See the light!

As the controversy over the Beijing Olympics continues to rage during the flame-tour, I have the opinion that sport, specifically the Olympics, is not the place for protests of this sort. Western democracies had no need even to go along with the relay, as the tour is not time-honoured and was actually invented by Hitler in 1936.
I find quotes such as “It took stuffed shirts such as Duncan Goodhew and Seb Coe to huff that it was a ‘disgrace’ and the event was ruined by a few people breaking the law.” in the Times very biased.
If we used sporting events as a platform to criticise what we don’t agree with, it would signal the end of sport as a truly international pastime. This is even more important for the Olympics, which encompasses so many different religions and cultures…so much more opportunity to find something to demonstrate about. If the human rights abuses perpetrated by China were so much of a concern, then the Olympic Committee should not have given them the games in the first place.What about the American treatment of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay and there abuse of the Geneva Convention, the Iranian refusal to abandon nuclear development, Koreans eating of dogs (mans best friend) or the French who eat horse meat! How far do you take boycott and demonstration?