Should the U.S. boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing?

[RiverStone]

I love the Olympics.

I hate China's horrendous human rights record. I hate what they have done in the past and what they are doing in today's Tibet.

On one hand, why punish the dedication of great athletes and take away an opportunity to compete against the best in the world?
There would be a certain hypocrisy to a boycott when at the same time, we are trading with this country to the tune of billions of dollars per year.

On the other hand, what does it say to participate when the host country is committing the most heinous of human rights abuses? A boycott of the Olympics would be most successful if many other nations joined in, for ultimately what damn good would it do unless it lifted the vail on China's oppression in Tibet and in other reaches of their society?

I'd love to watch our athletes compete; but I'd love to see a free Tibet even more!

What do you think, should the U.S. boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing?

[brandon47]

1. I think we should participate

but Bush should stay home like the other leaders. also have the athletes that wish wear something in support of Tibet

[SidDithers]

2. The IOC shoulda picked Toronto for 2008...nt

Sid

[LeftinOH]

3. No- as in "No way"...We shouldn't have boycotted the 1980 Olympics

-and we shouldn't boycott any Olympic Games- its unfair to the athletes, which is enough of a reason, imho.

[El Pinko]

7. I'm with you on that. The Olympics is supposed to be above all the political crap

The occupation of Tibet began a very long time ago, and yet the IOCC settled on Beijing for the Olympics, so that's the gig.

The US' human rights record isn't exactly spotless, by the way.

[Squatch]

8. At the risk of invoking Godwin's Law...

[Freedom Train]

31. Yup, that about sums it up

Those who think we are not in for a similar display in Beijing (no further political connotations of course) are kidding themselves.

[Squatch]

4. Unequivocally YES

And I am the world's biggest Olympics fan. I'm series!!1!

[AngryAmish]

5. I hate the Olympics

It is a chance for dictators and royalty get to strut on the stage like they are respectable people. Why give them legitimacy? Plus half of the sports are stupid. Curling is an activity, not a sport. I'm sure I would have fun doing it but it is not a sport. Why not have cornhole or beer pong as events?

[DadOf2LittleAngels]

14. Curling is a sport (and a god awful boring one)

Dad's Definition of a sport

1) Take Physical ability or skill ( coordination, strength, speed, endurance, ...)
2) It takes mental ability or skill ( Timing, strategy, mental flexibility, ...)
3) The results are mostly formulaic and set by rules

If it dont meet all three its not a sport. So yes there are things in the olympics that are not sports like Figure Skating (Physical (yes), Mental (yes), clear rules on judging the winner (no)..

Thats not to say figure skaters are not *amazing* athletes!

[brandon47]

16. it is actually

quite fun to play though. Get a group together and go sometime. Its fun to play, but it can put you to sleep watching it.

[AngryAmish]

20. Actual definition of sport: if you can do it while drinking beer, it is an activity

It appears curling would be quite fun to do while drinking beer.

I make fun of curling but it is not the worst example. Sailing would be fun to do while drinking. I have competed in a 5k in which you had to drink six beers at various stations to finish...that did not end so well.

[C_U_L8R]

6. The Olympics are SUPPOSED to transcend politics

it's about the athletes not politicians and
its sad when politics gets inserted into it.

[AngryAmish]

9. You are some interesting company there

?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=5C1929E78F851DD2EA513233346EC35CA55A1E4F32AD3138

[C_U_L8R]

19. As I said.. it's sad when politics gets inserted into it

[AngryAmish]

22. It gives the host legitimacy

If not boycott, it tells the world that they put on this big event and thus can rightly sit at the "grown-up" table of world politics and not pay a price for their oppressions.

Run the damn thing in Denmark. They don't bother anyone.

[Shine]

13. I totally agree

it's sad the original intent of the Olympics has been lost. :(

[dogday]

18. That is a good statement

How are we ever to make progress with countries like China, if we don't participate in games like these? It is a first step...

[harun]

27. I thought it was about the commercials and advertising (n/t)

[Blue_Tires]

28. i thought it was about pampered nba divas who wish they had the summer off

lol

[harun]

33. Adults who play childrens games full time tend to act like children (n/t)

[sharesunited]

10. I suppose it is too much to ask that individual athletes

boycott according to their own conscience. Do you think any would?

[Recursion]

11. Olympics are supposed to be when we put politics aside

Seriously, what in the hell does boycotting the Olympics accomplish? I don't know. I guess the modern Olympics are kind of an inversion of the ancient Olympics. Whereas the ancient Olympics were a celebration of αρετη, and they canceled wars for the Olympics, the modern Olympics are a celebration of Der Wille zur Macht, and are cancelled for wars.

[blondeatlast]

12. I'm for us going, but cancelling trade agreements. But how can the athletes compete

barefoot and naked (wait--they used to do that, didn't they?)?

Why, the athletes will have to be outfitted in--GASP--shoes and clothes made in America! Some visionary should consider this idea, seriously... :rofl:

[Javaman]

15. No, I don't think they should, however, I do believe that

an option to the athletes should be: if they feel that their health is threatened, then they shouldn't have to compete.

That's from a pollution stand point.

From a human rights stand point, china should have never ever gotten the olympics in the first place.

And again, I think moron* should boycott the olympics and athletes once again should be given the option of not attending if it conflicts with their beliefs regarding humanity and the freedom of speech.

[L. Coyote]

17. Should the USA be allowed to attend the Olympics give the Human Rights atrocities?

If you live in a glass house, don't start throwing stones, I'd say!

Can we find something else to politicize, instead of the Olympics?
And, can the USA do something about their own human rights record?

[Mike Daniels]

39. Name one country that would be able to appear in the Olympics if judged by human rights issues

You could pretty much exclude all of Africa, the Middle East, any country governed by Islam, a good portion of former Soviet republics, a portion of countries in the Caribbean, part of South America, any country still operating under communism, etc.

Granted, you could probably have the Olympics over in two days but it would be a pretty barren affair if you used human rights as a filter.

[devilgrrl]

21. Yes, now that the Olympic committee threatened athletes if they speak out.

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

[juno jones]

23. Google IOCC

I have no exact links, I read a bunch of stuff about them years ago (maybe even from BOOKS in the day :) ), but I lost a lot of respect. The IOCC is pretty political, and not in a good way.

[Freddie Stubbs]

24. Boycotting the opening ceremonies will send a message without

punishing the athletes.

[dantyrant]

25. Horrendous Human Rights Record.

Let's be clear... we can have opinions about what other nations ought to be doing insofar as human rights concerns, but we ought not to interfere in internal Chinese politics. Let them sort it out.

What right do we have to call anyone out on anything? None. We are not the moral exemplars we pretend to be, and now no one believes the act anymore -- it hasn't worn well either, as everyday more and more is revealed about our extraordinary renditions, illegal wiretapping, torture/'enhanced interrogation', the drugging of prisoners, abandonment of Geneva, not to mention two disastrous, ill-conceived wars of aggression. But the media that cheerlead us into those wars are pointing the shame finger at China, that awful communist totalitarian country, and ignore the creeping slide of our country into a police state. Why isn't that where our energies are directed? Why aren't there demonstrations about THAT everyday?

The TeeVee shows an utterly corrupt CIA stooge who drags as a spiritual leader, and we in the West salivate like the pavlovian mutts that we are, completely infatuated with the idea that people everywhere should be free. Guess what? We can't bring freedom to Tibet, and our pressuring the issue will NOT be constructive. Tibet is a lever that the West uses to bludgeon the Chinese government into submission -- our leaders have no REAL interest in what happens there beyond that, and we ought to recognize that rather than pretend that our foreign policy is somehow virtuous. Because that's bullshit. One would think Americans would have started to 'get' that by now.

Will destabilizing China this year make the world a better place? I'm living on the outside, and around here we're not worried about China. We're worried about Cheney.

[Better Believe It]

26. Don't Boycott And Here's Why

Read this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=3091145

And this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3118617

Let's hope that U.S. and other participants raise flags and signs calling for Iraqi independence and an end to U.S. occupation of Iraq! If they also want to show a little Tibet flag that would be O.K. with me so long as they don't bow down and raise a huge religious cult banner honoring the "God King of Tibet".

I've never cared much for feudalism or God Kings.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

29. Should the U.S. be boycotted over its own human rights record?

:shrug:

[Better Believe It]

30. No

The 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City weren't boycotted and I would have opposed such a boycott.

[RB TexLa]

32. How about letting the athletes decide?

[Better Believe It]

35. They Already Can Decide

There is no law forcing someone to tryout for and participate in the Olympics if they don't want to.

[RB TexLa]

37. So how many US athletics were in Moscow and how many Russian ones were in Los Angeles?

If they can decide themselves?

[Better Believe It]

40. Like I Said: They Can Decide Not To Go

Do you have some information indicating that's not true?

Of course governments can prohibit participation by their citizens.

But, that's an entirely different matter, isn't it?

[RB TexLa]

42. No, it's not. I was suggesting they decide. Not they a can decide to not go.

but they decide if they don't go and they decide if they go.

[Better Believe It]

46. Once Again

RGBolen wrote: "but they decide if they don't go and they decide if they go."

Once again, they can't make a decision to go if the government prohibits them from going. Do you understand the difference now?

[RB TexLa]

48. Yes, I am suggesting that they be allowed to make that decision for themselves

you seem to be repeating the situation as it is now over and over.

[natrat]

34. yes cuz those motherfuckers were brazen enough to kill tibetans right in our faces months before

[Better Believe It]

36. What About The Attacks On Ethnic Chinese In Tibet

You don't think the Chinese shopkeepers firebombed their own businesses do you?

I hope you're not going to justify the firebombings and physical attacks against ethnic Chinese in Tibet.

Oh .... writing "motherfuckers" doesn't impress me or add anything to your post.

[natrat]

45. i care not a lick about you or what you think

"those motherfuckers" refers to the chinese government
as for defending firebombings against chinese, of course i dont support that
i have more sympathy for tibetans than i do for the chinese government as it,and its supporters, sucks shit -so there ya go slick

[Better Believe It]

47. Now I'm Really Impressed With Your Post

Not only do you know how to spell "motherfuckers" you also don't give a lick what DU'ers such as myself think!

Well, glad you have such an open mind and are willing to seriously consider another progressives point of view .... so long as it is in total agreement with yours!

[aikoaiko]

38. Boycotting is pointless -- the US boycott did nothing, the Soviet boycott did nothing

except help others gain glory.

If we had boycotted the 1936 Olympics, Jesse Owens would never have demonstrated to Hitler in person just how wrong he was.

[Generator]

41. Little people protesting the man

China is the epitome of the man. Big and without concern for whom it destroys. It warms the cockles to see their "big moment" ruined.

[Irreverend IX]

43. I hope one of the athletes gets a gold medal, a moment at the microphone...

And starts ripping apart China's rights record. Even better if it turns the whole celebration into a riot. That's the kind of embarrassment China deserves.

[FourScore]

44. No. If they have a problem with China's human rights abuses,

then they shouldn't have voted for China to hold the Olympics to begin with.

It's not like they just occupied Tibet or anything. They've been there for decades.

The Olympics is supposed to be apolitical.

America shouldn't have boycotted it in 1980 either. I love Carter, but I truly disagreed with that decision.

[Fumesucker]

49. China and the US both have the death penalty..

China performs more executions than the US.

However the incarceration rate in the US is considerably higher than that in China..

China is 118 per 100,000 while the US is 738 per 100,000, the highest in the world bar none.

That would seem to make the US either the least law abiding country on Earth or the most vengeful, take your pick.

[CADEMOCRAT7]

50. China, Tibet, Burma, Darfur

Nobel Peace Prize winner His Holiness The Dalai Lama was called a "monster" recently by China and was blamed for inciting the riots in Lhasa. Here is an article with a picture of Chinese soldiers holding monk robes...
http://flickr.com/photos/macy_miao/2370855959/in/pool-tibetphoto

House Speaker Pelosi is urging Bush to follow Chancellor Merkel's lead and boycott the opening ceremonies. I support the boycott of the opening and closing ceremonies. I feel the Olympians themselves should stand in solidarity for Human Rights and state this in a way of their choosing. China should not have been chosen, that said, I pray there is a tremendous world wide out-pouring of support for the people of Tibet, Burma, Darfur, ethic groups being repressed within China for religious persecution in order to put pressure on China. I am very concerned, and I pray I am just being dramatic, that we will see self-immolation.
In San Francisco, this Wednesday, there are numerous groups joining together to protest China:
http://www.sftorch2008.org/

http://uscampaignforburma.org/action/2008-peace-walk-across-golden-gate-bridge.html

http://uscampaignforburma.org/8808-beijing-olympics-campaign