Excited about the Olympics
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can’t wait for the games to begin!
I LOVE the Olympics. Though the entertainment and athleticism are a huge part
of my fascination, they are only a part. There is so much to be learned about human beings
as individuals in terms of personal accomplishment. Individual stuff IS juicy stuff and certainly does and make for great writing,
but the really fascinating part is the political tension and strains.
I have supreme respect for the athletes that are boycotting the opening ceremonies…
and the political pressure Bush has been getting from McCain, Pelosi, and so many others to Boycott…
it’s pretty intriguing stuff. It amazes how after all of the unrestrained and vicious Bush bashing that has been going on in the media, people actually expect an outgoing President to bow to political opinion. If I cared what the American populace thought, I certainly wouldn’t after a term in office.
That being said, the Chinese deserve a more than a political black eye for all of the
scandalous shit they continued to pull.
To speak specifically, if you add up the Chinese abuse of Tibetans, human rights violations across the board of all kinds including wretched treatment of women, their dedication to ruining the planet with pollution, and about 1,000 other reasons, quite frankly I don’t think they deserve the honor of hosting the Olympics. But they “won” the lottery (no favoritism or sneak-trickery played there, I’m sure) to host the Olympics in Beijing, and since there’s nothing any of U.S. can do at this point to stop that, we might as well sit back and enjoy.
Though I do feel very sorry for all of the hardworking athletes who are going to be ruining their lungs on that wretched smog the Chinese try to pass off as “breathable air.” I think it’s really unfair that all of the athletes who have worked so hard so have to complete under such brutal conditions, as I’m certain breathing black smoke makes it much more difficult to break any records, especially if you’re used to the air in more civilized locations.
But that’s just one of so many factors that will add to the drama of this great contest. It will not surprise you to discover that I predict America will handle business and scrape everyone else with a highly respectable medal count. I base this conclusion on my well researched observation that we are better than the rest of the world at most things 
August 7th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
“I base this conclusion on my well researched observation that we are better than the rest of the world at most things”
Or perhaps its that we attract/import the best of the rest of the world to do our things - and then we reap the benefits of the best of the worlds best creating successive generations of American citizens.
August 7th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I was just being coy -you’re absolutely right about that one buddy
Hegemony can be a little nasty, but as long as the current generation continues
to grow into alternative energy and such, that might not be such a bad thing…