Turn Politics Off During the Olympics in China
Americans are Ready for a Politics-free Olympics
Aug 5, 2008
The Olympic Games is a traditionally peaceful and non-political event that originated in Greece in 776 BC, at a time when Greece was one of the leading empires and its city states were often at war with one another. The Olympics, however, were held every four years despite wars or any inner struggles. We all learned in history classes how if Greece was at war, they would stop fighting for the period of the completion of the Olympic Games. Therefore, traditionally, they kept politics away from the games to send a message: the time of the Olympic Games should be politics-free so everyone can focus on the outstanding sport events.
China’s Difficult Task
This year’s Olympics in China will have an exceptionally hard task to keep the American people’s mind away from politics and make them relax and focus on the global athletic event. As we get closer to the presidential elections in the United States, as the real estate prices are still going down and many peoples’ homes are foreclosed, as gas prices are still very high and as the question about the War in Iraq has still not been answered, most Americans will have a hard time just focusing on the Olympic Games from August 8th through August 24th when they go home and turn on the TV.
Problems to Face at Home
Undoubtedly, both domestic and foreign policy issues must be taken seriously as they affect thousands of peoples’ lives, however, the American people deserve to lay back since they have been following the presidential campaigns and the presidential primaries since last year. The Amerian voters should just enjoy the Olympics for 16 days, so that they can get back to the difficult decision between Sen. McCain and Sen. Obama, between staying in Iraq or leaving Iraq, between supporting offshore drilling or not supporting offshore drilling.
Turning Politics Off
Both the Republican and the Democratic Party decided wisely when they scheduled their respective Conventions after the Olympic Games. In other words, 16 days of turning off politics and tuning into the Olympics in Beijing will only give voters a well-deserved break from politics. As Congress begun its five-week vacation and the presidential nominees are taking it easy for the next 2 weeks, and as everyone is getting tired of the never-ending fight between the Republicans and the Democrats, it is time we all pay attention to the greatest and oldest sports event that is politics-free but full of extraordinary athletes.
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