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Clinton to Bush: Don’t Go to Beijing
by
findingDulcinea Staff
Hillary Clinton urges President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics as authorities prepare for San Francisco protests.
30-Second Summary
"The violent clashes in Tibet and the failure of the Chinese government to use its full leverage with Sudan to stop the genocide in Darfur are opportunities for presidential leadership … I believe President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing," Clinton said in a statement on Monday.
The senator’s remarks come just before the Olympic torch arrives in San Francisco, where pro-Tibet protesters have already begun demonstrations.
Similar protests impeded the torch’s journey through Paris earlier this week, and demonstrations interrupted the torch’s progress in London as well.
Bloggers and columnists are already questioning Clinton’s motives.
Austin Ramzy writes on The China Blog that Clinton’s statement has little to do with the Olympics and everything to do with her campaign: “Clinton is trailing and in need of a pop.”
ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper says Clinton is “desperate to change the subject” from strategist Mark Penn’s recent departure from the campaign.
But Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes on The Moderate Voice Blog that Clinton’s call will at least “show up Obama” who has not taken the same stance.
Whatever the reason for her position on the Olympics, nearly half of the voting public supports the sentiment.
Public opinion tracker Zogby International came out with a new poll that found 48 percent of likely voters believe U.S. politicians should not attend the Olympics opening ceremonies and 70 percent believe the International Olympic Committee was wrong to award this year’s Olympic Games to China.
The senator’s remarks come just before the Olympic torch arrives in San Francisco, where pro-Tibet protesters have already begun demonstrations.
Similar protests impeded the torch’s journey through Paris earlier this week, and demonstrations interrupted the torch’s progress in London as well.
Bloggers and columnists are already questioning Clinton’s motives.
Austin Ramzy writes on The China Blog that Clinton’s statement has little to do with the Olympics and everything to do with her campaign: “Clinton is trailing and in need of a pop.”
ABC News correspondent Jake Tapper says Clinton is “desperate to change the subject” from strategist Mark Penn’s recent departure from the campaign.
But Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes writes on The Moderate Voice Blog that Clinton’s call will at least “show up Obama” who has not taken the same stance.
Whatever the reason for her position on the Olympics, nearly half of the voting public supports the sentiment.
Public opinion tracker Zogby International came out with a new poll that found 48 percent of likely voters believe U.S. politicians should not attend the Olympics opening ceremonies and 70 percent believe the International Olympic Committee was wrong to award this year’s Olympic Games to China.
Headline Links: Clinton urges boycott
Clinton said that the violent events in Tibet, along with China’s other human rights violations, “underscore why I believe the Bush administration has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China.” Her rival for the Democratic nomination, Barack Obama, said last week, “I'm hesitant to make the Olympics a site of political protest because I think it's partly about bringing the world together.”
Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Opinion & Analysis: What’s her motivation?
The statement gave Clinton “a pop” in the news cycle, Austin Ramzy writes on Time’s China Blog, which is most likely what she was going for. “There aren't many votes to be won in U.S. elections playing nice with China. But the people motivated by tough talk on China? You can get a sense of that by watching the protests in San Francisco,” he writes.
Source: The China Blog (Time)
Jake Tapper calls Clinton’s decision “a bold PR move,” but questions whether or not a boycott of the opening ceremonies would work. He ends his post by asking, “What do you think the president should do?”
Source: ABC News
“Hillary’s calling on the Prez to quit China, is likely to show up Obama who may have called the war right, but she’ll not be letting him call anything else regarding moral outrage, early,” writes Pinkola Estes on The Moderate Voice.
Source: The Moderate Voice
Related Topics: Olympic torch arrives in San Francisco
The Olympic torch arrived in San Francisco Tuesday “under a cloud of controversy and the watch of some 500 police officers,” reports local news station ABC 7. The precautions proved unnecessary as not a single protestor showed up for the event. The site includes video coverage of the demonstrations leading up to the torch’s arrival.
Source: ABC 7
Three protestors from the group Students for a Free Tibet scaled the Golden Gate Bridge Monday and unfurled two banners and hung two Tibetan flags. The group eventually came down when bridge manager Kary Witt used a bullhorn to plead with them. Some of the activists involved were later arrested on charges of suspicion of felony conspiracy and misdemeanor causing a public nuisance.
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Background: Protests in Paris and Mark Penn
At the request of Chinese officials, and following protests along the Olympic torch’s route, the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay came to an end Monday.
Source: findingDulcinea
Some analysts have suggested that Clinton may have called for the boycott to draw attention away from the recent resignation of campaign strategist Mark Penn. Penn’s resignation came after news broke of his trade negotiations with Colombian officials.
Source: findingDulcinea
Reference: '70 Percent Believe IOC Was Wrong to Award Olympic Games to China’
The Zogby poll found that dissatisfaction with the IOC’s choice of China for this years Olympics was equally spread across the political spectrum, with a majority of Democrats, Republicans and Independents disagreeing with the choice.
Source: Zogby
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