Shades of 1936

By Rick Moran

Holding the Olympic games in Nazi Germany back in 1936 was the biggest mistake ever made by the ringleaders of the gang of extortionists known as the International Olympic Committee. Hitler was so concerned about the Reich's image that he had all the signs taken down that indicated Jews were second class citizens ("Caution: Sharp Turn Ahead. Jews: 70 KPH!").

But Hitler also took precautions that the international press would not be able to interview the few who openly opposed his regime by having several prominent activists he had been unable to corral arrested in the weeks prior to the games.

Once again, the elitist, Euro-snobs who run the Olympic movement have thumbed their nose at the world, this time by choosing Communist China to host the games. And as before in Nazi Germany, the Chinese are sprucing up their "workers' paradise" in order to put the best possible face on their tyrannical rule.

They have murdered hundreds of thousands of dogs and cats who roamed free in Beijing. No, they were not euthanized but rather taken to camps and allowed to starve to death.

They have cracked down on internet access for those in attendance so that no breath of opposition is heard.

They have reportedly placed spies in hotels where westerners will be staying in order to keep an eye on them.

And now, we hear from the Washington Post that the few human rights activists not already in jail have been rounded up in anticipation of the game's opening next week:

The Olympic Games have become the occasion for a broad crackdown against dissidents, gadflies and malcontents this summer. Although human rights activists say they have no accurate estimate of how many people have been imprisoned, they believe the figure to be in the thousands.

The crackdown comes seven years after the secretary general of the Beijing Olympic Bid Committee declared that staging the Games in the Chinese capital would "not only promote our economy but also enhance all social conditions, including education, health and human rights."

Now, human rights have been set back rather than enhanced, activists say.

"The Olympics have reversed the clock," said Nicholas Bequelin, a Hong Kong-based specialist for Human Rights in China.

Saying "I told you so" does little good for those who are being thrown in jail so the government can avoid any "trouble" like demonstrations or wayward activists giving interviews to curious journalists. But the question must be asked nevertheless; what in God's name where those superannuated idiots on the IOC thinking when they gave the games to China?

The games will go forward. Billions will watch. Athletes will be seen smiling on the victory stand, proudly listening as their national anthems are played.

And languishing in dark prisons will be thousands of Chinese whose only crime is that they want more freedom.

I personally plan my own boycott of the games. I refuse to watch as long as the media is a willing tool of the oppressors and, in accordance with the directives of the Chinese government, refuse to cover the human rights angle during the games.

They owe it to those who are suffering the consequences of the IOC's groveling before the Chinese government.