There has been plenty of press coverage about the Olympics and their political impact including China's viability as a host country. Their human rights record and their suppression of dissenters and media have many people thinking that they should not be hosting the Olympics. Joey Cheek, a Team Darfur activist, was denied a visa by the Chinese government and many people are outraged by this.
While I agree with the premise of this outrage, I always tend to try to see things from another perspective.
Think for a second if the Olympics were being held in Chicago. The US Government is seen by many in the world to be imperial in nature and there are many people around the world that object to our policies. Do you think for one second that we would allow a bunch of foreign nationals to come to our country during the Olympics and protest the War in Iraq or Guantanamo Bay? Do you think we would allow any people who would be considered subversive to our government to get visas to compete in the Olympics.
We don't even allow our own citizens to protest against our government and that right is guaranteed in our Constitution.
Sister Grace Miller
The outrage at the behavior of the Chinese Government is deserved, but its effect is sullied by the behavior of our own government. We used to be the good guys and held the higher ground. We used to be able to take a stand on morality and at least appear to have some credibility.
The Bush Administration and its policies such as the PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act, and several executive orders have basically given us the same government structure as China. A capitalist dictatorship. If you think any different, then you are fooling yourself.
The one difference is that we have the ability to remedy this situation, where the Chinese people do not. We have a history of democracy and freedom and compassion. We can return our country to those ideals set up by our forefathers and reclaim our status in the world community.
The politics of the Olympic Games have always been one of unity and peace and fellowship. The example of China in these Olympics should be like a mirror to us, showing us what we should not ever become. The outrage that we feel for China should be reflected also as outrage about the path that the Bush Administration has put us on. The question is, are we paying attention?