| The China Olympics got off to a bad | | | | Chinese and souring the mood for the |
| start with people trying to tackle the | | | | Beijing Games. |
| person carrying the Olympic flame; | | | | And now a violent earthquake has |
| however, that was nothing compared to | | | | devastated a broad patch of central |
| what we're seeing now- earthquakes, | | | | China, particularly here in mountainous |
| tremors, after shocks, radioactive | | | | Sichuan province, killing up to 50,000 |
| leaks, and potential floods from dams | | | | people. The scale of destruction is so |
| breaking, etc. Talk about China's | | | | vast -- and the horizon for a return to |
| Olympic mood being somber! It's more | | | | normalcy so distant -- that it is |
| like some cosmic curse. | | | | difficult to imagine a carefree crowd in |
| Eight is an auspicious number in Chinese | | | | Beijing when the Games open Aug. 8. |
| tradition, and 2008 was supposed to be a | | | | Forgedaboutdit! |
| joyful year, a time for celebrating at | | | | Across the country, Chinese had joyfully |
| the Beijing Olympics and basking in | | | | embraced the role of Olympic host. Most |
| international recognition of the | | | | also seemed to buy into the idea that -- |
| country's tremendous progress under the | | | | during the Olympic year, at least -- the |
| careful leadership of the Communist | | | | world was ready to overlook the party's |
| Party. It has not turned out that way. | | | | Leninist ideology and accept its |
| The uprising in Tibet on March 14 should | | | | promises of eventual political reform. |
| have been a sign! | | | | If other nations were willing to show |
| The Tibet crisis focused the world's | | | | patience, the party hoped, the Chinese |
| attention on the long-festering issue of | | | | people would be encouraged to follow |
| China's abuse of human rights. The | | | | suit. |
| worldwide Olympic torch relay, conceived | | | | Now the attention is internal and the |
| as a "journey of harmony," turned into a | | | | "internals" could get worse before they |
| magnet for protest, embarrassing Olympic | | | | get better. |
| organizers, angering nationalistic | | | | |