Poll: Yes or no: would you carry the torch?

I don't think athletes should be penalized at all, ala Moscow and L.A. Pretty sure we learned our lesson from that one.

If there's a time to make a big publicity stink, this may be the best chance, Chinese press censorship aside. Either way, it's gonna make for an interesting scene when the torch reaches Tibet. Will it be turned away, won't it, or could there be a dustup?

 

I agree with West. Even though it's been proven a healthy amount of them cheat, there's still a good amount of Olympic athletes that don't. And those people kill themselves and give up their lives for a chance to compete for their countries -- no matter how big or small. I'm the last guy to talk to about blind patriotism, I think most of it comes down to bullshit. But this isn't an athlete's fault that the year he/she was ready for competition, it was held in an unjust country.
Maybe it's just me, and maybe I'm wrong -- but I've always seen the Olympics as something that's more for the athletes than anyone else. Let them compete, don't spit in their face by refusing to participate in their moment.

 

I would not carry the torch for the China Olympics. I would carry the torch for Vancouver.

Carrying the torch has a way of legitimizing a Chinese regime which is a big human rights violator. I know we use a lot of products from China and a lot of times that can't be helped because they dominate the market. And I wouldn't say athletes should boycott the Olympics - in sports like track and field, that is a big moment for those athletes.

However, very little light gets cast upon the Chinese government's violation of human rights. These demonstrations have cast more light on this than anything in the past three years.

 

Laughable babble to rant about Chinese politics while 'they' beat US into debtor submission with lower imprison rate, lower murder rate, and light years better education system. Go tackle that rocket economy with your freak pitchforks.

 

I would definitely carry the torch.

 

What? That last sentence sounds like a bad translation of a Japanese political rally.

 

They let anybody carry that damn thing - and by anybody I mean local TV anchors in cheesy jogging suits.

 

Personally, I would not carry the torch.

But I wouldn't hassle anyone who did, either. This is a once in a lifetime chance, and these are good people. Who am I to judge them?

 

Heck yeah I would. Just out of principal considering it would take someone who's fighting for the rights of others to infringe on my rights just to make a point. Hypocrites.

 

It's a torch. Like not carrying it is going to make a difference anyway. I'd carry it, just to say I have.

 

That's awesomely ridiculous.

 

It used to mean something back when Hitler started it in 1936 to symbolize the linkage between the Aryan race and the Greeks. Now its a marketing campaign to sell soda or shoes or something and to give morning show anchors at local affiliates a chance to hype the Olympic coverage. Sure, they let a few "normal" folks hoist the thing and give them the option of buying their unis and a replica torch for $110.00, but watching the clusterfluck in SF today, I'm really wondering what the hell its all about. Why not just take the flame from Greece to the host city on a plane and send out "baby flames" to countries that are interested in doing their own thing once it gets there.