I love the Olympics. I love ’em. I love the gymnastics and the swimming and the Dream Team losing to some country I didn’t even know played basketball.
So it was quite the pleasant surprise for me to find out that the thrill of Olympic competition isn’t bothering to wait until August.
While President Bush, the current commander in chief, has come out in support of the Olympics, his potential successors don’t share the same stance.
In a rare showing of solidarity, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have both come out against America’s involvement in the games, specifically the opening ceremonies.
The Dueling Democrats have called for steps to be taken by China regarding Tibet and Darfur before their endorsement can be given.
Bush, on the otherhand, sees the opening ceremony as an opportunity to get some face time with Chinese President Hu Jintao.
This would seem to raise the question as to what the Dueling Democrats, Prime Minister of England Gordon Brown and many other world leaders, would do. Is China then supposed to think that because no one’s coming to its party, that something must be wrong and must change its ways?
That doesn’t seem like good diplomacy. Or any kind of diplomacy.
On top of that, as Michael Green, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, puts it, “The problem with a boycott is you end up taking 1.3 billion Chinese who have different views of democracy, of the U.S., of human rights, but all want the Olympics to be successful and you turn them all against the U.S. It’s a crude and blunt instrument to just boycott.”
But what does he know?
Another guy who doesn’t know what he’s talking about is the Dalai Lama.
Despite his Tibet, and the injustices it has endured, being center stage, he continues to insist that the Olympics go on.
“We are not anti-Chinese,” he said. “Right from the beginning, we supported the Olympic Games,” he said.
“It is really deserving for the Chinese people to host the Olympic Games.”
Again, what does he know?
The Dalai Lama also spoke out in response to the violent protests of the Olympic torch, which is supposed to be a symbol of the sporting spirit. I’d say the sporting spirit is doing just fine.
What else would you call fending off would-be harassers who are trying to molest the flame, like Jin Jing did? Wait, she was in a wheelchair. Save that for the Paralympic Games.
I like a good protest as much as a good javelin throw or a good long jump, so to see the two come together was really the best of both worlds for me.
The Olympic Committee should think about adding an event that utilizes the grace and beauty of a fire extinguisher. If it’s good enough to be used to attack a peaceful participant in an act of support for the peaceful Free Tibet cause, it’s good enough for the Olympics.
Although, thinking about it seems more like a Winter Games idea, and I’m not such a huge fan of those.
Stephen Sabetti is a senior journalism major, the assistant investigations editor and a columnist for the Daily Forty-Niner.
