Earlier today on our radio program, Michigan Congressman Thadeus McCotter discussed why he doesn’t think President Bush should go to the Beijing Olympics, stating
We don’t think that the president, for the first time in US history should attend a foreign hosted Olympics because… his presence at the Games has deviated from the norm and set a political gesture into the Olympics.
In a letter to the president last September, Congressman McCotter wrote that in light of a long list of
the communist dictatorship’s rogue actions against our nation and others, your attending these games in communist China will subvert the moral authority of your position as the Leader of the Free World– a Free World which will be watching and weighing your participation.
To that end, he has filed legislation in Congress which, according to his website, is
"a bill in Congress restricting all government officials and employees from attending the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics in communist China. The bill does NOT affect America’s Olympic athletes. The bill H.R. 5668, The Communist Chinese Olympic Accountability Act, is a follow up to a September 11, 2007, letter to President George W. Bush in which Congressman McCotter and a bi-partisan coalition of Members of Congress, state: ‘We urge you [President Bush] to reconsider your decision to attend the 2008 Beijing Olympics in communist China.’"
This is a great idea, in that it allows the athletes to participate in the games without becoming political pawns, while at the same time sends a message that we are not going to accept a rival system of government that seeks to undermine ours through deception and espionage while trampling the human rights of its citizens in ways not tolerated elsewhere in the civilized world.
You would think President Bush would know better than to even consider such a trip, especially given the the violence in Tibet and elsewhere that’s recently been all over the news.
I challenge New Hampshire’s two Congressional Representatives, Democrats Shea-Porter and Hodes, to step up and join Congressman McCotter in his effort to stop President Bush from making a huge mistake.
How about it? Will the two of you support HR 5668? I wonder what the variaous candidates running for Congress this fall think? Albeit, it will be over before they get to Congress, but I’d still like to know how they would vote. This is a fantastic way to send a huge message without punishing a single athlete.
