The Olympic Games Are Sullied

04/08/2008

Paul Munnis


The spirit of the Olympic Games is about athletes rising above politics in order to compete in sports and to do the best that the human race is capable of in a given sport at that given point in time.

When Adolph Hitler attended the Olympics in Munich he cursed the contest. Bush is doing the same with his pledge to attend the Olympic games in Beijing. He does not belong there. Sport and politics is a bad mix.

Better that Bush stay home. Better that China tone down the nationalism, tend to their foreign affairs, and let the athletes have their day. The Olympics only comes around once every four years and some athletes have trained a lifetime for those few moments of contest. Bush and the Chinese government should not spoil it for them and not for the rest of the human race either.

Already Bush and China have created mayhem for the games by sparking riots and demonstrations around the world. Already the Olympic flame has to be suspended from its travel around the world and rather than spreading light it is now casting a shadow.

Tiny Tibet has become the beacon of compassion for a world outraged by the Chinese lack of sensibility towards human rights. They are in good company with Bush who may be tried on human rights violation charges himself once he leaves the protective shelter of the U.S. White House.

Tibet has become the political torch that is replacing the Olympic torch and it shows the poor judgment displayed by the Olympic Committee in selecting Beijing for the world games in the first place.

Bush should stay home and as far as I’m concerned the games should be rescheduled to an earlier site where they were already held once and where the facilities already exist. China should not get the Olympic venue until it gets its act together.

Give the athletes and Tibet a break from the dark politics of both China and Bush.