The world appears to be in love with the Beijing Olympics. Round-the-clock television coverage is drawing high ratings and more than a billion people watched the opening ceremonies on television.

And there’s been no bigger fan of the Olympics than President George W. Bush. While wars rage around the world, including a brand-new one in Georgia, and his own country’s economy implodes, the alleged leader of the free world was busy watching basketball games and swimming meets in China.

Apparently, as far as Bush is concerned, the most important use of his time is to give his stamp of approval to an event being hosted by an authoritarian state and bolster a corrupt international Olympic movement.

In his second inaugural address, Bush spoke in apocalyptic terms about a large fire he hoped to spread around the world: freedom. “It warms those who feel its power, it burns those who fight its progress and one day this untamed fire of freedom will reach the darkest corners of our world,” he said.

He’s spread plenty of fire over these past eight years, in the form of carpet bombing and artillery shells. Precious little of this fire has been lit in the name of freedom, however.

Instead, it’s been ignited in the name of colonialism, repression, corporatism and fear. And the fire he lit has threatened to set the world ablaze in violence. Meanwhile, the president is enjoying an extended vacation at the Olympics while domestic and international crises call for his leadership.

In the name of diplomacy — a concept for which he has shown repeated contempt over the years — Bush is hobnobbing with the dictatorship of China and patting Vladimir Putin on the back for the “heckuva job” Putin is doing, committing genocide in Georgia.

Since its separation from the Soviet Union, Georgia has done everything it possibly could have done to establish a partnership with the United States. Its government is so pro-Western that it sent thousands of troops to fight in Iraq.

Yet, in its hour of need, Bush can’t hear those cries of help from the people of Georgia over the roar of the crowd at the Olympic events he’s attending.
And he’ll never have any leverage with the government of China because Bush’s policies have mortgaged the economy of the United States to China.

His discussions with Chinese leaders are, by necessity, those of the debtor to the lender or of the slave to the slaveholder. By allowing the massive importation of slave labor goods from China, and by China’s shrewd investment in financing our record budget deficits, we’re powerless to speak with any authority on humanitarian issues.

While Bush enjoys the pageantry of the Olympics, China’s people still suffer under poor working conditions and a lack of basic human freedoms. The fire of freedom was not allowed to cross the border into China.

Meanwhile, the government of China welcomes the dictator of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, as a hero despite the fact that international courts have indicted him on charges of genocide.

The governments of Iran, North Korea and Myanmar look at Beijing and see a supportive ally, one willing to defend them at all costs. When you buy a cheap Chinese product at Wal-Mart, you’re supporting repression not only in China and Tibet but in Iran and North Korea as well.

History gives Richard Nixon high marks for opening diplomatic talks with China in 1972. But I wonder what good our friendship with China has done us. It’s accelerated our own economic decline while bringing not one ounce of freedom to the Chinese people.

Not only are tens of millions of Chinese still suffering under a harsh dictatorship, American citizens are feeling the economic impact of our alliance with the Chinese. They’ve financed our wars and simultaneously taken our place as the worldwide leader in manufacturing.

In honor of all of that, Beijing gets to host the Olympics and dominate the world spotlight for a few weeks. Ever the compliant servant, Bush further legitimizes the Chinese dictatorship by putting his stamp of approval on these wicked games.
At least he’s been consistent. Torture, repression, death and misery have always been the hallmark of the Bush years — and he’s learning it firsthand from the Chinese, formerly the world leaders in those fields.

So excuse me if I don’t have Olympic fever. It feels more like the plague to me.