China, You Make Us Look Good!

At a time in history when the average 15 - 30 year old has ADD and can't focus on any news story lasting longer than the 30 second sound bite, I want to thank China on behalf of all Americans. China, you make us look good!

Let's face it, even though we have been waging a war in Iraq (and Afghanistan) for over 5 years, the American public has gotten bored of the constant news coverage of the war and the ever rising body count. Even when our president is replaced in the upcoming November election, reality is that we won't see significant troop reductions overnight. Every night, Americans are given updates on the "surge" in Iraq. These "surge" status reports are supposed to give us that warm and fuzzy feeling in our stomach so we can feel like the country is safe and all is right with the world. For months, the news has orbited around the "surge" and presidential candidates. That's it. Nothing else.

Enter China.

Since the Olympic torch arrived in Beijing in April, there has been tons of controversy. The world hates that the capitalist, controlling American pig has entered the Arab world, but it really LOVES and underdog fighting for independence. Who is right in the Tibet conflict can be debated for hours. Some say China began their occupation of Tibet in 1950 and the first conflict was 1959 when American arms were shipped to Tibet to help resist the Chinese. Others say Tibet has been part of China for over 700 years and even Buddhism migrated to Tibet from China proper. Either way, one thing is certain: the Western world loves the David and Goliath story of Tibet vs. China so much that the war in Iraq has become the equivalent of what Britney ate for breakfast.

Ironically, the 2008 Olympic Torch Relay is called the "Journey of Harmony." It won't end until 8-08-08, yet in recent weeks, has been the source of many protests and controversy and anything but harmonious. Already there is talk of people from athletes to politicians boycotting the Olympic Games because of China's treatment of Tibet and it's numerous civil rights violations. In Paris, a protester even tried to rip the torch out of a runner's hand during the relay. The news the other night had a sound bite that stated "torch under protection." I understand the symbolism involved here, but I didn't know the torch required a secret service detail.

It's a torch people, not a person! Yes, it symbolizes the Olympics, harmony, coming together, blah, blah, blah, zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Who even watched the last Olympic Games? The only time I caught any of it was in the hours between 2 and 5 am when I was trying to go to sleep. Maybe part of the hype is the media and NBC hyping it up for profits. Besides, what's the point of building a shiny new stadium and putting on a show if no one watches? The best thing that ever happened to pageants was that dumb blond from SC answering that map question with such a dumb answer last year (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww). I'm sure the Miss USA pageant picked up some viewers who wanted to know what dumb pageant girls would do next. NBC needs to build an audience for their Olympic coverage where an audience hasn't existed in quite some time. The last important Olympic competitions I remember were in the 80s. I haven't seen commercials for some of the movies opening this month, yet NBC is already posting "8-08-08 Olympics on NBC" tags at the bottom of some of their show credits.

What was the point of this? Oh yeah. Surge bad. Elections good. China bully. Free Tibet. Screw this torch nonsense.

Oh yeah, and as far as helping our public image:
Thank You China.