Olympic Torch Relay Descends Into Chaos

[marksman]

Sorry but this is nonsense. The Olympics have always been political.

Yes, individual countries always used the Olympics for cheap political theater. That doesn't contradict my point that the purpose of the modern Olympics -- as set forth in the Olympic Charter is to bring people from many nations together regardless of what their governments were doing.

In related news, The Dalai Lama supports China as host of the Olympics as long as people have the right to protest peacefully.

 

[Wolfman]

Would you play tennis with your neighbour if you knew he was a torturer and a murderer? It's that simple. Pious is the last word you would use to describe me.Thank you for the lovely welcolme to the forum.

And are you trying to make some sort of ridiculous accusation that it is the Chinese athletes who are doing all these evil things in China? "If you play basketball against a Chinese team, you're supporting murder"? "If you compete in swimming against Chinese swimmers, you're enabling a torturer"?

I do not know of any Olympic athlete who is coming to China in order to "play tennis with a murder". They are coming here to compete with other athletes...athletes of all nationalities.

Taking your argument to its logical conclusion, athletes should refuse to compete in any event that has:

* Chinese (they kill and torture)
* Americans (they torture prisoners, engage in illegal wars)
* British (they support the U.S.)
* Iran (they're a hotbed of Muslim fundamentalism, deny basic human rights and freedoms)
* Saudi Arabia (they provide funding for many militant terrorist groups)

In fact, my list could go on and on and on forever.

The answer is simple. We should just stop all sports altogether. Or only engage in sporting competitions with people from our own country. Or how about we just set up a world-wide sport police that tell every athlete who they can or cannot compete against?

I'm not sure I'd use the term "pious" for you. I'd personally consider it more to be ignorance compounded by arrogance...the person who speaks with absolute conviction and certainty because they are totally unaware of just how little they know about what they are talking about.

And please -- don't start the whole "nice welcome to the forum" or "what a way to treat a newbie" thing. I am responding to you exactly the same way that I'd respond to any other member of this forum if they said the same thing. And I expect others who disagree with me will respond in a similar manner. You don't get special treatment just cuz you're new.

 

[Ysidro]

By your "logic" Germany was a socialist country while the Nazis were in charge.

Careful, I know at least one radio talk show hack who makes this claim. Whether he believes it or not, I can't know. However, I wouldn't be willing to be against him not believing it.

 

[shadron]

If you don't want to be referred to as "communist" get rid of the word.

Should the Olympics be politicized like this?

Sure, I think so.

Would you play tennis with your neighbour if you knew he was a torturer and a murderer? It's that simple.

*sigh* So much pop politics, so little time left for anything else.

I found today very interesting from another aspect. In a city with such divesity and history....the birthplace of the Beat generation, the Hippies, the alternative sexual revolution and other countercultures....in a city where idividuality and tolerance are prized, and not far from Berkely and all that centered there, free expression was so twisted by lip service to "safety" and "potential violence", and the wishes of a dictatorship were given priority by politicians rather than those who elected them.

Good theatre there. Well, I suppose donnybrook riots are all very well and good as long as you yourself are not involved in them, and as long as they promote your cause.

But I don't understand why you think what happened was catering to the Chinese. They didn't ask that their torch ceremony be canceled; they have their military police army there to protect their interests, and they certainly don't care if a few SF skulls are broken in the process. They want their torch to be feted. Chinese and Tibetan demonstrators alike were appalled. I doubt that those officials who made the decision much cared what China thought of their actions; they don't answer to the Chinese government, but a riot in their streets would likely have catastrophic effects on their next election.