An Olympic Verdict
At the National Review, Jay Nordlinger reviews the arguments that bringing the Olympics to Beijing would pressure and encourage the Chinese authorities to liberalize and soften their oppression. Nordlinger finds the evidence to be quite the opposite, and I would go a step further: the ruling party not only amplified its oppression to keep the Olympics scripted, it successfully harnessed widespread foreign disapproval of its oppression to galvanize nationalist support for its worst policies. Today, we see a China that looks more like 1936 Germany than ever.
A pithy post that hits the bullseye.
I seem to recall Josh’s post a few months ago that also caught my eye, confirming what I saw as the heightened inhumane treatment of North Koreans just prior to the Olympics.
The intelligence at OFK is invaluable and I’m still trying to catch up on all the atrocities of KJI’s reign of terror in the secret state, abetted by China, via the archives. Thanks for including past links in the most recent posts – it makes it easier to not miss anything.