Don't Protest Murder For Synchronized Swimming's Sake...
I'm trying to find someone who has a compelling argument as to why people, athletes, countries, or their citizens shouldn't protest a country's hosting of the Olympic games (be it China or the U.S.).
I know why companies don't want to get involved. Attaching the Olympic logo to a frozen entree is more profitable than taking a stand against a U.S. security contractor killing Iraqi civilians. But why should athletes be banned from the games for the simplest of displays? Why should citizenry be muted?
It seems like there's something beautiful -- dare we say utopian -- about an entire range of cultures expressing themselves (politically or otherwise) as a backdrop to the games, provided we're not talking about violence -- or hurling rotten avocados at 100 meter dash participants.
The closest argument I can find is something like this one, where I'm told that it's not fair to the athletes who have trained so very hard at the high jump.
You know what else isn't fair?
Being shot in the face.
Being dumped by government plane into the Pacific ocean at 30,000 feet or having electrodes attached to your balls? Also patently unjust.
I'm sorry that standing up against government murder and torture causes problems for shot putters and Pepsi. I really am. But we are talking about fucking games here. Games.
Should the Olympic oversight committee let people stand up against the slaughter of an Iraqi family of five by outsourced security forces? Or silence everyone for the integrity of our synchronized swimming competition.
Decisions, decisions.