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There is no value in boycotting the 2008 Olympic Games. Nothing would be gained by those who support the Boycott; they would garner no more public attention for their cause. Nothing would be lost by the Chinese. They will still have the global stage on which to sell the qualities of their way of life and to tout the benefits of their particular form of government.

Europe and the rest of Asia would still attend the games as would Russia. All of them would have a superior position in bargaining with China for future commercial deals and many American companies would suffer from higher tariffs and unfavorable deals.

Many people today consider Jimmy Carter a great president. Mostly because most people have poor memories of the nightmare he made of the latter part of the 1970's. One of his more grievous failures was the boycott of the 1980 Moscow games. He did this to protest the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. He might have had a valid position and he might be morally correct in his protest. However, he had chose the wrong path to try to punish the Soviet Union. In retaliation the Russians boycotted the 18984 Los Angeles Olympics.

Time has shown that the only ones who suffered any lose as a result of both boycotts were the athletes. A world-class athlete has a season of greatness where they can compete for high honors. At that, they have to be fortunate enough to be hitting their peak years at the right time since the Olympics only come once every four years. To make matters worse, most American athletes have to support themselves while they train. A few are fortunate enough to be highly paid professionals like the NBA players, but most like marathoners or archers don't even have endorsement contracts to fall back on.

After years of making it on their own, it is ridiculous for the government to take away their one good shot at fame and immortality for political reasons. Carl Lewis has nine gold medals from his Olympic appearances. How many more might he have gotten if he could have gone to Moscow? What about all of the others who missed their one shot. Has the government offered them compensation? Has Jimmy Carter offered an apology? No. It is better to let politicians play political games in the proper arena. Leave the arena of sports to the athletes.

Learn more about this author, Morgan Johnson.
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