The Olympics and Totalitarianism

Many people are upset (raging angry, in some cases) about the upcoming summer Olympics being held in China. The beef is mainly with Chinese human rights violations, in general, and in Tibet, in particular.

The Olympics really do not have a very good track record on this issue. There were "Hitler Olympics" of 1936, where der Fuhrer sought to showcase the superiority of the Germanic race. The funny thing is that an American of African decent, Jesse Owens, went over there and needed a cargo plane to bring back his medals.

Then there were the Moscow Olympics of 1980, after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Jimmy Carter thought it would be a good idea to boycott them. The Stalinist tactics, however, were not repudiated by Olympic officials.

So, why should China be any different? The butchers of 6 million Jews had their day. The proprietors of the Gulag had theirs. It seems only fitting that the butchers of Tienanmen Square have theirs. Who nows, maybe Osama bin Laden will be the organizer of the Olympics in the near future.