In 1980, Jimmy Carter made an irresponsible mistake in leading a U.S.-led boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Four years later, the Soviet bloc countries retaliated by boycotting the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Today, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson suggests the U.S. boycott the 2008 Olympics in Beijing if China continues to oppose the U.N. sending in peacekeeping forces in Darfur.
No matter how well intentioned Gov. Richardson is, it is highly irresponsible of him to bring politics to an international sporting event. For me, it is a personal feeling of deja-vu.
In 1983, one year in advance, I placed an order for tickets to the Los Angeles games. I was looking forward to it with anticipation. For a full year after I placed the order, I always had Los Angeles in my mind. I remember I was only 20 at the time and I was in my third year in college. Then, on the Soviet evening news program Vremya in May 1984, the final story on the half-hour news program (and it was brief) was that the Soviet Olympic Committee announced that they would not send a team to the Los Angeles games due to security reasons. Shortly afterwards, the rest of the Soviet-bloc countries (with a few exceptions like Romania and Nicaragua) also joined the boycott. This insured that I would be going to an Olympics where a huge chunk of the toughest competition for the U.S. team would not be there. As a consequence, the U.S. won almost every competition in Los Angeles, leaving the rest of the participating nations in the dust. The U.S. won in events they would not have won had the Soviets not boycotted.
Two months ago, I placed an order for tickets to next year's Beijing games, including a ticket to the Opening Ceremonies. I won't know what tickets, if any, I will be getting until later this summer. Now, Gov. Richardson wants to repeat my experience of going to a devalued Olympics by calling for a boycott unless China supports peacekeeping efforts in Darfur.
Twenty-seven years ago, I did not think the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a valid excuse for boycotting the Moscow games and I don't think China's interfering with U.N. efforts in Darfur is a valid excuse for boycotting the Beijing games. To add insult to injury, former senator John Edwards of North Carolina agrees with him on this. I personally already had my doubts on Gov. Richardson after that Wen Ho Lee baloney.
As a consequence, Bill Richardson will not get my vote even if he is the Democratic candidate and his Republican opponent is someone as vulgar as Tom Tancredo.