Below The Beltway

Over at The Crossed Pond, Rojas gets on the bandwagon:
After some reflection, I think I’m now ready to fully endorse a boycott of the 2008 Summer Olympics. I don’t do so lightly. For one thing, I like sports. For another thing, I don’t like the corruption of non-governmental enterprises by political concerns.
The bottom line, however, [...]

Sally Jenkins has a great column in today’s Washington Post on the impending train wreck that is the 2008 Summer Olympics:
At this point, the Beijing Games are shaping up as a disaster. The violent police action in Tibet and other events of the past two weeks make one wonder if the Chinese government [...]

The Washington Post had a great editorial yesterday on what increasingly looks like it will be a Potemkin Olympics:
[T]he Chinese leadership may have been encouraged by Western leaders — including President Bush — to believe it could maintain these policies and still hold a successful Olympics. Though French President Nicolas Sarkozy has now said publicly [...]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has hinted at the possibility of a boycott of the 2008 Olympics over China’s treatment of Tibet:
PARIS (AP) — President Nicolas Sarkozy suggested Tuesday that a boycott of the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics was a possibility, making him the first world leader to raise the prospect of punishing China [...]

As Tibetan activists call for a boycott of the upcoming Summer Olympic Games, the Washington Post’s Anne Applebaum has a great column today on why the arguments against a boycott don’t hold up:
A boycott doesn’t solve anything.” Well, doesn’t it? Some boycotts do help solve some things. The boycott of South Africa by international competitions [...]

From Amnesty International

I can’t say that I’ve seen anything else that sums up what is so terribly wrong with the idea of granting international legitimacy to a state founded on slavery and the suppression of individual liberty:

In the wake of China’s crackdown against Tibetan protesters, calls are growing for some kind of international response:
PARIS (AP) - Moves to punish China over its handling of violence in Tibet gained momentum Tuesday, with a novel suggestion for a mini-boycott of the Beijing Olympics by VIPs at the opening ceremony.
Such a protest by world [...]

In response to Chinese repression in Tibet:
France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner says the European Union should consider boycotting the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics if violence continues in Tibet.
The head of the European parliament and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders are calling Tuesday for such a boycott. Kouchner says the proposal is “interesting.”
Kouchner is [...]

Apparently, continued Chinese repression in Tibet is no big deal for the International Olympic Committee:
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (AP) - International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge poured cold water Saturday on calls for a boycott of the Summer Games in Beijing over China’s crackdown in Tibet, saying it would only hurt athletes.
“We believe that the [...]