President Bush, so far, insists that he will not boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer – perhaps his last high-profile foreign visit as Leader of the Free World (sic). Lest anyone assume a high-minded objective behind his decision (e.g., important bi-lateral relationship with major sovereign nation, opportunity to practice effective, quiet diplomacy to nudge China’s thuggish leaders towards democracy, etc), I’ll wager that the real reason is gold. Specifically, “fillin’ up the old coffers”, as W so memorably commented when asked what his post-presidential plans were. So, how does the Beijing trek fit into this scheme? Within a year of his leaving the White House, I predict George W. Bush will have in hand a $1MM annual retainer from the People’s Republic of China to carry their water as a lobbyist. For sure he ain’t likely to secure that kind of lucre from public speaking engagements (really, can you imagine anyone PAYING to listen to him, after suffering through his mangled syntax for 8 years?). You heard it first here at Rantcaster. Watch this space for more on W’s China gambit.
W’s Excellent China Olympics Adventure: Going for the Gold
April 15, 2008 by rantcaster
It is a shame the athletes are going to get caught up in this nonsense
You give him more credit than I do.
My wife and I were talking about world leaders who are and aren’t going to the Olympics, and she remarked that if she was in such a position, she might really want to go to the games, on the simple once-in-a-lifetime kind of level.
I’ve more or less thought that he just wanted to go because it’s cool. Being part of an underhanded business deal takes more thought than I’d attributed to him.
Wickle,
Thanks for your comments. It should, indeed, be cool for world leaders – the President of the US, the President of France, the Chancellor of Germany and the Sultan of Brunei – to just go to the Olympics to watch world-class sports competition. But, alas, the Olympics is now all about politics and national pride. My point about our current president’s attendance in Beijing is the strong suspicion that his decision was driven by personal economic interest (i.e., the lucrative post-White House consulting contract), and not any US national imperative. Remember that “Poppy” George H.W. Bush was US Ambassador in China during the mid 70″s, and a three-day visit to Beijing during Poppy’s service there was George W. Bush’s only international travel experience before becoming President of the US. (I still can’t believe that!!). Mark my words, W will be milking this Beijing visit for all its worth in his next career.
Ben,
I couldn’t agree more. Athletes put their heart and soul into this, and politics screws it up every time. Time to end the farce of a non-political Olympics, and settle on a fixed location (e.g., Norway, someplace harmless) for an annual competition. At the very least, the global torch parade should be dumped; its nothing but an opportunity for everybody with a grudge to spoil the game (and interesting that the “tradition” was started by the Nazi’s, not some noble ancient Greek idea).