Tag Archives: responsibilities

Boycotts

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There’s growing interest in Congress in the US boycotting the Olympics winter games scheduled for Beijing in 2022. That, despite President Joe Biden’s continued passivity—beyond some chit-chat—regarding all things People’s Republic of China.

Congressman John Katko (R, NY) in his letter to Biden on the matter:

The actions taken by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are antithetical to the values of both the United States and its allies around the world. Participation in an Olympics held in a country that is openly committing genocide not only undermines those shared values but casts a shadow on the promise for all those who seek free and just societies.
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The United States simply cannot in good faith participate in an Olympic Games in a country that is committing genocide and continuously attempts to manipulate and lie to the global community about such atrocities. Before the eyes of the world descend upon China in 2022, I urge you to take action by working with our partners and allies to lead the free nations of the planet in a unified movement to hold this honored contest amongst nations in a country that actually lives up to the values of the Olympic Charter.

That interest is growing, too, across flyover country outside the DC and coastal bubbles.

Biden’s diffidence regarding the potential for boycott, though, is illustrated by what he said through his White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki:

There hasn’t been a final decision made on that. And, of course, we would look for guidance from the US Olympic Committee.

Three guesses how that went.

A spokesperson for the US Olympic Committee said they believe boycotts are an ineffective way to address global issues.
“We believe the more effective course of action is for the governments of the world and China to engage directly on human rights and geopolitical issues,” the spokesperson told Fox News.

Got it in one.

Of course the folks with a vested interest in their project are going to insist that their project be left alone. And USOC management personnel, through that spokesman, had only the most vapid of rationalizations, suggesting in wide-eyed innocence that the PRC would engage, directly or otherwise, on anything related to human rights.

Too Precious

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That’s the British press, in comparison with which even our own press is…inadequately endowed.

It seems that Henry Charles Albert David, a Duke of Sussex (the latest in that line, in fact) gave an interview to an American television late night talk show host.

Oh, woe. Oh, the angst. Oh, the world is coming to an end.

The British press is up in arms because its morning coverage of Harry’s interview somehow clashed with the effort of the British Queen, Elizabeth, to get word out regarding the wisdom of getting vaccinated against the Wuhan Virus.  “A source” complained

When the Queen speaks, as she has done about the vaccine, it is accepted that she has a clear field[.]

I’m not sure by whom it is accepted, but that’s neither here nor there. The “source” has misplaced his dismay. Here’s the kicker:

News of Harry’s late-night chat filled the British media Friday morning, hours after the Queen was trying to give a booster shot to the vaccine with an address in which she encouraged the UK public to get jabbed[.]

To the extent the British queen’s message was stepped on (“hours after?” Really? The field still isn’t clear?), it was the deliberate, carefully thought out decision of the British press to fill itself with coverage of Harry’s interview. The man had nothing to do with that.

Common Ground on Abortions

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That’s the claimed hope of the Progressive-Democrat HHS Secretary nominee Xavier Becerra—that he can find “common ground” on his late-term abortion goals.

Indeed, there’s this bit of disingenuousity from Becerra:

I understand that we may not always agree on where to go, but I think we can find some common ground on these issues because everyone wants to make sure that if you have an opportunity, you’re gonna have a healthy life[.]

Except for the aborted baby. That life gets no opportunity for health; that life is simply…terminated.

There is no common ground on abortion, late-term or otherwise: either there’s baby killing going on, or there’s not.

The only common ground at all related to abortion is the ground in which all those babies are buried.

Another Question

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…for President Joe Biden. The President has been decidedly slow to comment on the People’s Republic of China government’s treatment of the country’s Uighur population.

Biden, who vowed to be tough on China while on the campaign trail, has been careful not to classify the human rights abuses against the Uighurs since entering office. The Trump administration declared the actions by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as genocide one day before vacating the White House.
The president didn’t mention China’s human rights abuses during a virtual meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday. He said that the US and Canada are coordinating “approaches to better compete with China and to counter threats to our interests and values.”

So, Joe—can I call ya Joe?—is the PRC government committing genocide against the Uighurs? Is the PRC government at all mistreating the Uighurs?

We’ll wait for your answer, Joe.

But the Uighurs can’t.

Some Questions

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…I have.

As the coronavirus raged across Boston over the holiday season, the medical director for the city’s [Boston’s] Public Health Commission was working 5,000 miles away in Hawaii.
Dr Jennifer Lo acknowledged this past week that city officials gave her permission to re-locate her family to Hawaii last November so she could care for her elderly parents. She plans to return to Boston this summer.

Lo is a contractor, not a city employee, and so not subject to the city’s you-gotta-live-here requirement, but that doesn’t mean her Medical Director duties didn’t need to be met in situ. Those are city needs, not phone ’em in tasks.

Thus, I have questions.

Why couldn’t her husband, alone or accompanied by the rest of her family, relocate to Hawaii to care for both sets of elderly parents?

If her parents were in such dire need, how is it that she can return to Boston so soon—and by coincidence, in Boston’s summer weather?

If Lo were serious about her concerns for her ability to honor her city Public Health Commission duties from Hawaii, why didn’t she go ahead and resign instead of merely offering to do so and seeing what the Commission would say? Related, had she precoordinated her offer so she knew what the commission would say?

There may well be serious, legitimizing answers, but they aren’t being articulated.