Beijing Olympics: Spectacular...and Disturbing

I don't know what everyone else is feeling while watching the opening ceremonies from Beijing (Peking), but I was experiencing some very mixed feelings.

First, the ceremonies themselves were, simply put, spectacular. I don't believe the world has ever experienced anything like what was on display last night. It was an amazing combination of technology and precision choreography.

The 500 ft. long LCD screen on the floor of the "Bird's Nest" stadium was a constant source of colored lights and flowing graphics depicting the history of China and the technological achievements of the Chinese people.

As spectacular as the technological wizardry was, it was the amazing precision of the choreography of the performers which really dazzled viewers. A continuous parade of costumes and culture kept the audience mesmerized with brilliant colored costumes, high-wire acts, and as many as 2000 performers moving in unison with precision and grace. I guess the fear of imprisonment or death for screwing up is a good motivator.

I don't believe anyone could watch without being amazed and impressed by the efforts of and the lengths to which the Chinese government went to show the world the new face of China and the long, rich cultural history of its people.

Yet, all the while this magnificent display continued, I was struck by the surreal atmosphere of this cultural tour de force occurring in a nation best known for its severely oppressive government and against a background of censorship, domination, and suppresion.

Most disturbing was the narration provided by NBC's Matt Lauer and Bob Costas, as they spoke almost admiringly of the Communist government's philosophy of individual citizens subservience to the state as demonstrated by a single dancer performing on an expansive floating stage held aloft by hundreds of performers in brightly colored costumes.

The spectacle held a fascination similar to Milton's, almost admiring, depiction of Satan in Paradise Lost. To see all of those beautiful costumes and people parading around glorifying China and it's rich history, all the while knowing what that same government has done to the Tibetan people and its own people was most disturbing.

Throughout the entire spectacle, I couldn't shake the feeling of the surreal. The Chinese Communist Party has been the most murderous regime in the world's history. Estimates of just how many of it's own citizens the Chinese government has killed run as high as 80,000,000.

It never ceases to amaze me how naive and superficial those in the media and on the Left are. The Liberal governments of the European Union persist in their Chamberlainesque view of despotic regimes, whether they be the Radical Islamists in the Middle East or the communists of China.

Hearing the NBC commentators wax poetic over the displays of a government enforced Chinese solidarity made me ill. This is the same government which is attempting to destroy the culture of Tibet and any concept of Tibetan identity.

Protestors are routinely killed or imprisoned by troops and police in China and even the Olympic Spectacular couldn't stop the oppression, as Beijing sent in hundreds of thousands of police to patrol the olympic grounds.

Just as were Hitlers 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the Moscow Olympics in 1980, these Olympic games are meant to lend legitimacy to the Murderous CCP regime in Beijing.

These opening ceremonies, as spectacular as they were, were intended to praise the elevation of the state over its people.

I believe that the President should not have gone to Beijing. It was a mistake and the mistake is compounded by the fact that this is the first ever trip by a sitting president to an Olympiad held in a foreign nation. For the President to grant such prestige and propaganda value to these games leaves a very foul taste in my mouth.

The Olympics have become a tool of nations intended to render acceptable that which is unacceptable.

Perhaps it is time to recognize the Olympics for the political sham they have become.

While I admit to sharing some of the fascination with the Chinese culture, I am left with the sick feeling that I have, in some way, furthered the oppression of people around the world in watching any of these games.

Long Live Our American Republic!!!!

What do you think?

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