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Thursday, March 28, 2024 - 02:15 PM

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

First Published in 1994

INDEPENDENT CONSERVATIVE VOICE OF
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

It's hard to find consensus these days, but everyone seems to agree that there was something rotten about the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games. Not the athletes and the sporting events, of course; they trained their entire lives to compete, were as brilliant as ever and are not responsible for the decisions that led to such a cursed and corrupt event.

Athletes aside, just about everything else was horrible.

Condemnation came from all corners. Some called these the "Genocide Games." Others the "Dystopian Olympics." NBC's ratings for the games were the lowest in televised Olympic history. The stunning 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics opening ceremony marked China's coming out party on the world stage. The nightmare 2022 Olympics were just the opposite.       Millions of Americans now have a clearer understanding of the threat posed by China, and -- perhaps more importantly -- it's now clear to them that many powerful Americans seem to be playing for the other team.

The China-over-America phenomenon was personified by Eileen Gu, the amazing gold medal-winning freestyle skier who defected to compete for China after being raised in the U.S. Some American athletes switch to compete for other countries because it's so hard to make the American team. That was not the case with Gu. She could have made any team. Gu had other motivations. She was well-paid for switching sides. With endorsement deals in place from many of China's biggest companies, Gu will reportedly earn over $31 million this year, making her -- a relative unknown until very recently -- the third-highest-paid female athlete in the world. Gu is only 18, so it's relatively easier to forgive her for selling out the country that gave her so many opportunities. The huge American brands that are doing essentially the same thing? Not so much.

For many years now, American companies have seen their growth tied more to the Chinese market than the more saturated domestic American consumer market. This has turned them into apologists for Beijing. As we've learned just how abusive the Chinese regime has become, and as China has grown more aggressive and confrontational with America in its foreign policy, it's become increasingly difficult to watch American companies kowtow to the Chinese communists. These same companies spend millions lobbying in Washington, D.C. With their interests so clearly tied to Chinese growth, Americans are waking up to the influence these companies have over our government.

How much are major American companies willing to forgive to make money in China? The answer appears to be literally anything.

China is currently committing genocide against its minority Uyghur Muslim population. There is no legitimate debate about this anymore. Two hundred human rights organizations from countries around the world, and eight governmental bodies, including Canada, the U.S., Holland, the U.K., Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Belgium and France, have all declared that this genocide is occurring, often based on their independent channels of information, including numerous firsthand accounts by the victims.

The genocide in China has included reeducation camps, forced labor and forced sterilization. In the face of the overwhelming evidence, the NBC broadcast of the Olympic opening ceremony portrayed China's genocide as a debatable "he said, she said"-type matter. After laying out the allegation of genocide, NBC's analyst followed with pure Chinese propaganda: "It has to be said that the Chinese government emphatically denies all of this. They say that accusations of genocide are the lie of the century." While it's true that China has made this claim, it's equally true that there is almost no basis upon which to believe it. NBC did not make that clear. There is a lot of talk about misinformation these days, but twisting the facts to help a brutal dictatorship cover up for genocide is a new low.

NBC is not alone. The 13 "official worldwide partners" of the Chinese Olympics include American companies Airbnb, Coca-Cola, Intel, Procter & Gamble and Visa. They each have huge profits to be made in China. They did not run many marketing campaigns for the U.S. audience touting their sponsorships of the Chinese games. Why? Because it's shameful. They did, however, market their support widely in China.

The closest historic parallel to these Olympics was the 1936 games in Nazi Germany. Elisha Wiesel, the son of Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel, discussed this with The Washington Post's Josh Rogin: "We must all speak out. ... I hope that the corporations which are broadcasting and sponsoring these Olympics -- more specifically, the men and women of conscience who work at these corporations -- will do whatever they can to back away from the credibility they bestow on a regime whose actions deserve global condemnation." Despite the social stances these companies take domestically, they are silent about the abuses going on in China -- too much money at stake.

Luckily, the Chinese government is doing their sponsors no favors. In addition to the genocide, the publicity from these games focused on the quashing of dissent on the ground, the threats to the athletes, the horrible conditions inside the Olympic village, the International Olympic Committee's complicity in China's silencing of Tennis star and sexual assault victim Peng Shuai, China's "no cheering" rules, the hellish "smokestack" surroundings of the aerial events, the disastrous results of the Russian figure skating team's abusive treatment of their 15-year-old star, the forced smiles from the poor Uyghur skier forced to light the Olympic torch and, of course, the fact that nobody was watching.

The Olympics are amazing: the best athletes in the world dueling it out on a country-versus-country basis. They have brought us Jesse Owens, the Miracle on Ice and the Jamaican bobsled team. It's hard to screw up something that great. Yet, somehow, the world's powers in 2022 pulled it off.

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Neil Patel co-founded The Daily Caller, one of America's fastest-growing online news outlets, which regularly breaks news and distributes it to over 15 million monthly readers. Patel also co-founded The Daily Caller News Foundation, a nonprofit news company that trains journalists, produces fact-checks and conducts longer-term investigative reporting. The Daily Caller News Foundation licenses its content free of charge to over 300 news outlets, reaching potentially hundreds of millions of people per month. To find out more about Neil Patel and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at www.creators.com

COPYRIGHT 2022 CREATORS.COM

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Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel

Tucker Carlson currently hosts Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (weekdays 8 p.m. ET). He joined the network in 2009 as a contributor.

“Tucker Carlson Tonight” features powerful analysis and spirited debates, with guests from across the political and cultural spectrum. Carlson brings his signature style to tackle issues largely uncovered by the media in every corner of the United States, challenging political correctness with a "Campus Craziness" segment and tackling media bias and outrage during "Twitter Storm."

Carlson co-hosted “Fox & Friends Weekend” starting in 2012, until taking on his current role at “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

While at Fox News, Carlson has provided analysis for “America's Election Headquarters” on primary and caucus nights, including in the 2016 and 2012 presidential elections, as well as the 2014 midterm election. He also produced a Fox News special, "Fighting for Our Children's Minds," in 2010.

Prior to working at Fox News, Carlson hosted “Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered” on PBS from 2004 to 2005 and “Tucker” on MSNBC from 2005 to 2008. He joined CNN in 2000 as its youngest anchor ever, co-hosting “The Spin Room” and later CNN's “Crossfire,” until its 2005 cancellation. In 2003, he wrote an autobiography about his cable news experience titled "Politicians, Partisans and Parasites: My Adventures in Cable News."

Carlson graduated with a B.A. in history from Trinity College in Connecticut.

Neil Patel

In addition to his role as publisher of The Daily Caller, Neil Patel is co-founder and managing director of Bluebird Asset Management, a hedge fund investing in mortgage-backed securities.

Before starting his two companies, Neil served in the White House from 2005 to 2009 as the chief policy adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney. From 2001 to 2004, Neil was staff secretary to Vice President Cheney. Prior to joining the Bush administration, Neil was assistant general counsel at UUNET Technologies. Earlier in his career, Neil practiced law with Dechert Price & Rhoads. He also served as Counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the People’s Republic of China. 

Neil received his B.A. from Trinity College in Connecticut and his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he served as associate editor of the Journal of Law and Policy in International Business.

Neil lives in Washington, D.C., and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with his wife, Amy, their two daughters, Caroline and Bela, and their son, Charlie.

COPYRIGHT 2019 CREATORS.COM