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July 19, 2008

James Cook: Games may be interesting, too

BY JAMES COOK

These Olympics are going to be fun.

Maybe the actual sporting events will be, too.

But the off-the-field goings-on could be even better.

I can't wait to see how quickly Chinese jails get full of protesters, who it's easy to bet are smarter than the "security" measures put in place to stop them from getting into the country to spread their propaganda -- that prevents the Chinese from spreading their propaganda.

Who's brilliant idea was it to give the Olympics to a totalitarian state anyway?

There's already the possibility of Tibet-lovers getting clubbed, freedom-of-speech activists being hosed, fair labor supporters being treated unfairly and tree-huggers meeting the wrong side of a police shield.

Not to mention dog-eaters going hungry. The tourists aren't the only people getting hurt here, folks.

It will be interesting to see how much of China is really allowed to be shown as NBC promises to jam a Taco Bell spigot of all-access coverage down your throat.

Being a sports guy, it's a little embarrassing to admit that I'm more interested in seeing the non-sports happenings in these Olympics than the actual athletic contests.

You get that every four years.

You don't get little guys behind police shields trying to keep reporters from interviewing the protestor about how he snuck a 10-foot Tibet flag into the country every day. Now that is interesting.

There's the possibility of these Olympics coming down in a mass of horribly-worded propaganda, excessive police presence and paranoia that makes your local eccentric conspiracy theorist seem as unassuming as Wayne Brady.

These are the same people that are afraid of another Tiananmen Square. Well, afraid of people knowing about it, at least.

Again, who's idea was it to give the Olympics to a country that supposedly killed 2,600 of its own people over a labor protest in 1989?

Well, the U.S. gets the Games every so often, and we don't have the cleanest track record ourselves, but at least we're not purging protestors in a massive bloodbath and then denying it.

Our government just ignores millions of people who lose everything in hurricanes and floods. Not good, but extremely humane in comparison to past Chinese reactions.

It'll be interesting to see how long China's government can keep that itchy trigger finger at bay.

At a minimum, the sporting events may be OK.

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