Russia Olympic Boycott 'Not Appropriate', Obama Says

[Purveyor]

Source: RIA Novosti

WASHINGTON, August 9 (RIA Novosti) – US President Barack Obama said Friday he was "offended" by a new Russian law on homosexuality but rejected calls from critics for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, early next year.

"I do not think it is appropriate to boycott the Olympics," Obama said at a White House news conference, saying such a move would only punish athletes who have worked hard to make it to the Olympic competition.

Obama added however that "nobody's more offended than me by some of the anti-gay and lesbian legislation that you've been seeing in Russia."

Russian officials have stressed that the new Russian law, signed by President Vladimir Putin in June, was designed to protect minors from "propaganda" about "non-traditional sexual orientations." Critics have said the law is too vaguely worded and is tantamount to discrimination against homosexuals, something Russian officials deny.

Read more: http://en.rian.ru/world/20130810/182682181/Russia-Olympic-Boycott-Not-Appropriate-Obama-Says.html

[Drale]

1. Russia was a terrible choice for the Olympics but

at this point its too late to move them to anywhere else, so the only feasible option would be to cancel the games all together and that is not going to happen.

[William769]

2. Not necessarily true.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023431046

[theHandpuppet]

3. Respectfully, Mr. President...

I'll bet there are at least a few people who are more offended than you.

[AtheistCrusader]

4. Precisely.

that was sort of a silly thing for him to say.

[dbackjon]

7. Ya think?

[FreeState]

9. +1

[Pab Sungenis]

35. Sadly, the sponsors of the Games (Putin's enablers) aren't among them.

[Californeeway]

65. It's a common turn of phrase

but I guess every last thing the guy does has something wrong with it.

the turn of phrase that stood out to me was:

"If Russia doesn't have any LGBT folks competing on their team, they will be much weaker because of it." I LOLed at that.

I think that statement reveals a lot more but in the end people see what they wanna see.

[CBGLuthier]

5. Yeah, I mean it's not like they invaded Afghanistan again or something.

Oh, wait.

[alp227]

8. "nobody's more offended than me"

What a f__king narcissistic thing to say.

[BlueManFan]

11. But Not Offended About Torturing Bradley Manning Or Prosecuting Whistleblowers

or Edward Snowden or raiding medical pot clinics, or letting the Wall Street banksters break the planet, or the surge, or double tap drone strikes.....please ! Give me a break!!!

[AsahinaKimi]

12. Its not his call is it??

If the Olympic team refuses to go, than what will he do?

[dipsydoodle]

15. The US Olympic team made it clear in July they would not boycott Sochi.

.

[AsahinaKimi]

18. And if the ATHELETES refuse to go

because their life might be in danger, than what?

[dipsydoodle]

21. the issue now was exactly the same in July

No change - so what would have changed their minds ?

Have the athletes of any other countries shown a reluctance to go ?

[AsahinaKimi]

22. I would not know... Its not exactly something I keep up with...

with other countries around the world. But, hey... if the Athletes want to go, and some of them may be gay or lesbian, its up to them isn't it? If I were a Lesbian athlete and my girlfriend wanted to go and stay with me.. I would say no. Its too risky.

Is a gold, silver or bronze metal worth my girlfriends life???

[jberryhill]

26. That's up to the athletes

Uh, nobody forces anyone to compete in the Olympics.

Have you spoken to any of them?

[markpkessinger]

28. He can't force attendance, but he could force a boycott . . .

. . . Just as Carter did for the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

[MuseRider]

13. Oh I think it is quite possible

judging by your reluctance to lead on equality issues for LGBT that MOST people are more offended than you are.

[Behind the Aegis]

19. BAM! And there it is!

Once again, showing what a TRUE ally is!

[Pab Sungenis]

33. It's sort of like he's a Pokemon

He still needs to evolve a couple more times.

[AngryOldDem]

14. I totally get the argument for the athletes...

...but I can't put sports above the rights and safety of human beings.

[markpkessinger]

30. Thank you! n/t

[jberryhill]

31. Safety?

You do know a luger was KILLED in trials at Vancouver, yes?







The entirety of the Winter Olympics is premised on the negative slope of the phase curve of solid water under variable pressure or, to put it simply - ice is slippery.

The athletes are in the best position to make decisions about their safety.

[antigone382]

56. How does this relate to human rights violations based on intrinsic human traits? n/t

[AngryOldDem]

59. Do I really have to spell out what I meant? Okay.

Safety, as in being in actual, physical danger of being attacked for who they are. Just because the Russian authorities say they will suspend their laws, doesn't mean gay athletes will be safe.

As we see in this society, there are a lot of people who have no problem with beating up (and worse) gays. Do you think it's any better in Russia? I don't.

I thought my intent was pretty clear.

[MarkLaw]

16. Hypocritical!!!

As someone living an alternative lifestyle I don't like the Russian legislation. It will end up doing something no one has mentioned, it will alienate homosexual youth making them terrified to talk to anyone about coming into their sexuality. This is going to end up hurting Russia. Children that are homosexual will grow up and may end up getting married to someone they don't love or possibly rebelling in a violent manner, they will face a higher risk of using intoxicating substances, divorce rates will most likely increase, suicides will certainly increase, more children will live in broken homes etc etc.

I haven't heard anyone say they would boycott America because the system targets and profits by imprisoning its poor and mentally ill population(something I see as much worse than the Russian legislation). I haven't heard anyone say they would boycott voting in this country because of torture, war crimes(committed by both political parties). Obviously everyone on here is using the internet so we aren't boycotting our ISP's for cooperating with the government in order to help the government unconstitutionally spy on us.

It isn't OK to boycott the Olympics unless we would also boycott most Olympics. There are very few countries in the west that are not guilty of contributing to murder, starvation, poverty etc through domestic subsidies, weapon sales, pushing loans that come with unbearable strings(The effect that IMF-ECB loans have had on Greece, Spain and most of the developing world have been catastrophic forms of economic terrorism). The effect Monsanto has had on farmers worldwide has been horrid(Suicides in India, Bankrupt farmers in India and the U.S etc)

We are so insulated by the media we latch onto the newest sensational story and allow it to dictate our ideology. Yes Boycotts can be an effective means of influencing policy. Boycott everything though!!!! Every purchase we make should be researched, from the toilet paper we buy to the snack packs we put in our children's lunch boxes(everything should be homemade and healthy). Heck, go one step further. REUSE. Buy clothes, clean them in hot water, wipe! Use washable diapers. Instead of using paper towels use rags, then wash them and reuse! Make your own toothpaste(baking soda, coconut oil, salt) Instead of buying swiffers use a good ole scrub brush, hot water and a mixture of vinegar, tea tree oil and hot water(just make sure to research the tea tree oil and vinegar you buy).

[madrchsod]

20. we boycotted the russia because they invaded afganistan

we invaded afghanistan to remove the people who we trained to remove the russians we boycotted.

what the hell kind of moral ground do we have to stand on?

[MarkLaw]

53. Moral ground??? Show me a moral in nature?

lol

[madrchsod]

17. what did jessie owens do?

he kicked ass and showed hitler that the germans were not the master race.

we can show putin and his crew that the "non-traditional sexual relations" can kick anyone`s

including the russians asses too.

[Bluenorthwest]

37. However Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman the only Jews on the US team were pulled from

competition the day of the race because they were likely to win and this would upset the Germans. Jesse was great, but Sam and Marty got the shaft, did they not?

[theHandpuppet]

48. Didn't know that

Thanks much for providing that forgotten history.

[rpannier]

46. The end result of having the Olympics in Berlin

It helped showcase the Nazi government and legitimize Hitler in the eyes of many around the world. You can talk Jesse Owens all you want, but in the end Hitler was the winner in that instance

[jakeXT]

70. He stayed at the same hotel and didn't take the freight elevator

His stay in Germany showed Owens that a different life was possible for him as a black man. Unlike back home in the United States, in Germany Owens trained, traveled and stayed in the same hotels as his white teammates. In the United States, Owens was asked to ride a hotel’s freight elevator to get to a reception being held in his honor.

http://www.biography.com/blog/jesse-owens-biography-olympic-triumphs-olympic-sized-struggles-20892201

[YOHABLO]

23. "Not Appropriate" ?

What is more appropriate than human rights Mr. Obama? Oh, it's so appropriate that we have multinational corporations with their finger up your f.. g behind. Can't let something like a boycott mess up all that money there is to be made. What about sending a strong message that we don't approve of their ''homosexual propaganda'' laws, that it's not about the athletes participating, but the way they treat their citizens.

[jberryhill]

27. Do the athletes have a right to compete if they want to?

[YOHABLO]

45. You come with the country that brought you ... otherwise, go freelance as some athletes have ..

done in the past. Also, some athletes participated with other countries ... so it's really not about representing your country and what your country's values are, .. but about an athletes own ''personal best''.

[Safetykitten]

24. Historical moment. I agree with him.

[YOHABLO]

25. "Not Appropriate" ?

What is more appropriate than human rights Mr. Obama? Oh, it's so appropriate that we have multinational corporations with their finger up your f.. g behind. Can't let something like a boycott mess up all that money there is to be made. What about sending a strong message that we don't approve of their ''homosexual propaganda'' laws, and that we're disgusted with the way they treat human beings? I hope these gay athletes bring lots of rainbow flags to the opening ceremony .. more or less giving Russia the finger.

[markpkessinger]

29. Taking an affirmative stance on Human Rights is "Inappropriate"

Does this President have any moral core whatsoever?

[Pab Sungenis]

32. History will not treat this decision kindly.

Nor will I.

[David__77]

34. Boycott would be terrible and mistaken.

And there's little point in having an international olympics if it is merely a platform for one social system or another.

[FreeState]

36. "a platform for one social system or another"

Cause genocide is apparently a platform comparable to all others.

Earlier in June, Mr. Putin signed yet another antigay bill, classifying “homosexual propaganda” as pornography. The law is broad and vague, so that any teacher who tells students that homosexuality is not evil, any parents who tell their child that homosexuality is normal, or anyone who makes pro-gay statements deemed accessible to someone underage is now subject to arrest and fines. Even a judge, lawyer or lawmaker cannot publicly argue for tolerance without the threat of punishment.

Finally, it is rumored that Mr. Putin is about to sign an edict that would remove children from their own families if the parents are either gay or lesbian or suspected of being gay or lesbian. The police would have the authority to remove children from adoptive homes as well as from their own biological parents.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007043

THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE

On December 9, 1948, in the shadow of the Holocaust and in no small part due to the tireless efforts of Lemkin himself, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. This convention establishes "genocide” as an international crime, which signatory nations “undertake to prevent and punish.” It defines genocide as:
enocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.

[David__77]

38. Genocide? Are you seriously saying Russia is genocidal?

By this definition, all countries that ban homosexuality are also genocidal. That would include all of the orange, brown, yellow, or red countries below, and arguably a number of other including Russia:



Basically, the entire continent of Africa except South Africa would be "genocidal." All of the Arab countries would be. Indonesia would be. What about China? It's not anti-gay, but many of the same people calling for Russia boycott oppose it hosting it as well. So one would exclude the majority of the world.

[FreeState]

41. DO those countries take gay peoples children away?

If so that is the very definition of genocide - I included the links.

[David__77]

42. Of course they would.

Not only that, but actually lock the people away for extended periods, which we are not yet seeing in Russia, where homosexuality technically is legal still. The point is: how to support transformation in these countries? I don't think the boycott strategy will work, but instead further isolate the gay community in the country in question. Better to go, and make statements of support.

[rpannier]

47. The Olympics locked South Africa out for years

Curious.. Do you think it was a good idea or a bad idea to ban them?

[David__77]

49. Yes, because it was consistent.

Racial segregation was banned.

If the policy is that anti-gay laws are banned, then don't just purge Russia, but all those countries I mentioned.

[Ash_F]

61. Maybe anti-gay laws should be banned?

but if that was the case, then the US should have to clean up it's own back yard too.

[Bluenorthwest]

39. A little statement between his appearances with anti gay hate preacher Donnie McClurkin

whom his wife says is her favorite singer of 'Gospel' music, apparently it is the Gospel of hate that they follow, along with Putin and the Russians. It is very interesting to read up on the 1936 Olympics who opposed the boycott and who demanded our team go and why our Jewish athletes were not allowed to compete. Brundage, head of the Olympic committee and founder of 'Olympics and politics do not mix' bullshit believed there was a Jewish conspiracy against the Germans and he said there was no discrimination in Nazi Germany. So those who mouth his philosophy should learn what it is they are saying and why.
I am for the boycotting of bigots. Obama embraces and employs bigots. That's his choice. And fuck that.

[vdogg]

63. "Obama embraces and employs bigots."

Who actively campaigned to repeal DOMA and DADT. Right.......

[Nye Bevan]

40. President Obama does tend to be a little behind the curve on LGBT rights.

It took him forever to drop the "marriage is between a man and a woman..... God is in the mix" thing, for example. So this is disappointing but not a complete surprise.

[Lugal Zaggesi]

43. If any athletes who have QUALIFIED for the Olympics want to boycott it

because of Russian laws,

that's their decision. But any athlete who has QUALIFIED for the Olympics has been devoting most of their entire life to their sport for many years - they don't want to be told by politicians "sorry, you can't go".

I'd be very surprised if any qualifying athlete turns down the chance to go to the OLYMPICS to make a statement against Russian laws - in fact, here's a gay speed skater hoping he does qualify, so that he can go to Russia and see if he gets deported for "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations" which might include his gay-pride pin or some public-displays-of-affection. I bet he tries this AFTER he competes.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57596532/gay-olympic-hopeful-plans-to-defy-anti-gay-russian-laws/

If he qualifies. Which is hard.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57597731/russias-new-anti-gay-laws-bring-mounting-scrutiny-ahead-of-sochi-olympics/
In an earlier interview with the sports division of Russia's RIA Novosti news agency, Mutko said "an athlete of nontraditional sexual orientation isn't banned from coming to Sochi, but if he goes out into the streets and starts to propagandize, then of course he will be held accountable."

The Russian law makes it "illegal to spread information about non-traditional sexual behavior" to minors. If the Olympic athletes don't hand out pamphlets to Russian children, they should be safe from deportation. That and don't join any gay-rights rallies - Russians don't seem to like those.

[Nye Bevan]

54. Athletes have a right to go if they want. Just like people have a right to cross picket lines.

Just as people who cross picket lines demonstrate their low opinion of the striking workers, athletes who go to the Olympics will be showing what they think of gay people.

[Lugal Zaggesi]

58. 1936 Olympics

Hitler saw the Games as an opportunity to promote his government and ideals of racial supremacy, and the official Nazi party paper, the 'Völkischer Beobachter' wrote in the strongest terms that Jews and Black people should not be allowed to participate in the Games. However, when threatened with a boycott of the Games by other nations, he relented and allowed Black people and Jews to participate, and added one token participant to the German team—a German woman, Helene Mayer, who had a Jewish father. At the same time, the party removed signs stating "Jews not wanted" and similar slogans from the city's main tourist attractions.

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long jump, and as part of the 4x100 meter relay team. He was the most successful athlete at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Albert Speer writes that Hitler reflected upon Owens's victories with a shrug as African physiques were primitive and stronger than whites.
[center][/center]

Owens was allowed to travel with and stay in the same hotels in Germany as whites, while at the time African Americans in many parts of the United States had to stay in segregated hotels while traveling. After the parade, Owens had to ride the freight elevator at the Waldorf-Astoria to reach the reception honoring him. FDR never invited Jesse Owens to the White House following his triumphs at the Olympics games. Since 1936 was a presidential-election year, Roosevelt was afraid that he would lose southern votes if he played Kowtow to a black man.

There are plenty of things athletes could complain about - the best in the world just want to WIN.

The Jesse Owens Award, USA Track and Field's highest accolade for the year's best track and field athlete, is named after him, in honor of his significant career.

[Lancero]

44. Serious question...

But if Obama was serious about how we shouldn't boycott a event just because it is being held in Russia, who has commited actions that we disagree with, then why is Obama refusing to hold to a agreed upon meeting with Putin before the G20?

He says we shouldn't boycott the olympics despite Russia's new anti-gay law, yet here he is boycotting his meeting with Putin over Russia giving Snowden asylum.

Is it just me, or does anyone else see a example of "Do as I say, not as I do?"

[theHandpuppet]

50. Oh yes.

I saw it. The hypocrisy astounds.

[forestpath]

64. It's not just you. I see the same thing.

[DinahMoeHum]

51. These Games are asking for a Tommie Smith/John Carlos moment. . .

. . .just like in Mexico City, 1968.

Take it from one who has been there, done that - John Carlos
http://www.johncarlos68.com

(snip)
"If you stay home, your message stays home with you. . .If you stand for justice and equality, you have an obligation to find the biggest possible megaphone to let your feelings be known. Don't let your message be buried and don't bury yourself. To be heard is to be greater than a boycott."
(snip)

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9522926/gay-rights-sochi-boycott-movement

[mitchtv]

62. + many

It sure does, something deviously embarrassing to the Russians, something well planned, something genius, maybe a youtube

[treestar]

52. Who decides whether to boycott?

I don't think it's the president. I don't agree with him. Though it is hard for the athletes.

[ButterflyBlood]

55. It's not fair to punish our athletes for the host country's offenses

Obama is right.

[malthaussen]

57. But he will boycott Putin.

Let's see if I have this straight: he'll cold-shoulder the Russian president over the Snowden embarrassment, but thinks we shouldn't boycott the Olympics over Russia insulting and marginalizing our citizens.

-- Mal

[dipsydoodle]

60. Now rejected by david Cameron too.

Sochi Olympics Boycott Call Rejected By PM.

David Cameron has ruled out a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Russia, insisting attending is a better way to tackle anti-gay prejudice.

The Prime Minister spoke out following calls for the Games in 2014 to be moved because of Russia's anti-gay laws.

David Cameron said he had shared the "deep concern" about the abuse of gay people in the country.

But writing on Twitter, the Prime Minister said: "I believe we can better challenge prejudice as we attend, rather than boycotting the Winter Olympics."

http://news.sky.com/story/1126956/sochi-olympics-boycott-call-rejected-by-pm

[burnodo]

66. And he'll get Rick Warren for the invocation

[ZombieHorde]

67. Civil rights trump games, in my opinion. nt

[RZM]

69. Agree. The 1980 boycott did not go well

It didn't change Soviet behavior, but it did enrage the athletes who had trained for years to get to that level. For some, one shot is all they will ever get.

IIRC there was a lawsuit brought by the athletes that was never resolved.

There are ways to register disapproval with Russia's laws that don't involve prohibiting US athletes from doing their thing.