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Posted by ConorClockwise on 2008-03-17 05:04:20 +0000

Olympics 2008: Ideally this would be a poll question...

... But I don't think polls are "postable" right now. (Sysop?) Question: -The USA should completely boycott the 2008 Olympics. -Participate in the 2008 games, but the USA should not participate in the opening ceremonies. (This is considered a huge snub.) -The USA should attend the opening ceremonies, but the team would fly the Olympic flag, not the Stars and Stripes. (A snub, but not as blatant, and I don't think GW Bush is down with this either. See 1980 Olympics in Moscow.) -Play in the '08 games like nothing is wrong because China is totally a 21st century country.
Posted by pamsterdam on 2008-03-16 07:36:35 +0000
I vote B (or 2): Participate in the 2008 games, but the USA should not participate in the opening ceremonies. (This is considered a huge snub.)
Posted by ConorClockwise on 2008-03-17 06:04:34 +0000
I think this is what's going to happen, especially if other NATO countries get on board. (Calling England!) That said, Bush will let it be known he doesn't want to ruffle any international feathers as a virtual lame duck president. This is going to get bigger in the next few months...
Posted by pamsterdam on 2008-03-17 07:12:45 +0000
I may not have my finger on the pulse of Dutch politics, but based on the major newspapers' coverage of the subject, I think the Netherlands are going this route. It would be great (IMHO) if this action was taken by more than a handful of small European countries...
Posted by dyedon8 on 2008-03-17 10:27:56 +0000
It's complete bullshit if the U.S. has any kind of Olympic protest but still outsources labor to China.
Posted by tgl on 2008-03-17 13:44:16 +0000
I'd agree. The time for getting human rights and environmental policy concessions from China is long past (if there ever was such a time). Daylight's the only way forward now: more sporting events, more international reporters in country, more internet access for Chinese citizens.
Posted by ConorClockwise on 2008-03-20 20:48:26 +0000
No (foreign) journalists in Lhasa any longer. This has become a black box situation. We won't find out how many Tibetans have been killed for months, if not years. The time is ripe. China needs to back the fuck up.
Posted by ConorClockwise on 2008-04-07 19:43:59 +0000
German chancellor Angela Merkel has made plans to boycott the opening ceremony to press China for its crackdown in Tibet. That and some awesome posting on the Golden Gate:
Posted by tgl on 2008-04-08 02:32:22 +0000
This might be the best approach. No, I don't mean scaling the Golden Gate Bridge. Everyday, another protest event. They were throwing water on the torch in Paris today. How many days until the Opening Ceremony? That's the same number of protests we'll have. Wanna bet there will be a Free Tibet banner at the Opening Ceremony?
Posted by TheFullCleveland on 2008-04-08 12:42:43 +0000
The fact that they had to extinguish the flame and have it carried inside a guarded van...I mean, if this is kind of crap that a Chinese Olympics creates, I hope that it ushers in some momentum for change in China.
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