Show recap and the Olympics
--posted by Tony Garcia on 2/13/2006
Yesterday's show we discussed the international community's desired role of the United States. After the slaps in the face given to the US by the International Olympic Committee I decided not to watch the Olympics...and said so on the air.
We received a phone call to help reconstruct Marty's intellectually inconsistent arguement that we should allow ourselves to get kicked around. I say inconsistent because that is exactly what the United Nations is all about as well, but he is of the belief that the US should pull out of the UN since it does not respect the US's contributions.
I was doing production while the caller was on the air so I was left with listening to the recording last night. It sounded like the caller was making the case that the slaps in the fact the United States received were insignificant. The Olympics are about a collection of sports and so baseball (which was booted from the Olympics in a blatant shot at the US) need not be concerned...they will survive.
I am responding because I did not get the chance to engage with this caller.
Are you willing to apply that rationale across the board? Basketball, golf, hockey, soccer and track & field will survive without the Olympics. Bowling will too. So will boxing, sailing and shooting. Wrestling, skiing and volleyball will survive as well. Ice skating will too.
Are you willing to boot those sports out of the Olympics?
What is the true justification for letting out baseball but nothing else?
The other insane concept that the caller offered was the idea that the Olympics is purely about sports. WRONG.
Baron de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympics, searched for a reason for the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). He thought the reason was that the French had not received proper physical education, and sought to improve this. In 1890 he attended the Wenlock Olympian Society. Coubertin also thought of a way to bring nations closer together, to have the youth of the world compete in sports, rather than fight in war. In his eyes, the recovery of the Olympic Games would achieve both of these goals.---Wikipedia
And if you REALLY believe that the Olympics have more to do with "sports" than international relations I will point you to the 1932 games in Berlin, the 1960 games in Mexico City, the 1972 games in Munich (for multiple reasons), the United States participation in the 1980 games in Moscow, the USSR participation in the 1984 games in Los Angeles, the controversies in the 1988 Seoul Games...you get the idea. What was the motivation of the US Hockey team in 1980? Not to win, but to beat the commies.
International events have a large impact on and from the Olympics. Those of you who are sweeping the baseball and executive board votes away as insignificant are blinded from the truth of the efforts around the world to use us for money, sponsorship, infrastructure investment...while giving less of a role of the United States on its own determination.
Open your eyes. Or, please, for the sake of intellectual honesty pick a principle and stand with it. Either we pull out of the Olympics for the same reason you support pulling out of the United Nations, or you support participating in both!
I can tell a pure partisan a mile away...they are the best at rationalizing more double standards than defending standards in every aspect of any conversation.
4 Comments:
You put words into my mouth. I am opposed to the UN because there are some who want to turn it into a one world government, which I oppose. The UN is thinking about a world tax, again I oppose, and a world court I oppose. From what I can tell, the IOC is not trying to do any of those things. Sorry Tony, this is still a "Who the hells cares?" issue with me.
I know, a lot of people do not care that the US is a dog to be kicked around by the rest of the world and being used like a cheap street whore for the building of their infrastructure.
I see a deteriorting national pride...or more accurately a SELECTIVE national pride.
Funny, the U.S. is doing better than it has in twenty-five years in the medal count right now, shouldn't that be "National Pride"? What about the fact that we've hosted more olympics games in recent years than any other nation? I can't beleive you're willing to turn your back on American athletes because some jerk bureacrats at the IOC are getting political. It's more important to me and my national pride to support our athletes.
For a "who the hell cares" you sure have a lot to say about this.
Turn my back on athletes? Hmm, last time I checked there was no obligation to athletes worked into any kind of government structure.
But are you saying that you are NOT trying to turn your back? It seems that you are fine with letting the top women's sport in America be robbed of it's pinnacle.
So, are you ok with baseball getting booted? You seem to be fine with that while claiming that the athlete's are so important.
As for the medal count...yep, we are still NOT in the top. And look at the one reason why our count is up. The addition of the half-pipe and other 'extreme' sports.
I love how people whose positions are weak start to mischaracterize the arguement. My position has NOTHING to do with the poor bureaucrat (I do not know if he is a jerk or not, I will not make that type of character assessment simply to further trivialize the issue). It is a stance against the anti-American animosity that is being acted out in every arena...the UN and the Olympics included. The fact is that the rest of the world wants us to rebuild their countries, infuse our money into their systems and generally use us all while removing our policy influence, cultural input and self-determination.
I expect better from you than that.
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