SHADES OF 1936
Holding the Olympic games in Nazi Germany back in 1936 was the biggest mistake ever made by the ringleaders of the gang of extortionists known as the International Olympic Committee. Hitler was so concerned about the Reich’s image that he had all the signs taken down that indicated Jews were second class citizens (”Caution: Sharp Turn Ahead. Jews: 70 KPH!”).
But Hitler also took precautions that the international press would not be able to interview the few who openly opposed his regime by having several prominent activists he had been unable to corral arrested in the weeks prior to the games.
Once again, the elitist, Euro-snobs who run the Olympic movement have thumbed their nose at the world, this time by choosing Communist China to host the games. And as before in Nazi Germany, the Chinese are sprucing up their “workers’ paradise” in order to put the best possible face on their tyrannical rule.
They have murdered hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats who roamed free in Beijing. No, they were not euthanized but rather taken to camps and allowed to starve to death.
They have cracked down on internet access for those in attendance so that no breath of opposition is heard.
They have reportedly placed spies in hotels where westerners will be staying in order to keep an eye on them.
And now, we hear from the Washington Post that the few human rights activists not already in jail have been rounded up in anticipation of the game’s opening next week:
The Olympic Games have become the occasion for a broad crackdown against dissidents, gadflies and malcontents this summer. Although human rights activists say they have no accurate estimate of how many people have been imprisoned, they believe the figure to be in the thousands.
The crackdown comes seven years after the secretary general of the Beijing Olympic Bid Committee declared that staging the Games in the Chinese capital would “not only promote our economy but also enhance all social conditions, including education, health and human rights.”
Now, human rights have been set back rather than enhanced, activists say.
“The Olympics have reversed the clock,” said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based specialist for Human Rights in China.
Saying “I told you so” does little good for those who are being thrown in jail so the government can avoid any “trouble” like demonstrations or wayward activists giving interviews to curious journalists. But the question must be asked nevertheless; what in God’s name where those superannuated idiots on the IOC thinking when they gave the games to China?
The games will go forward. Billions will watch. Athletes will be seen smiling on the victory stand, proudly listening as their national anthems are played.
And languishing in dark prisons will be thousands of Chinese whose only crime is that they want more freedom.
I personally plan my own boycott of the games. I refuse to watch as long as the media is a willing tool of the oppressors and, in accordance with the directives of the Chinese government, refuse to cover the human rights angle during the games.
They owe it to those who are suffering the consequences of the IOC’s groveling before the Chinese government.
This blog post originally appeared in The American Thinker
This country was founded by elite euro snobs.
Who? Name them. Washington? Yeah right. By 1775 he hated Britain almost as much as he hated France? Adams? You jest. Hamilton? Ditto.
Franklin and Jefferson might fit your definitition - both were quite taken with France. But if you look at the overwhelming majority of delegates to the Constitutional Convention, they were conciously trying to create a new nation without any of the decadance found in European societies.
These guys may have been rich and white - perhaps even snobs. But Euro-snobs? Don’t think so.
ed.
Comment by Edward James Patrick — 8/2/2008 @ 12:10 pm
It should not be news to anyone here that the PRC is a repressive, brutal regime which is the largest and most dangerous relic of the twentieth century’s sad history of bloody political extremism. And it should not be particularly surprising that the Olympics Committee, with its unique and intense blend of foolish idealism and tawdry corruption, would delude itself into thinking that it could have made things better somehow. So the Olympics are there this year and the Chinese have performed exactly as we would have feared, demonstrating competence only in the brutal suppression of dissent. The question is, what can and should we do about it? China has become too important economically, and is too strong militarily, to be confronted directly about changing its murderous ways. As I see it, we had the following options:
A) Boycott the Olympics entirely. That did us a lot of good back in 1980.
B) Attend but have our government put public political pressure on the PRC to reform itself in the form of trade sanctions and statements of political condemnation. This would embarrass and anger the PRC, but not directly change anything. And why should we wait for the Olympics to do this if it’s the right thing to do anyway?
C) Attend but the athletes make some spontaneous protests, like entering the opening ceremony with the athletes putting on black armbands and carrying the flag upside down as a signal of distress and danger — which the rest of the world would see as a protest. This too would embarrass and anger the PRC, but it wouldn’t be seen as coming from the government.
D) Recognize that the Olympics are a showpiece event anyway and resign ourselves to the idea that no meaningful change is going to result from them, other than new answers to trivia questions in the Guinness Book.
Personally, I kind of favor answer “C” and I hope (and expect) that our athletes have the stones and the smarts to pull it off.
Comment by Transplanted Lawyer — 8/2/2008 @ 1:00 pm
It blows my mind the IOC dipsticks picked Beijing, just on the smog alone is enough reason not to.
Comment by aj — 8/2/2008 @ 1:03 pm
I think you’re right, Rick, and I’m ashamed of myself for not really thinking about it much before this.
Comment by michael reynolds — 8/2/2008 @ 4:13 pm
I agree that staging the Olympics in a polluted sump like China is a disgrace. But maybe, just maybe, having the world spotlight on their revolting oppression will help in the long run.
Unless, of course, the brutalist ChiCom authorities see to it that anyone with a non-approved opinion meets with the same fate as those poor dogs and cats.
~A~
Comment by Aiala — 8/2/2008 @ 5:54 pm
I agree with you Rick. Won’t be watching.
Comment by Fausta — 8/2/2008 @ 6:09 pm
This is an interesting comparison, this year with 1936, had not thought of it. As far as the IOC, I love the Olympics for the athletes, but gave up on fair in 1972. As a side note, I was thinking today about doping after seeing the news about the US relay team. Any guess as to whether we will have any Chinese caught doping this year?
Comment by Chuck — 8/2/2008 @ 9:32 pm
It is a joke that this country is hosting. Love the way the commies are going back on alot of promises made in order to get the games, but hey, whataya expect.
I will watch the opening ceremonies cuz I love the parade of nations and I do watch a few events but most of it I’ll skip.
Comment by Drewsmom — 8/3/2008 @ 8:21 am
Oh, I almost forgot, Ed, are you on drugs?
Comment by Drewsmom — 8/3/2008 @ 8:23 am
Moral relativity is a hard game to play, and while Beijing 2008 is by no means perfect, it does not compare well to Berlin 1936. I have always thought that Mexico City 1968 was a more apt comparison, in the scale of government hubris, a thin veneer of “progress” applied to a decaying infrastructure, murdering of street animals, and crackdowns on dissenters. I am confident that progress in China will in fact come out of these olympics, even if it takes 30 years like it did in Mexico. (Remember that Seoul 1988 was followed by riots and political reform within a matter of a few years after the games.) Myself, I will be watching to cheer the USA on, to observe what the media does and does not report, and to give my brain a rest from the election! Should be very interesting…
Comment by Surabaya Stew — 8/3/2008 @ 9:16 am
During the olympics we should expect to see massive anti-American protests. These protests will range from protests over American foreign policy, protests over American environmental polices, protests over American “racisim”, to so called American predatory trade practices, and anything else they can think of. These massive protests will be appear to be spontaneous but in actuallity they will be organized and led by Chinese intellegence officials. This will be done by the Chinese to deflect attention away from their policies.
The American government should be prepared to counter this. Unfortunately given the inept response of the Aemrican government to anti-Americanism to date I hold out little hope that they will be able to mount an effective response. I hope and pray I’m wrong this time.
Comment by B.Poster — 8/5/2008 @ 9:52 am