Comments on: Calm, vile submission

By: El Duderino

El Duderino — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 15:01:02 +0000

What the hell happen to once Great Britain? Once a nation with a heart of a lion now preemptively lays down to any half backed ism that would supplant traditional Western values.
While I agree that, in general, athletes should compete and not opine, I think it is a very poor precedent for free men and women to submit to tyranny in any form. I don’t think Publilius Syrus’ “beneficium accipere, libertatem est vendere” applies here. These athletes are representing their nation as exemplars, not supplicants nursing on the public teet.
Have you ever been kicked in the face by the iron boot of tyranny while laying face down in the mud? Of course not, it never happens, at least not so directly. It happens by increments. An appeasement here, an accommodation there. Before you know it , civilized people are asked to tolerate erstwhile surgeons who refuse to wash their arms to the elbow, Pasteur and his silly theories be damned.

By: Flatlander

Flatlander — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:00:48 +0000

David Foster, you might be shocked to learn just how monolithic Chinese public opinion is. The Chinese public blows like grass in the wind of the state-controlled media. You will never see it most days or most years. But when the Chinese government invokes Nationalism it is a truly amazing and terrifying thing to observe. I am not sure I could believe it myself if I had not seen it done a few times, and seen how complete is the control of the average man’s thoughts.

By: ELP

ELP — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 00:48:23 +0000

GD communists.

By: david foster

david foster — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:49:02 +0000

Liz…”afford some respect and courtesy to the host nation”…maybe it’s important to distinguish between the people of a nation and the government of a nation. I doubt that Chinese are any more monolithic in their opinions than are Americans, and at least some of them would probably appreciate having attention drawn to human rights violations.

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:17:37 +0000

I guess since I’m kind of a Euro…please don’t hold it against me! It influences my opinion on this. Most of the world doesn’t have the sort of speech freedom we do here (even in Great Britain, or other countries you might expect it). I’m not really surprised when I hear things like this, nor does it bother me so much (because the intent makes sense to me). But I understand your point. This will be my last comment on this thread. I didn’t mean to go on so long about this issue….sorry for the spam. :flowers:

By: lex

lex — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 22:07:07 +0000

Liz, I’m sympathetic to your position and you’ve raised some valid points, but the issue for me remains prior restraint.

There ought absolutely to be consequences attaching to actions, and if you went as a representative of Coca-Cola to a convention and trash talked the company, you’d have every right to expect that you’d be sacked when you returned. Coke might even ask you to sign an anticipatory NDA, but the federal government – at least over here – is explicitly forbidden from doing so.

Tell the athletes this issue is sensative. Remind them of the consequences if they cross the line. Disavow what they said if it doesn’t match national policy. Correct error.

But you have to admit that there is something chillingly Orwellian about a democractic country with a proud tradition of free speech protections requiring their citizens to put a sock in it. Or permitting a Communist dictatorship to define what may or may not be said by their citizens.