House Speaker Nancy Pelosi does not want the United States to boycott the Beijing Olympics, but she says that President Bush should consider skipping the opening ceremony.
House Speaker addresses a possible Olympics boycott and the presidential race."I think boycotting the opening ceremony, which really gives respect to the Chinese government, is something that should be kept on the table," the California Democrat told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts in an interview today. "I think the president might want to rethink this later, depending on what other heads of state do."
I'm not a fan of boycotts. It think they're largely ineffective. The Olympic boycott by Jimmy Carter in 1980 did nothing but assure a retaliatory boycott by the Russians in 1984. Neither side really accomplished anything and the only ones punished were the athletes.
If Bush wanted to make a statement about China's actions in Tibet, where could he best do that, in Washington or Beijing? The Chinese would be unable to prevent the president from speaking out on whatever issue he wanted to, though it's not his style to be rude to his hosts. He could, however, address the issue in a manner that makes the point that the Chinese have problems that need to be fixed.
Don't boycott the Olympics - go there and make your point in front of the world's media.
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