If We Will Not Lead, Then Follow

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced that he will not attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. Although it was reported that Brown never planned to attend, he now joins German Chancellor Angela Merkel in boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympic games hosted by China. This boycott is a protest for China's crackdown on Tibet as well as their overall poor record on human rights. In my article "Vive La France" I examined French President Nicolas Sarkozy's contemplation of a Boycott of the opening ceremonies. So where does the world's beacon of Freedom and Democracy stand on this? Speaker Pelosi and Senator Clinton have urged President Bush publicly to boycott the opening ceremony. In spite of this and the feelings of many ordinary citizens, The President says that he still plans to attend. After all, it's not like he is running for office this year.