Olympics Kickoff

A few months ago, I had never thought of the Olympics as a political event. In 2004, I didn't pay attention to the news, so all I knew of the Olympics was the swimming, gymnastics, and other sporting events. But this year, especially since China is the host, the Olympics have taken a very political tone.

Of course, there were the numerous protests when the torch was carried across the globe, calls for the United States and other countries to boycott the Games, and even scattered riots. But this was not an attitude taken only by the people, but by the leaders as well. Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister of Britain, did not attend the opening ceremony of the Games, along with many other leaders. NBC, the station I watched the opening ceremony of the Games on, portrayed these other leaders as boycotting the Games and trying to set their nations apart from China. NBC also cast Bush, who did attend the opening, as a man who wants to bring China and the US closer together. But what NBC briefly mentioned was that Bush was the first sitting president to ever attend an Olympics held in a foreign country. Ok, so Bush was definitely trying to send a message of unity or at least tolerance of China. But what NBC did not admit was that this same tradition exists in many other countries as well, including Britain. Brown said that he "never planned to attend the opening ceremony and was not boycotting the Games." Of course, the American media tried to make our own leader look virtuous and the other countries' leaders divisive, while that was clearly not the case.

I definitely believe that the Olympics are meant to unify all the countries of the world, and that no nation should boycott them. They're meant to let everyone forget their differences for a short while and compete peacefully. But NBC's commentators were divisive themselves by portraying Bush as superior to other leaders for attending the opening ceremony.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7339580.stm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26107919/