White House does not rule out Bush missing Olympics opening

AFP ^ | 04/08/08

[TigerLikesRooster]

White House does not rule out Bush missing Olympics opening

Tue Apr 8, 1:56 PM ET

The White House did not rule out Tuesday President George W. Bush missing the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, noting that it had never said he would attend the event.

Asked by reporters if Bush would be attending the opening ceremony, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said: "We haven't provided any schedule on the president's trip."

The White House has insisted that Bush would attend the Olympics, but pressed on whether his decision to go to Beijing was irreversible, Perino said: "The president can always make a change."

"But the president has been clear that this is a sporting event for the athletes and that pressuring China before, during and after the Olympics is the best way for us to try to help people across the board in China, not just the Tibetans," she said.

Bush has come under pressure from US lawmakers to skip the opening ceremony, with Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton urging him to boycott in response to Beijing's crackdown on protests in Tibet and its policies in Sudan.

The runup to the Games has been marked by protests during the relay of the Olympic flame in London and Paris while some European leaders plan to skip the August 8 opening ceremony.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said she plans to skip the ceremony, while French President Nicolas Sarkozy has refused to rule out a boycott.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Time for daddy Bush to call the junior and say, "Son, stand firm and go to Beijing.":-)

[TigerLikesRooster]

Ping!

[goldstategop]

I don't want the President to attend. I would oppose him going to Beijing. The Chinese regime must be made to pay the price for its policies of lawlessness, terror and violence that underpins its hold on power.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[indcons]

Do the right thing, Pres. Bush. Please boycott the 2008 “Legitimizing ChiCom Genocides” event.

[Night Hides Not]

...don't forget the lead in the toys they sent us!

Dubya, stay home! Send Cheney, and have Dick arrange a hunting outing with a dozen or so Chinese officials.

[Don Corleone]

This is almost as funny as “Operation Chaos”.

[dr.zaeus]

What a headline:

“White House does not rule out Bush missing Olympics opening”

...but what if they did accept his decision to refrain from ruling out his plans to not miss attending the ceremonies?

[Dr. Ursus]

Tibet has been under Chinese control for 50 years. Where was
every past President on this issue? What a load of hypocrisy!

[Earthdweller]

The totalitarians need to leave the Monks alone. Those typical murdering, freedom hating, Religion/organization fearing commies.

[rhombus]

I always like it when Bush “leaves all options on the table”. However, in the end, I think this is gesture for paper tigers. I’d be fine if Bush decided to participate in this kind of street theater but I would certainly hope there would be a plan for some sort of follow up action the next day. Otherwise it would be about as useful as putting a “Free Tibet” bumper sticker on your car. A fine thought but is anyone really willing to make the sacrifices necessary to Free Tibet? After watching America’s short attention span with respect to fighting Islamic fundamentalism, I sincerely doubt anyone has the stones to take on China.

[cubreporter]

And...he SHOULD attend.

The Olympic Creed

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered, but to have fought well.”

There have been many permutations of this basic message throughout Games history, though this is the current creed which appears on the scoreboard during the Opening Ceremony. Baron de Cobertin adopted, and later quoted, this creed after hearing the Bishop of Central Pennsylvania, Ethelbert Talbot, speak at a service for Olympic athletes during the 1908 London Games.

In London for the Fifth Conference of Anglican Bishops, Talbot’s exact words at

the service on July 19, 1908 were: “The important thing in these Olympics is not so much winning as taking part.”

The whole idea of the Olympics was to bring athletes together in peace and competition. People competing against each other in the spirit of competition and friendship no matter what their Gov’s were doing.

[cubreporter]

They were all there getting their Photo Ops of course.

[CJ Wolf]

[DFG]

This has to do with more than just Tibet. It also has to do with Chinese actions regarding Japan, Taiwan, Sudan, and in their own country. In addition, China is bullying the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan for control of the Spratley Islands. The Spratley’s are in the middle of a major shipping lane in the South China Sea and are valued for their petroleum and gas potential.

[ar10]

If he doesn’t attend will the chicoms still let us buy their widgets?

[agrace]

Exactly. Horse is out of the barn and has been. We should have been worried about China long before now and considering the manufacturing we DON’T do here in the US anymore...I heard something frightening on the radio the other day, that the US only buys 20% of China’s exports these days, which seems to mean that they don’t need us nearly as much as we need them anymore.

I’m no economist, so someone please demonstrate to me how outsourcing and importing; abandoning rather than maintaining our own homegrown industries doesn’t put us in an increasingly vulnerable position.

But more to the point, I think China’s human rights violations are despicable and our complacency in that regard is just as bad. And don’t even get me started on our “friend” Saudi Arabia, whose citizens live in a virtual “through the looking glass” compared to American freedom and ideals. But we hold their hands and look the other way.

[TigersEye]

I agree very much with your post. I will give the President the benefit of the doubt. He mystifies me when it comes to the borders and illegal aliens. He frustrated me in his slowness to change speed in Iraq. He mystifies me on Kosovo. But he is steady in what he does and keeps his word. I hope he gives Hu Jintao an earful and has a strong hand to play behind the scenes. I don't know what it could be but I will wait and hope he has better irons in the fire than the suggested boycott.

Hillary is a sorry POS who only says the right thing on the rare occasion that it lines up with her personal ambitions. (spit)

[rhombus]

I do understand Bush's position on the border and illegals - as they say, it was a matter of the economy, stupid... especially during the first term. It was also a plan to at the very least "take down names". I may not agree with the approach but I understand it considering the times of Bush's term. As for Iraq, hindsight is always 20/20 and no one can say with any certainty that things woulda-coulda-shoulda gone better if only he'd done X, Y, or Z. There are always unintended consequences. On Kosovo, Bush had bigger issues to deal with in Europe than Kosovo (missile defense and Iran) so I suspect Kosovo was a bargaining chip.

You are right about Bush keeping his word. I expect he will give Hu an earful one way or the other but it's a matter of picking your battles. What does the US really need from China now? Lots of things and it doesn't help to be distracted. Also, in the past, public embarrassment hasn't worked with China. Maybe the good cop, bad cop approach can work this time with Bush being the "good cop" (now that's a switch). Let others be the bad cop for a change. :-)