Potential boycott of Beijing Olympics as Chinese troops kill Tibetan protesters

In 1980, the U.S. boycotted the Moscow Summer Olympics because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and its killing of Afghan people who fought back. Now there’s talk of boycotting the Beijing Summer Olympics because China, occupiers of Tibet for the past half-century, is killing Tibetans who are fighting back. Cue the “Twilight Zone” music here. Is this deja vu all over again?

Recently Americans got two messages about attending the 2008 Summer Olympics. One, from President Bush, assures citizens that it is OK to go, because, in his infinite wisdom, he says it is all about athletes, not politics. I guess murdering Tibetans by brutal military occupiers is considered just plain old everyday politics as usual to our sports-loving President.

The other message came from the U.S. State Department. It warned Americans who plan to go to the Beijing Olympics to be aware that their hotel rooms, athlete quarters, offices and other areas could be bugged by Chinese authorities. Do I hear the “Twilight Zone” theme again? Additionally, the warning reminded attendees that there could be the potential danger of terrorist attacks and street demonstrations protesting China’s occupation and deadly crackdown in Tibet.

Well, gee whiz, little old problems like those shouldn’t bother American sports fans who’ll spend many millions in devalued dollars to travel to China. Much worse things could happen to them at a Philly Flyers ice hockey game and/or in the parking lot outside what used to be the F.U. Stadium (for First Union, of course), now Wachovia Center.

Most Americans are barely aware of, or don’t particularly give a damn what the Chinese Communist government is doing to its unwilling Tibetan subjects. That’s sad enough, but before they buy tickets to Beijing, they should talk to their dads and granddads who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea and Vietnam. Maybe more importantly, they should consult relatives, neighbors and friends who lost loved ones in those conflicts. Those Americans, totalling more than 100,000, were likely killed by “volunteer” Chinese soldiers and war equipment provided by the same hate-America-but-loves-America n-dollars Communist regime that still rules China.

If potential Olympics attendees don’t want to go so far as to cancel their travel plans, maybe they can stage a mild boycott before they go to show their disapproval of the killings in Tibet. For instance, they could stop buying Chinese made goods sold in America. Oops! On second thought, I guess not. Who wants to bankrupt Wal-Mart, Sears, J.C. Penney and K-Mart, and maybe deny our little kiddies their lethal lead-painted toys next Christmas?

Of course, if there’s a retail boycott against Chinese goods, American toy and clothing manufacturers could meet the demand. What did you say? Wait just a doggone minute! Are you telling me all those American manufacturers went broke years ago trying to compete with cheap Chinese products made by underpaid child labor? If all of this shocks you, don’t even try to protest. Because if you phoned any of the U.S. stores now loaded down almost entirely with Chinese goods, your call would probably be answered in China or India.