Okay, first of all, I've NOT been following all the news related to the situation in Tibet closely. That having been said, the events of the past few days regarding the Olympic torch, the Tibetan situation, and public reaction have been pretty incredible.
One gets the feeling that the IOC is experiencing a significant level of buyers' remorse at the moment. No matter how much the Chinese government promised to do / pay / construct to make the 2008 Summer Games successful, the price of negative public perception is hard to overemphasize, and I hope with all my heart the IOC will start paying closer attention to more than just the bank sheet from now on.
The folks in charge of the actual torch run made, I think, a serious mistake in re-routing the run yesterday. True, the disruptions in Paris and London were significant, but it seems to me that route-gerrymandering doesn't solve anything, and takes what is already a rapidly emptying gesture and deflates it even more.
No one benefits when a forum for public commentary is pre-emptively dodged for fear of the consequences. We're lucky that protesters didn't take out their frustrations on each other or, even worse, the innocent who simply wanted to see the torch.
Some have complained that making the worldwide trip is a farce in the first place, that we should return to the prior tradition of simply leaving Greece and traveling directly to the host country. But the route isn't the problem - it's the host country, stupid, and pretending otherwise looks foolish and rather pig-headed.
I'll admit that I really love the Olympics - the spectacle, the drama, the passion, all of it has remained even after the doping scandals and everything else that could tarnish it. But I'm wondering if I should watch this year. Stuff like what happened yesterday doesn't help me make that decision, but it certainly reveals the passion behind the protest and the determination of those in power to carry on with their agenda no matter how ridiculous the truth shows that agenda to be.
hubhc once really wanted to hit this olympics... and i'm selfishly glad he's not cuz i would not want to go to china for anything. too much of china is in the states as it is...
ReplyDeletehubhc ran 7 miles in the rain today and came home shivering. i thought b/c of falling temps... oh no. his jacket has lost it's water-proofiness and he has a hole in his running shoe. he was less than amused when i snickered...