Frank Wolf Says Americans Who Watch Olympics are "cooperating in ...genocide"

While very few Americans have much love for the current government of China, the fact is that China is an important country with which the United States has extensive, albeit complex, relations -- economic, political, etc. This August, China will host the 2008 Summer Olympics, in which thousands of athletes from around the world -- including a team from the United States -- will compete. In addition, the games will be viewed on TV by a worldwide audience in the billions, including perhaps 200 million (or more) Americans.

But wait a minute, not so fast! According to Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10), if you watch those Olympics you're a very, very bad person.

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., cited concerns about China's record on human rights during a congressional hearing on Thursday and said Bush's presence would be akin to President Franklin D. Roosevelt sitting in the same stands as Germany's Adolf Hitler in 1936.

"Ronald Reagan would have never gone to the Olympics. I guarantee you that. Never gone," said Wolf, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

[...]

Wolf said he realizes he probably can't stop Bush from attending, but any American seen waving in the stands "will go down in history as cooperating in the genocide Olympics of 2008. And history will never, ever, ever forgive them."

That's right, Frank Wolf says that any American who is "waving in the stands" of the 2008 summer Olympic games is cooperating in genocide. Presumably, when he says "waving in the stands," he's also including the 200 million Americans who will watch the Olympics on TV, since they are a big part of what will make these games an economic success or failure for China, the networks, etc. You might want to keep that in mind this August as you watch America's best swimmers, divers, gymnasts, and other athletes "go for the gold." Frank Wolf says that "history will never, ever forgive [you]."

Should We Boycott the Olympics? Frank Wolf Thinks So.

Should we boycott the Summer Olympic games to be held in Beijing in August 2008?  Look, I don't like the Chinese regime much.  But on the other hand, that country's not our enemy...at least it isn't our enemy YET.  To the contrary, China is one of our top trading partners, and as some have called it "our banker."  Do we want to ratchet up tensions with China at this point, when we're already extremely overextended in the world militarily, economically, financially and diplomatically?

Well, according to The Hill newspaper, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) thinks we should.  In fact, Wolf feels so strongly on this subject that he's one of seven co-sponsors to a House resolution demanding that "the United States Government should take immediate steps to boycott the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in August 2008 unless the Chinese regime stops engaging in serious human rights abuses..." 

The resolution even goes so far as to compare China to Nazi Germany: "Whereas the Games of the XI Olympiad in Berlin in 1936 showed that the integrity of the host country is of the utmost importance so as not to stain the participating athletes or the character of the Games." 

Look, China's government undoubtedly does some nasty things in its own country and around the world, but it's certainly not Nazi Germany. (quick history note: Nazi Germany tred to take over the world, murdering millions of innocent people in extermination camps, had an ideology of racial supremacy, etc. - China has none of those things). Also, I would note that successive Administrations, both Republican and Democratic, have kept up relations and trade with China.  Whether or not that has been a wise policy, that's what the United States has done since the days of Richard Nixon. 

The question going forward is, should we change our China policy to one that's more confrontational?  If so, how should we demonstrate our displeasure with China's behavior, given the constraints on our economic, diplomatic and military leverage?  According to Frank Wolf, we should boycott the Beijing Summer Olympics in August 2008.  What do you think?  And also, what do you think about Wolf's apparent fixation on the rise of 1930s fascism?  Seems a bit odd to me.