Why Now?

In recent days there have been numerous stories of worldwide protests regarding the 2008 Summer Olympics being hosted by China, whose record regarding human rights is hardly stellar. China has traditionally drawn protests for these and other issues. These reasons have included child labor laws, apartheid towards Tibetans, treatment of religious and ethnic minorities, organ harvesting, torture of prisoners and forced abortions due to their "One-Child" policy. I remember being surprised 8 years ago that Beijing was even in the running for an Olympic site. I was even more amazed that there was no uproar, and still none when they were indeed awarded the winning bid in 2001.

So why are all the protesters coming out of the closet now? Where were they 7 years ago? Why wait until the torch-carrying process mere months before the event to aim vitriolic rants against the Chinese government? And now Hillary Clinton is demanding that President Bush call for a boycott of the games this summer. Nice try, Hillary. If this issue is so important, you should have lobbied for a boycott 7 years ago. Now it sounds like nothing more than political poppycock in the midst of a tense campaign.