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World Says Free Tibet

by Bob Betzen

olympics_cover.jpgGood news. One of the pillars of democracy has taken hold around the world. Wherever the Olympic torch travels on its way to Beijing, free speech follows.

The People Have Their Say
In America we love open political discourse so much that we’ve enshrined it in the First Amendment to our Constitution. Even two hundred years ago, the founders realized that government suppression of dissenting opinion is one of the first harbingers of totalitarianism. Conversely, free political speech is vital to a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

The US commitment to free speech is so profound that we allow leaders of antagonistic countries to criticize our government on American soil. So it’s unlikely the Chinese government was unaware of the American tradition of open discourse. The Chinese do however seem taken aback by the supporters of Tibet disrupting the torch run at all of its other stops. Apparently word of Chinese atrocities in Tibet has gotten out.

More Bad Publicity for China
Pardon me for shedding no tears over the public embarrassment of the Chinese government before, during and after the Beijing Olympics. The Chinese wanted to host the Olympics so that they could showcase China as an influential modern nation. It seems that old expression “Be careful what you wish for” applies. The spotlight is about to shine directly on China, and the Chinese government may not like what others will see.

The Olympic Games survived Hitler in the 1930s, racial protests in the 1960s and boycotts in the 1980s. They will survive the Free Tibet demonstrations as well. Let the celebrations begin.

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Posted in World View on April 13th, 2008

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If you want to find criticism of our government here in America, you won’t need to look far. When it comes to politics, it seems that everyone has a grievance. Radical Avenue on the other hand, takes a solutions oriented approach to public policy. It’s radical because I’m proposing fundamental changes to the structure of our government, like transferring commander in chief responsibilities to a small elected group. My philosophy is: Everyone knows we’ve got problems, so what are we going to do about it?

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