Dubya is one of the great current international terrorists. So if the Olympics were to be held this year in Birmingham instead of Beijing do you think it would be right, proper and meet for the world to hurl imprecations at the Olympic torch as it wandered around its course? China is home to 1.3-odd billion people, only a very, very, very small handful of whom are responsible for the repression of Tibet, the disagreeable human rights atmosphere, etc. MOST Chinese are like MOST Americans-- hard working, reasonably minded, and despite the loathesome behavior of their government, proud of their country. The Olympics is not some government shindig, it's not like some October First parade down Chang An Jie celebrating sixty years of communist rule-- It's an international even hosted by the Chinese. And it's a matter of great pride and happiness for hundreds of millions of Chinese that the world is coming to their house for the Olympics this year. If the Chinese government is lacking in certain qualities, the Chinese people are not. Unlike say, the Swiss, they welcome guests. They go out of their way to make the stranger feel welcome. If people want to work, actually work, to try to make the lives of ordinary Chinese better, if they want to help improve conditions in Tibet and western China, then they need to think of some other way to accomplish these goals, ways that do not insult people who have done them no harm, and ways that might possibly be more effective that what we've seen in the last few weeks. These people, all clearly deep thinkers and sincere of spirit, like Anne, not only have no positive effect, but they may very well make matters they supposedly care about worse.

When the Chinese stormed Tibet, they raped 87 year old Tibetan nuns at their monastery before murdering them and tortured and slaughtered hundreds and hundreds of monks. And then they got mean. They have waged a brutal campaign of extermination (much like Nazis). Their goal seems to be to wipe out the Tibetan population completely and replace them with Chinese citizens, who continue to pour into Tibet to live and work, replacing murdered Tibetans in their homes and in their jobs.

And let's not forget that the Chinese are the ones who manufactured all those lead-filled infant and baby products not so very long ago. They poisoned our pets, many people got sick, some people died. Our illustrious FDA would have us believe that it's all just a horrible coincidence. But all of it happened at once. And the FDA refuses to do anything about it ("Gee, it's just too widespread. Gee. Our hands are, like, tied."). Don't you think that's strange? I certainly do.*

One more thing. George Bush never won the first election (and I have serious doubts about the second election, thanks to the odious and criminal Mr. Diebold who should be hanged as a traitor). Bush stole the Democratic process out from under us while we slept peacefully in front of our teevees. Because HE wages a war in Iraq that has cost us the lives of our spouses, children, and friends - we should condone what China is doing to Tibet?

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*Especially strange when you realize that our own government was trying to open the border and let unlimited people from Mexico enter the country - people who could replace US - why not? They would work for much less wages and no benefits. Corporations would have it made. When Bill Gates spoke before Congress recently and stated that foreign labor is much more intelligent and better educated than American labor, you could translate "intelligent" into "real wage slaves who could work 18 hours a day for peanuts."

I hope the torch is never found.

talk about bitter...how about some more fact finding?

You make a lot of good points, and the protests have gotten out of control (trying to put out the flame, attacking torchbearers, etc.) There are, however a few points that are true for China and would also be true for the US, if it were the Olympic host.

First, the Chinese government should have expected protests. The American government certainly would have expected them had the USA been hosting the Olympics. The Chinese government wants the international spotlight on China, but does not want it illuminating anything that may cause the government to lose face. This is just not plausible. Applebaum is right in her assessment that the CCP does not have a good enough grasp on how to manipulate the foreign press, as it is used to having control over its domestic media. The government's indignation over the fact that someone dare criticize its actions implies a belief that it is above reproach.

Second, the Chinese people should know how the international community feels about the actions of their government, just as the American people should. If foreigners are angry about the government's actions in Tibet and other regions, then Chinese should know, and they should also be told why foreigners feel this way. Chinese are very interested in how their country is seen by the rest of the world.