Secretary of State Rice's comments on race got all the play in this piece,
but I want to focus on something else--her comments on Olympic boycotts.
I agree with her that boycotting the Beijing Olympics probably isn't the way to go, as I've said in this space before. But I disagree that the boycott of the Moscow Olympics in 1980 was "feckless", as she put it.
Did that boycott get the Soviets out of Afghanistan? No. But was it worthless? No.
There are some times, and some actions, that demand a moral statement. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was one of those. It was a moral outrage, and greatly threatened the peace of the world and of the region. The fact is that sometimes, there are more important things than engaging in physical competitions with others in the world. There are times when something is big enough and monstrous enough, that we have to make a statement. I think the Moscow Olympics were that time. I don't think what's going on now with regard to China quite rises to the level of a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and so a boycott of the Beijing games wouldn't make sense. Boycotts of this kind mustn't be used loosely. Still, sometimes they are necessary, and I wish Secretary Rice showed more understanding of that.
