Chancellor Merkel to Boycott the Olympics
March 30th, 2008 at 02:38pm Mark Noonan
The Chancellor does the right thing:
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, yesterday became the first world leader to decide not to attend the Olympics in Beijing.
As pressure built for concerted western protests to China over the crackdown in Tibet, EU leaders prepared to discuss the crisis for the first time today, amid a rift over whether to boycott the Olympics.
The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games’ opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown’s determination to attend the Olympics.
Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who had previously promised to travel to Beijing.
Let us hope this is the start of an avalanche of international against China’s despotic, corrupt and anti-human government.
Entry Filed under: Foreign Affairs
27 Comments
1. Diana Powe | March 30th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Brava, Chancellor Merkel!
2. jerry | March 30th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Will George Follow her lead?
3. kimberly4victory | March 30th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
That is excellent! I hope the US follows their lead and I have a feeling we will.
4. congressive | March 30th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Why not post the White House email address here or something so we can petition George to do the right thing?
Remember him? You know, G-Dub? You’re certainly not gonna let Pelosi be America’s voice of conscience, now are you?
The silence is deafening…
5. kimberly4victory | March 30th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Congressive, congressive, congressive. Could ya have stopped after your first sentence? Nope. You had a put a little lefty jab in there about G-Dub.
I’ve already sent an email to the White House. You can find it on their web site.
6. congressive | March 30th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
You find G-Dub offensive? I thought it was one of many “endearing” nicknames…
7. kimberly4victory | March 30th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
LOL! Actually, I like to call him President Bush.
8. Herman | March 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Deleted - off topic.
9. kimberly4victory | March 30th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Another libtard troll is heard from. Kewl. I wasn’t embarrassed. President Bush is a touchy-feely person, just like I am.
Now, Hermie, do you agree the Chancellor did the right thing? Do you think the US should boycott as well?
Or do you have absolutely NOTHING to add to the thread?
10. Michael | March 30th, 2008 at 4:58 pm
So are they boycotting the Olympics or just the opening ceremonies?
11. Marty13 | March 30th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
“President Bush is a touchy-feely person, just like I am.”
So Kim if some male coworker unilaterally decides to knead the back of your neck, you’re ok with it?
Just what are your personal boundries?
12. kimberly4victory | March 30th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Honestly, Marty, if that coworker was a friend of mine, I might say, “A little higher … over to the right. Thanks.” LOL.
I don’t want to make any more excuses for President Bush “groping - as the Liberals all shrieked” the Chancellor, just as I am sure, you don’t want to make any more excuses for Clinton’s sexual escapades.
Now back to the topic of the thread. Michael, it’s for the opening ceremonies only … which is a good start, better than doing nothing. If we all boycott the opening ceremonies, China might rethink it’s treatment of the Tibetians.
13. neocon | March 30th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
Maybe the liberals can help me out here. I thought you were proponents of keeping the channels of dialogue open with those we oppose. You know like Pelosi with Assad and Obama wanting to speak with Chavez and Ahmendijad.
But you advocate now distancing yourselves from China and cutting off dialogue?
14. bagni | March 30th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
marklympic:
us spacetruckers are confused?
you want to boycott the olympics
but you take their money, their food, their produ cts, their drugs, their tired, their poor and their yearning
is this hypocritical?
why not send your athletes and let them win
while on the podium they can have wardrobe malfunctions
with ‘protestical’ images against china
much more powerful
thank goodness jesse owens didn’t boycott the olympics, eh?
15. kimberly4victory | March 30th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
That’s the problem, neocon. We did talk with them. It didn’t work. Like I stated in a previous thread, sometimes talking doesn’t work. It’s time to step up the ante.
16. Darva Conger | March 30th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
GWB should follow the German leader.
17. LiberalNitemare | March 30th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
So many liberal comments, so little actual content.
18. kimberly4victory | March 30th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Now, now, liberalnightmare. I thought our resident space alien’s comments were entertaining.
Beam him up, Scotty.
19. Magnum Serpentine | March 30th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I agree totally with Mark. Also, we citizens can do several things that will let NBC know we do not support China;s Mass execution of thousands of its citizens. Boycott NBC and its networks if they go ahead and cover the full Olympic Games.
I have written about this on my Blog. Click my name and it will take you to my article.
We can also refuse to buy any Summer Olympic Games products sold here in the United States. This will send a clear signal to the Olympic Committee not to select dictatorships for their host nations in the future.
20. jerry | March 30th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
One thing our president has been great at is throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game. He just threw a high hard one to Manny Acta at new Nationals Ball Park. It was about 50/50 boos to cheers.
21. Aaron | March 30th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Bush has committed the US to attending the games. After all, his main concern is, and always has been, big business. Chinese lending is the only thing keeping this country afloat. Human rights be damned (beside, “human rights” are for wimps like Jimmy Carter - right?)
You poor sots are just now figuring it out that Bush’s entire presidency and every foreign policy decision has been geared towards corporate America’s short-term gain?
22. Mark Noonan | March 30th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
bagni,
As glorious as Owens was, it was still a complete shame that the world lent legitimacy to Hitler’s regime by attending his Olympics. I don’t know why the IOC feels impelled to drop in to the gutter ever couple decades…
And, as for me, I maintain my own mini-boycott of Chinese products…plenty of cheap, consumer goods from India, Peru, Taiwan, etc, etc, etc…screw a bunch of ChiComs.
23. Mark Noonan | March 30th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Aaron,
How about trying to say something, anything, which isn’t an anti-Bush polemic?
24. bagni | March 30th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
markcot:
the cosmic commercialists commend your boycott
the green gurus are never confused by free choice
however
can’t condone your buzz kill on owens’ effort
the orbital observers?
we thought it was a nice publicly delivered ‘f.u.’ to the germans
didn’t it help fire up his well deserved earthly ass whooping??
25. Aaron | March 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Mark -
How about trying to say something, anything, which isn’t a blindly pro-Bush polemic?
Time to wake up, dear Mark. Mr Bush doesn’t share your touching idealism - though he wears it to conceal his depravity and ignorance.
26. OhioOrrin | March 31st, 2008 at 7:21 am
don’t boycott…
…instead have our athletes wear Tibet flag buttons on their headgear.
make a statement.
27. js | March 31st, 2008 at 9:22 pm
its actually anti clintonian DNC to offend the chinese
pelosi is gettin herself into hot water