Games - China Style

The number eight is a super lucky number to the Chinese so, today the Olympic Games open in Beijing. I'll watch the gymnasts and the swimmers, given the opportunity. And, the Tai Kwon Do siblings from here. The other stuff? Nah.

All the hubbub over should he or shouldn't he was amusing, wasn't it? Yes, the President was right to go. As was the French President - who changed his mind from a previous 'no', Putin, Merkel, etc. It's a world event, a goodwill sporting event. If everyone was so appalled about the choice of Beijing, where were they when the decision was made? And, why aren't they lobbying the committee making the location decisions? They are the ones for the complaints.

As a nod to the achievements of the athletes the world leaders should attend. Our President is a sports nut so it's not at all surprising that he went. Along with Laura Bush and daughter Barbara.

Laura Bush was able to make Myanmar a headline again and that's a good thing. She and Barbara met with refugees near the Thai border and invited them to tell her what they "would like the people of the world to know."

Over the course of the past two years, the people of Myanmar have been at the forefront of the First Lady's focus. The President lunched at the U.S. ambassador's residence in Bangkok with a group of Burmese dissidents. He participated in an interview for radio heard inside that country. A large portion of the traveling journalists covering the Bushes' trip went along with Mrs. Bush and Barbara for the meeting. It was characterized as "their seven-hour swing to the rugged border region where some 140,000 Burmese refugees, many of them persecuted ethnic minorities, have fled."

No, the Chinese leadership has not improved human rights issues in country. Awarding the games to Beijing with that as a perceived incentive for change was naive. Communist countries are not worthy of trust from other countries. By President Bush attending the games, the people of China are shown the respect they deserve from the leader of the free world. He made his condemnations of the workings of the China leadership on human rights before he arrived. His position is clear. Why do you think the chartered jet carrying the White House press corps was detained for over 3 hours on the tarmac upon arriving in Beijing, with not one but two searches of equipment and bags on board? The criticism was not appreciated.

Former President G.H.W. Bush joined the President in Beijing. The former president was chief U.S. liaison officer to China in 1974 and 1975. Also there is Henry Kissinger, responsible for brokering the U.S. opening to China in 1971. Senior officials present said, concerning the relationship between China and the U.S., "would not have been possible" without the efforts of "the two Bushes."