China & Tibet cont.

NPR is reporting that Buddhist monks in Tibet have effectively become prisoners in their own monasteries, and are being forced to denounce the Dalai Lama as a "terrorist." Meanwhile, one monk has died from starvation due to a Chinese blockade of food and water to major monasteries in Lhasa.

I think it's safe to say that most Buddhist monks are, almost by definition, people who have devoted their entire lives to peace and understanding.

Nancy Pelosi, supposedly an enlightened voice on the subject, says we should continue to reward this kind of behavior by the Chinese government:

She said in a statement that while the Chinese government has failed to live up to its commitments to improve human rights conditions in China and Tibet, "I believe a boycott of the Beijing Olympics would unfairly harm our athletes who have worked so hard to prepare for the competition."

I'm as rabid a sports fan as you will find... baseball, football, golf, the NBA before David Stern destroyed the league... and, yes, even the Olympics. But can't we all acknowledge that there are some things that are more important than sports, and that this is one of them? I think quite a few Olympic atheletes would recognize this...