war in afghanistan does not belong in olympic torch relay

During the debate about whether or not to watch the Olympics and Paralympics, some people decried the "politicizing" of the Olympic games. This reveals an ignorance of history, as the modern Olympics always have been used for political means. Indeed, the IOC choosing Beijing in the first place is a political act.

This morning I read:

Ottawa is urging the Vancouver Winter Olympics organizing committee to put the Afghanistan war at the heart of the symbolically laden torch relay, saying that the first torch carriers could be veterans of the seven-year-old conflict.

The federal government is also pushing to have Canada's French and English "linguistic duality" highlighted by the relay, going so far as to propose a list of 83 communities that could be part of the run -- and provide a chunk of the roster of torch bearers, expected to number 12,000.

Both those proposals are put forward in an undated memo from the official languages group of the 2010 Federal Secretariat obtained by Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin under an access-to-information request. The proposals on the torch relay follow revelations last week in The Globe and Mail that the Harper government provided $20-million for the opening ceremony of the Winter Games to ensure the event "adequately reflects" its priorities and "to achieve its domestic and international branding goals."

This touches on a recurring theme in my home.

A government parading troops or veterans for other-than-military purposes is a political act. Putting "Support Our Troops" stickers on city-owned vehicles is a political act - as is questioning the patriotism of anyone who objects to it. But the people who do this proceed as if these acts are neutral. They are seen as non-political, because they come from a position of power, from authority.

Anyone who disagrees, however, is making a political statement.

We see this all the time in baseball, which, like many sports cultures, is generally conservative. Moments-of-silence for soldiers who are "defending our way of life" - that is, cheerleading for the war in Iraq! - is neutral. Objecting to the public display, or quietly refusing to participate, is bringing politics into baseball, shame on you!

The Harper Government wants to use the 2010 Olympics as a vehicle for its own agenda, and isn't above exploiting veterans to do it. If Harper is so concerned with Canada's "brand", he wouldn't have eliminated funding for the promotion of Canadian culture internationally. But then, he's not concerned with Canada's brand. He's concerned with the Government's "domestic and international branding goals". That is, his own agenda.

Hopefully that will not be Canada's agenda much longer.