Tuesday, March 18, 2008

China is a PR disaster

I'm afraid the Olympics will not make it look better. Trying to stifle dissent in Tibet or nudity in the movies certainly does not help their cause. It doesn't look good.
Of course China should not be hosting the Olympic Games. It is a repressive, corrupt regime with a dismal record on human rights, including the right of actors to get naked on screen or to shill Pond's cream afterwards. But now it is too late, isn't it, to start a silly boycott? Why didn't we think of this when countries were bidding for the games?
If any of you still entertain any goofy thoughts of Olympic ideals, consider this:
China must have greased the sullied palms of the decrepit dudes who run the Olympic fiefdom in as massive a scale as they are destroying their own country with over-development and pollution.
At this point, we all know that a lot of athletes, particularly those from countries with wealthy Olympic budgets, cheat. They are professionals, they are hormonally enhanced, and the whole carnival is a circus of deceit. Judges rig outcomes in favor of host countries, etc.
I love the Olympic games, but one needs to be clear eyed. Do not let those corny NBC "Triumph of the Will" promos fool ya.
As we have said in these pages before, only relatively well-behaved countries should be able to apply to host the Olympics. This would probably whittle down the field to San Marino, Lichtenstein and Bali.
The Chinese government has a couple of months to clean up their act, and not in the way they think, by bullying everybody into submission.
Also, there is like a 16-hour time difference between China and here. I bet this will mean mayhem for the broadcasts. And I ain't waking up at 3 in the morning to watch the ping-pong.

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