Clinton Wants Bush To Boycott Olympic Opening Ceremonies

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies for the Olympic games in Beijing, a fresh sign that politics, not sports, may take center stage at the summer games.

The Democratic presidential candidate said a boycott would underscore U.S. concerns about recent unrest in Tibet and questions about China's relationship with Sudan.

"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," she said, charging the Bush administration "has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China."

She said Bush should not plan on attending the ceremonies "absent major changes by the Chinese government."

Her rival for the Democratic presidential nomination, Barack Obama, recently said he was conflicted about whether the U.S. should fully participate.

Bush has said he will attend the Olympics because it is a sporting event, not a political event.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters Monday that Bush's position had not changed, nor had the administration's concerns about China's human rights record.

"We have never been afraid to express those views either directly by the president or the president's senior advisers when they travel to China and publicly," Fratto said.

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Obama issued a statement late Monday saying he has been "deeply disturbed by the recent events in Tibet, and have communicated my concerns in public and to President Bush," adding that if China does not take quick steps to respect rights and freedoms in Tibet, "there should be consequences."

The political debate over China's hosting role is rapidly overtaking the sports-themed torch ceremonies around the globe.

In Paris on Monday, organizers canceled the final leg of the traditional torch run through the city. In the face of chaotic protests and repeated attempts to douse the torch, organizers snuffed out the flame and put the torch aboard a bus in a humiliating concession to protesters decrying China's human rights record.

At least two activists got almost an arm's length away before they were seized by police. Another protester threw water at the torch but failed to put it out before being taken away.

The disturbances in Paris followed similar efforts in London on Sunday, where the torch was run through another gauntlet of protesters.

Clinton's announcement comes as her campaign tries to recover from jettisoning its chief campaign strategist this weekend for his involvement with a U.S.-Colombia free trade deal she opposes.

Rival Obama said in a TV interview earlier this month that he was "of two minds" when it came to full U.S. participation in the Olympics.

"On the one hand, I think that what has happened in Tibet, China's support for the Sudanese government in Darfur, is a real problem," he said, before adding: "I am hesitant to make the Olympics a site of political protest because I think it's partly about bringing the world together."

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, among other U.S. lawmakers, has suggested Bush should consider staying away from the opening ceremonies following China's crackdown on protesters in Tibet.

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Associated Press writer Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

Comments

[JumpinJ]

IS ANYONE READING THE ARTICLE???? Read the first paragraph:

"Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday called on President Bush to stay away from the Olympics opening ceremonies in Beijing, a fresh sign that politics, not sports, may take center stage at the summer games."

She's NOT say boycott the games. She's wants to boycott the opening ceremonies. This will have the all the impact of holding one's breath. "What? And miss interprative dancing"? If she really wants to stand for something (for a change), she should say not only we will boycott the entire games, but actually do something about human rights attrocites in China and, yes, in the USA. And she will... if it's politically convenient.

[EspritDeVoltaire]

Good analogy. The Queen of Spin is at it again.

[tester]

It's very rare that you will see a Hillary (or Obama, or McCain for that matter) post on Huffpost, where the headline portays accurately the story. Hufffpost likes Obama, but at least let's stick to Journalism101: Quote the quotes accurately and try really hard not to take it out of context.

[babar77]

Hillary has made a fatal flaw in this analysis. She fails to realize that boycotts only work to bring about real change if your attendance is actually leverage. The lack of US attendance in the opening ceremony is no leverage whatsoever. It may have had some leverage if the US was actually respected throughout the world, but we aren't. Even if we still were respected in the world, boycotting the opening ceremony is peanuts compared to boycotting the entire games. This is the real problem of giving up the moral high ground. Nothing will happen, and quite frankly I'm tired of symbolic gestures, I want some real progress. That's all Hillary ever offers: symbolic gestures.

[BatedBreath]

I bet The Clintons have a long, long, list titled "Talking Points to Distract the Real Story". This and the breast cancer initiative are two items they can cross off. I doubt, though, that they will take care of the Colombia problem.

[Pandu]

Secular atheists are harrassing religious atheists. I couldn't care less.

[cynicalidealist]

Am supporting Obama, but hat's off to Senator Clinton for taking this position. I do hope that Barack sorts it out and joins HRC to create solidarity from the Democratic side. This is an opportunity to make Human Rights a central issue. Let's not put "profits before people."

CI

[Lori411]

Wish I were not cynical, but she (Hillary) ALWAYS has an angle. It was under her husband that America sold military secrets to the Chinese, and I just cannot forget about Norman Hsu and has $800,000 contribution to her campaign, even if she gave some of it back.

The democratic Michigan Govenor also received money from Hsu. Is that why she is supporting Hillary? With so many people that owe her favors I can't tell who REALLY wants her and who is just returning a favor. Seems many in the later category.

[wldnswmmr]

It's a noble idea, but urging Bush to do anything of the sort proceeds on the mistaken assumption that he is serious about his "freedom agenda." The FA is just a marketing gimmick to cover a couple of vanity wars he needed in order to be a War President. China's a business partner holding over $1 trillion in cash reserves, a huge stake in US Treasuries, and with a sovereign wealth fund primed to bail out Wall Street as it founders. Taiwan, Tibet, the Sudan -- they all have to take a back seat to that. The CEO president isn't going to do anything to upset the shareholders of the GOP business plan.

[FreedomLoverX]

I wouldn't take a hat off for a pathological LIAR even though they want me to take a lollipop. This is a human issue, not a democratic issue. Solidarity? How about solidarity with the Tibetans?

Hillary can only LIE. That is what she does for a living. She is a two-faced LIAR. No sweet talk is going to make me give her credit for anything, unless you want to include the million dead in Iraq, and the 80,000 jobs lost last month.

[Vern58]

Gee Hill, why are you giving us this statement today? Could it be your campaign is rotting from the inside out and you are throwing this up to take our attention elsewhere? You seem never to say anything to anyone without sizing up a statement's political usefulness. Is this another empty political necessity?

[Fitzy]

Yep....jus­t another smoke screen. A need to divert attention from an otherwise failing campaign!

[Imhotep]

I'm in as soon as she calls for a boycott of Israel for human rights abuses. Peace

[FreedomLoverX]

What about Palestinian human rights abuses?

Peace.

[Chavez08]

Screw boycotting the games!! Boycott those poisonous goods they dump on us!! Oh yeah, I forgot, the "Cheap Labor" factor. Gotta keep up the banker sponsored Jihad against the U.S. working class don't ya, Hill?

[Give Peace A Chance]

I'm sure just like Canada and Columbia, Hillary called them ahead of time and said she was just going to do some political posturing to fool the voters.

We can't forget Bill's stance, that Tibet is a province of China and he gave them most favored nation status throughout his two terms.

[NoGoodNamesLeft]

you don't get to tell this lie again.

The Candian govt has cleared both Obama and Clinton on that issue. neither campaign gave the Canadian Govt any wink-wink on NAFTA

[Ammobob]

Here's some real unscripted eloquence from Barack:

"I would like somebody who knows about a bunch of stuff that I'm not as expert on," the senator is quoted as saying. "I think a lot of people assume that might be some sort of military thing to make me look more commander-­in-chief-l­ike. Ironically, this is an area--foreign policy is the area where I am probably most confident that I know more and understand the world better than Sen. Clinton or Sen. McCain.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/04/obamas_vp_knows_a_bunch_of_stu.html

[bellalolita]

I like her decisive stance on this issue. Now is the time for this type of stance with the chinese. While you are "conflicted" or confused by the issue, a lot more people could be arrested, tortured, killed or who knows what in Tibet and Darfur. You can bitch all you want about things but she seems to be willing to take action and help those in need in an unpopular situation in a time when popularity is everything. Will Obama be "conflicted" on issues or just wait to find the popular response? Noone's perfect and noone is going to please everyone. But if you're platform is change and you're hesitant to initiate that change, I won't be expecting much change in the future.

[FCBarca]

Somehow I get the feeling that a boycott sounds great in theory and hence the reason SHill-ary has suggested it , but in practice the prospect of China calling in their bonds/treasuries and dumping the US dollar might make that an impossible threat to follow through on...Perha­ps why SHill suggests it

[mjc]

Exactly right, drdrdob. This is the openning ceremony only. The athletes are not punished. And the other part of the story was so very interesting: Obama is "CONFLICTED" about such a boycott. He always is unless he has seen it in print somewhere else by someone else who has prestige. China may own a good piece of this country but you'd think the least they might do is observe some human rights before the Olympics. The fact that they don't and that the crackdown in Tibet was so brutal almost makes me believe that they are simply flying in our face. China could also do a great deal to stem the rape and killing in Darfur. They do have leverage there, economic and otherwise: weapons, for instance. Hillary Clinton is the only one of the candidates to have the ....., leadership quality to tell Bush what he would never do on his own, given his major lack of moral integrity. If Obama is conflicted he should check his moral and ethical stats as well. We know what McCain will say.

[Crowhaul]

Again, HRC proves herself to be on the wrong side of sound judgment. First, she wanted 'all options left on the table' against Iran. Then, she called for a 'ratcheting up' against Venezuela. Now she calls for Bush to boycott China.

She doesn't get it....

[Countess]

Should the United States get the Olympics after having pillaged Iraq with Hillary's vote and should other nations boycott an American Olympics?