and represent their country that's fine, but our government officials should not be lending their (dubious) imprimatur to the self-aggrandizement of China.

While we ourselves have no great record of human rights and such in the last eight years or so, still, we should not let the persecution of a people go by while giving support to their persecutors in their bid for world recognition. Would that we had paid more attention and done more in Sudan and Darfur these last few years, would that we had not violated our own sense of honor with renditions and torture and secret trials and illegal spying, but this is not a perfect world. However, we do have an opportunity here to stand up and say that the way the Tibetan people have been treated is disgraceful and that we do not condone it.

Our government officials should not appear for the official ceremonies, if they wish to attend the games like all the other regular fans who buy tickets, then that would be fine, but they should not appear in any venue as a part of any official event in their capacity as a representative of our government. China is putting on this three-ring world-wide media circus to raise their profile in the global community and increase their trading power and influence. Well, with great power comes great responsibility, and right now...they are failing in their responsibility to be decent to people they claim as citizens of their nation. If they treat their own this badly, then what does that say about how they will treat those to whom they have no ties at all?

I am not a religious person in any way, shape, or form...but I will be damned if I stand by and allow someone to be persecuted for their religion. People should be free to worship whomever and whatever they wish as long as it hurts no one else or does not infringe upon another's right to worship as they see fit as well or not as the case may be.

The "patriotic education" of the Tibetan people is just a nice synonym for brainwashing.
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"You can't fix stupid..." ~ Ron White"
"I never said I wasn't a brat..." ~ Talidapali

Using the Olympics for political purposes is wrong. We need to keep Politics out of the Olympics and leave the games for goodwill. I see it as being similar to divorced parents using their kids as manipulation tools in their bitter battles. When these athletes are used as devices for nations to use as weapons of manipulation it only jeopardizes the safety of the athletes and will do so for future Olympians.

Of course much of what I was taught in school turned out to be myth, but I remember being impressed when I was told ancient warriors on both sides put down their arms if a war was going on at the time the Olympics were held. Ah, I guess I was a peacenik, romantic even then. Somehow it made me assume that wars were fought for low reasons thought up by kings and such, while real human beings had loftier views, like playing together. I think I was in the 5th grade at the time. This tidbit of information was probably offered along with instructions about what to do if an atom bomb was dropped on our school--you know, the old put-your-head-in-your-locker trick.

I think we should stop kissing China's arse period, but we should go to the Olympics to honor tradition. I'm proud of our citizens who have visibly protested their feelings about China's lack of human rights. We don't really need their trinkets anyway.

I have been around a fair number of Olympic athletes over the years, and except for a very few in certain glamour sports, they work their asses off every minute of every day during a competitive cycle with both eyes on the stopwatch and the calendar, sacrificing much and receiving little.

In Whitewater C2 (two man decked canoe) in Spain, for instance, the American athletes trained every day for three years living on roughly $12,000 a year. They got some travel support and some equipment support but little else. They survived on dedication and commitment and won a Gold medal, in which all of America shares.

If you ask an Olympian they will tell you that all the training and suffering is worth it, just to get to walk in the opening ceremony. Politics have nothing to do with things in the American athlete's mind.

Let the politicians boycott but please don't dishonor the effort and sacrifice of America's Olympians by making the actual athletic events themselves become a political statement.

No one on the outside has any business interfering with the competitions.

And frankly, though I hold Jimmy Carter in great regard otherwise, as far as I'm concerned his Presidential order barring America's athletes from participating in the USSR Olympics is a black mark on president Carter's legacy and his soul.

It was an ignorant thing to have done.

Wasn't awarding the Olympic Games to China a political statement? So why not use our presence as a political statement. US envoys, Bush included, should not attend.

But don't punish the athletes for China's politics

Apparently Obama and McCain have now joined Clinton in saying that Bush should at least threaten not to attend the ceremonies.

Kevin Drum has an interesting post on the politics of candidates talking tough against China. Shorter version: what candidates say while campaigning and what they actually do when elected are two different things.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.

Though Sarge makes a profoundly realistic point which I cannot dismiss, our government's ineptitude and evil ways should not be a cause for we the people to be silent on a tragic situation like Tibet.
To do so would mean to be silent on Iraq as well. And we're not going to do that, are we?

We cannot be silent on Darfur, on Colombia, or on Tibet.

And when innocent people are being executed for nothing more than expression and wanting a better way of life, apathy from those with the power of communication, or protest, is equal to complicity.

Fuck the Olympics. People's lives are at stake and no schoolyard sporting event is going to take precedent over that. We use the games and any other means necessary to attract international attention to this travesty. Any less of an effort is to hide from it.

YES ,when we get the hell out of Iraq, otherwise its like the pot calling the kettle black.

I think you can make an argument that the US shouldn't provide political support to China by having the President of the United States attend the opening ceremonies. That is not at all the same as saying that we shouldn't support our athletes that attend the Olympics or that non-political actors (like, say, American basketball or track fans) should not attend Olympic events.

Boycott WalMart instead to make a political statement against China.
Hit 'em in the pocketbook!

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
Hunter S. Thompson

I feel the same way, and I can't help but feel bad for the athletes, who have no dog in this fight.

I thought this timely with all the torch chaos and with Senator Clinton's call for Bush to skip the games.

In this case I think such a move would be pointless symbolism. If we really want to get at China, we should make threats regarding trade, not the Olympics.

Brian A.
I'd rather be cycling.