Unofficial Running Olympic Boycott thread

[2muchcoffeeman]

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/20/asia/letter.php

One even finds eerie echoes of Japan's Manchukuo with its bogus Emperor Puyi in China's attempts to pick religious leaders on Tibetan's behalf.

It's not for foreigners to say what should happen between Tibet and China, but it's hard to imagine a happy ending for either party until such charades are called off.

 

[DanOregon]

I do find it interesting that there are so many reasons to boycott China, human rights, Tibet, lead paint in toys, child labor et. al. And what I find really odd is that the last time they were the focus of U.S. foreign policy was right after Bush took office and that sub-hunting plane was captured.

 

[Armchair_QB]

I do find it interesting that there are so many reasons to boycott China, human rights, Tibet, lead paint in toys, child labor et. al. And what I find really odd is that the last time they were the focus of U.S. foreign policy was right after Bush took office and that sub-hunting plane was captured.

It wasn't captured. It was rammed by a Chinese plane.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

I do find it interesting that there are so many reasons to boycott China, human rights, Tibet, lead paint in toys, child labor et. al. And what I find really odd is that the last time they were the focus of U.S. foreign policy was right after Bush took office and that sub-hunting plane was captured.

That reminds me (and thanks for that) ... Hannah Montana toys are killing America's children because of their lead content! Outrage! Shame! Shock!

Yeah, they were made in China.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hannah19mar19,1,7871179.story

 

[DanOregon]

So now Nancy Pelosi is suggesting Bush should boycott the opening ceremonies. Yeah Nance, Mr. Human Rights will be in Bejing taking notes.
And did anyone see Heistand's column in USA Today where he quotes NBC saying they won't be doing any political coverage of the Games. They're just going to focus on the sports. Really? Since when does NBC ever focus on the sports during an Olympics?

Anyway, here's the Pelosi story from ABC News:
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not want the U.S. to boycott the Beijing Olympics, but she says that President George W. Bush should consider skipping the opening ceremony.
Pelosi
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tells "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that President Bush should consider boycotting the opening...
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., tells "Good Morning America" on Tuesday that President Bush should consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympics but also insists the games should go on.
(AP/ABC News)

"I think boycotting the opening ceremony, which really gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table," Pelosi, D-Calif., told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts in an interview airing Tuesday. "I think the president might want to rethink this later, depending on what other heads of state do."

Pelosi Considers Boycott of Games' Opening

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced she will not attend the Olympic Games, set to begin on August 8, 2008. Pelosi, meanwhile, has been outspoken in support of Tibet, the site of recent crackdowns on human rights demonstrators by the Chinese government.

In a recent trip to Dharmasala, India, home of the Dalai Lama's displaced Tibetan government, Pelosi said, "If freedom-loving people don't speak out against China's oppression of people in Tibet, we have lost all moral authority to speak out against any oppressed people."

 

[dixiehack]

And did anyone see Heistand's column in USA Today where he quotes NBC saying they won't be doing any political coverage of the Games. They're just going to focus on the sports.

Good thing the Peacock wasn't on the call from Munich in 72.

 

[DanOregon]

Good thing Pelosi didn't make the remarks to the Today show. Or maybe she did....

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Dear NBC:

You have a chance to make an enormous positive impact on the lives of millions of people in China. Instead, you keep Bob Costas in a dark studio with a green night light and claim you are helping the environment. Wake up, stop being a bunch of corporate kissasses, grow a spine and start hammering China ever minute that there's not a hot-looking female swimmer on TV.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I've already decided to boycott the Olympics... I won't watch a second of it...

 

[GB-Hack]

In this vein:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7327718.stm

I don't understand how some sort of boycott cannot be in order. Not pulling athletes out of the games, but of the opening and closing ceremonies. I would be truly angry if my Prime Minister were to be at either, as I'm sure would my countrymen.

 

[Pastor]

In this vein:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7327718.stm

I don't understand how some sort of boycott cannot be in order. Not pulling athletes out of the games, but of the opening and closing ceremonies. I would be truly angry if my Prime Minister were to be at either, as I'm sure would my countrymen.

Yet, all of the major countries are too chicken-**** to do a thing about it...

 

[Smallpotatoes]

Tonight, Jerry Doyle was beating the drum for an Olympic boycott.
Maybe it's a little shallow and short-sighted to think about the athletes and what they want, but to me that's what matters the most here. The only people that a boycott will hurt are the athletes who won't have an opportunity to compete.

 

[DanOregon]

So now the White House is backing off its commitment to send Bush to Beijing. They haven't said they're not going, but they back off a chance to reaffirm his intent to go. BTW, isn't it somewhat unusual for a sitting U.S. president to attend a foreign Olympics? Don't we usually just send the Veep or the First Lady?

 

[dixiehack]

Torch relay makes its only US stop tommorow in San Francisco. Over/under on arrests?

 

[Pastor]

So now the White House is backing off its commitment to send Bush to Beijing. They haven't said they're not going, but they back off a chance to reaffirm his intent to go. BTW, isn't it somewhat unusual for a sitting U.S. president to attend a foreign Olympics? Don't we usually just send the Veep or the First Lady?

Cheney? Leave the country? You are joking, right?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Xenophobic, ethnocentric nationalism is the one political sentiment China's government does not regulate, since they recognize something has to replace Marxist ideology in terms of irrational motivations.
Boycotting the Olympics would only strengthen that sentiment. Letting China know the world thinks many of their government's actions suck by simply saying so seems like the best option, albeit a weak one.
Have to wonder what the world's citizenry would be doing in response if the 2008 Olympics were being held in, say, Chicago. It's not like we're popular, either.

 

[Claws for Concern]

So now the White House is backing off its commitment to send Bush to Beijing. They haven't said they're not going, but they back off a chance to reaffirm his intent to go. BTW, isn't it somewhat unusual for a sitting U.S. president to attend a foreign Olympics? Don't we usually just send the Veep or the First Lady?

Laura was in Turin for the Winter Games.

 

[DanOregon]

And Pappy Bush went to Athens. I just don't understand why Bush was planning on going to China in the first place. Or is it kind of like that party your boss is hosting that you don't feel like going to, but you figure you kind of have to.

 

[trifectarich]

If we're going to boycott the Games because of China's dealings with human rights, then let's do this the right way. We need to stop buying oil from those Middle East countries where women can't vote, or drive, or leave the house without a male to accompany them.

Oh . . . we want the oil we can get, don't we?

Never mind.

 

[EE94]

Dalai Lama doesn't have a problem with the Games

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080410.wdalailama0410/BNStory/International/home