Olympics = Peace

What I am about to express is an opinion that may or may not be shared with others. I rarely put my strong opinions out here, but I feel as if I should share for discussion's sake alone.

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The Olympics are a time every two years (winter, then summer) where we as a world need to forget our differences and find joy in the simple act of sport for the sake of sport.

I must state clearly and unequivocally that I was not for the Olympics being granted to China. I thought it was a travesty and one of the biggest mistakes the IOC has made in a long time. I did think, however, that the IOC did grant the Olympics to China much like they granted them to Moscow in 1980. There is always the hope that something like a peaceful movement will push a country towards peace.

I was not for free trade with China either. I know it helped my parents but that only tempered my anger. Please bear in mind: I'm all for international cooperation and international understanding. I don't think that democracy is always the right thing for a country at a certain time. I think that reality dictates that we must make the mistakes before we can correct them. I just, simply put, think that China is the closest to an enemy we have had since we were in the Revolutionary War.

With all this thought process about how much I dislike and do not trust China, I think that the Olympics are there now, therefore we must have an understanding that we should respect the Olympics in a peaceful manner.

I don't believe that our President should sit in the Opening Ceremonies. I think he should send a letter to each of the American Olympians expressing his support. I just think that if he's there, he should do something extreme (like wearing a Tibetan flag on his lapel). Since that's not going to happen, he should not be there.

I believe our athletes should go there with a fervor to win more than ever before. We cannot let the Chinese machine (similar to the Soviet machine) be dominant.

I believe that the protesters have every right to protest. They should, however, never ever endanger the torch bearer in any way. They did that in Paris and that was highly disappointing for me.

The torch bearer is generally an athlete or someone who is important to the country that the torch is in. I just find that this whole set of protests going on outside of China are doing a good job of making those of us who have shouted Free Tibet before get a little disillusioned with the whole process.