese on earth marched into the sea 4 abreast the parade would never end? How long would it take to make a pontoon bridge made of bloated chinese corpses stretching across the Pacific ocean? I hear they’ve build a huge dam across the Yangstee river, flooding thousands of miles of fertile ground in the process. Maybe they’re practicing? Except for female gymnastics the Olympics don’t hold much interest for me. Jimmy Carter’s boycott of the Moscow Olympics was inspired by the Soviet invasion of Afganistan. If China had invaded Tibet last week, I’d say darn tooting! Boycott them and the horse they rode in on! But to protest now after China has occupied Tibet for 40 years or so? Somehow it just wouldn’t carry the same weight of moral indignation.
I have no problem for the athletes going. But as representatives of the government – not one government official should go – except maybe the US ambassador to China – and that’s iffy. For me there is a big difference between government representation and athletes going to compete. I also don’t think any of the western nations should send political representation.
Isn’t ironic & sad that the majority of chopsticks used all over the planet to eat “Chinese/Asian food” are made from US trees?
(prove me wrong.)
Someone better tell the enviro-tards… Won’t someone please think of the trees!?
It should be noted that the Tibetans are much better off now than they were before China took over.
It is unfortunate that some, ungrateful people prefer the freedom to do as they wish, believe in what they wish, an live as they wish over “do it this way or we’ll kill you, your family, and burn down your town.”
Just a thought.
#6 posted by Brian
Hat tip to Dennis Miller on that one!
Why would we boycott the Olympics? 1/2 of our population, 100% of the Democratic Party and a full 75% of the Republican Party seem to agree that Big Government has all the answers and that Free Speech should be stamped out when it is not to the liking of the ruling elite (Christianity here in the United States seems a good example). So what’s the problem? If we really disagreed with the Chinese, possibly the Olympic Committee could have selected a better country in the first place? I say boycott, but when the US is run by socialists and communists at the highest levels, it isn’t going to happen!
I boycotted these Olympics before it was cool.
I went to the ’06 Olympics in Turin with a buddy and he wanted to start going to all the Olympics.
I told him, “Sure, I’ll go to Vancouver and the ones after that, but I’m not going to commie China.”
True story.
ussjimmycarter, I question your math:
“1/2 of our population, 100% of the Democratic Party and a full 75% of the Republican Party seem to agree that Big Government has all the answers…”
I think you’re undersizing the Democrat Party’s fractional share of the total. Say, if half the population were Democrats and half were Republicans, then your final fraction should be:
(1.00 x .5) + (0.75 x .5) = 0.875
or 87.5% of the population believes in socialism.
Unless, of course, you claim Democrats are not citizens.
Oh shut up, Jim.
#7 “Frankly, boycotting the Olympics in 1980 to deny Russia a propaganda coup was one of the VERY few things Carter did right”
In my humble opinion, boycotting the ’80 Olympics was just one more thing Carter did wrong. You guys could have come and fought us and scored some victories in athletic events, which could have been interpreted as political victories, too. Boycotting is for chickens – boc, boc! Go to China and score! Show them our strength! Do not mess with the torch, idiots!
mykidsmommy – That’s a good point, and it worked very well for us in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. I’m about 40% sympathetic to that notion, but the rest of me just really hates giving “look how civilized we are” photo ops to thugs. This front in the Cold War is all about ideas, and I think handing propaganda victories to our ideological enemies is a poor battle plan.
jimma carter is more like a stopped calendar than a stopped clock – and a leap year calendar at that.
Jimmy, I don’t think that many of the actual population buys it. Sadly I think the Republican Party no longer represents conservative principles. It has become a Democrat Party Lite. They believe in Global Warming, Huge Federal Spending, Anti-Immigration Reform, Federal Funding of Abortion (Planned Parent Hood) and a general adoption of the Nanny State – Federal bailout of people who can’t pay their home loans. This is not what this nation should be about! It’s about time for the “Tree of Liberty” to get some “Refreshing” in my view…
So, ussjc, when Bush’s popularity rating keeps hitting an all-time low, that doesn’t explain the distribution of reasons! Rough demographics: Republicans are 40%, Independents 10% and Democrats 50%, then if Bush gets a 30% approval rating, I’d say 2/3’s of THOSE are Republicans. So, maybe half of all Republicans are fed up with Bush. And most of those are Conservatives. No wonder we’re screwed!
Which means that you and I will agree – politically – with about one person in five.
The leaves on the tree of liberty are falling off.
Harvey IS Jimmy Carter
removes white glove and slaps #28 across the face
You, suh, have no honah.
I shall have to ask you to step outside.
The history of the last hundred years shows that the All-embracing Nanny State can become a Drunken Abusive Step-father State, and usually in the blink of an eye. It’s a very short step from ‘Brave New World’ to ‘1984’. Just say “no” to the nanny. (Make sure your family is safely out of the county before you try this, just in case.)