Human Rights Violators should NOT be rewarded with Money or Prestige!
By dakinikat2 on July 28, 2008 at 9:55 AM in Advertising, Barack Obama, Beijing Olympics, China, Human Rights, MSNBC, NBC, Tibet
Editor’s Note: Charles Lemos’s article, “Beijing Olympics: Brought to You By Barack Obama,” offers more background on Obama’s massive ad buy.
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This picture was sent to me earlier this year by a friend that is a buddhist monk. We are both of the faith typically called “Tibetan” Buddhism. As such, we’re pretty much automatically labelled enemies of the Chinese People. I wanted to share this picture with you because of several things going on right now concerning His Holiness the Dali Lama, the candidates for President, and the upcoming Beijing Olympics.
This picture demonstrates the real force being the so-called rioting monks and the violence last April in Tibet. It was posed so China could justify the disappearance of over 10,000 Buddhist monks and nuns. You are seeing this correctly. It is a group of Chinese soldiers holding monk garb. This was taken by a friend of ours right after some of the riots. I think you can figure out the rest for yourself.
I decided to re-open this issue since I was also speaking to my Lama today. A lama is a spiritual teacher along the lines of a Rabbi in Judaism. His wife, Ang Dawa, is an activist for the Sherpa peoples. They both are from Nepal but were born in a section where the line between Nepal and China is more relevant to countries than native peoples. The Sherpas are the natives people that live in the Himalaya Mountains and you all probably know them best for their incredible mountaineering skills. Ang Dawa has just been elected to the new Nepali parliament and has been an activist/journalist for the UN for many years for Human and Women’s Rights. She just wrote an article in the local newspaper stating that there are basic human rights and they include being able to practice religion as you see fit, including becoming monks and nuns. It was a very generic article on human rights and mentioned no countries by name. However, there are over 10,000 tibetan buddhist monks and nun–many of which are Sherpa–unaccounted for after the april/may so-called uprisings. This includes some of the senior most and most respected rinpoches. They have simply disappeared.
While I am not surprised the President George W. Bush has decided to attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics, I had held out some hope. This week there have been several headlines out there concerning both the Olympics and the struggles of the Tibetan people to maintain their cultural identity and practice their religion. There have also been some activities on the parts of presidential candidates. I argue, both activities are essential windows into their approaches to Human Rights.
The first was this picture of John McCain and his Holiness the Dali Lama
. The New York Times in its story stated this:
“But other Republicans — the so-called foreign policy pragmatists, many of whom have come to view the Iraq war as a mistake — say the administration’s policy shifts highlight the more confrontational nature of Mr. McCain’s foreign policy, particularly in his approach toward Russia and his embrace on Friday of the Dalai Lama, whom the Chinese regard as the fomenter of a rebellion in Tibet. They say the meeting will only antagonize China before the Summer Olympics, and at a moment when the United States is seeking its cooperation on economic issues and negotiations with North Korea.”
source: New York Times
At the same time, we see this move from the Obama Campaign.
As reported by Advertising Age, it appears that the Obama campaign is going to be a major TV sponsor of the Beijing Olympics.
“It’s official. Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign will be among the TV sponsors of NBC Universal’s Olympics coverage. In the first significant network-TV buy of any presidential candidate in at least 16 years, the Obama campaign has taken a $5 million package of Olympics spots that includes network TV as well as cable ads. According to NBC’s political file, the campaign had initially requested information about 500,000, $2 million and $4 million package of Olympics spots. The network also offered the candidate a $10 million package.”
So, let me ask you a question. Aren’t the progressives supposed to be the ones concerned with Human Rights and standing up for them regardless of the economic consequences? Is it way too cynical of me to see this move by the Obama campaign as finding a way to profit and gain votes from an event that highlights a country that mistreats its peoples? This is Communist China folks! Monks and Nuns disappear there. Google and MIcrosoft have had to build limits into their software to suppress free speech in this country.
Oh, btw, after the Chinese government protested the publication of Ang Dawa’s statement of basic human rights, there were threats issued to the publisher of that paper in Nepal. The editor was assassinated shortly thereafter.
Is this the type of thing the Obama campaign should be sponsoring with campaign dollars?
__________
From my blog, “Sky Dancing in a Man’s World.”
Listen to Rev. Mannings sermon today. All about
Obama!
http://www.atlah.org/broadcast/07-28-08_56kb.html
His videos are going to convert me..(not, I don’t do organized religions)but his eyes are more open than most. I do agree with the boycott message though.
Obama’s ad buy is consistent with how he treated the people in the Kenyan village.
BTW, Rasmussen says the bounce from Berlin appears to have waned.
He now has a 3 point lead over the other candidate we don’t like.
plus or minus the margin of error?
NO LEAD.
The progressives are suppose to be the truth seekers and opposed to human right violations and honest politicians.
Seems they are either liars, or have been duped by progressive leaders like Obama.
I am beyond furious about it all.
NOBAMA!
make that 2 of us!
That’s right… the one way I found to live with myself over the lack of outcry over Tibet, I am not watching one single second of the Olympics. I do not read the Sports Pages now. I bought mlb.tv pkg so I can watch Baseball without it being polluted by the Beijing Propaganda Games. I mean, it’s just me, but at least it is SOMETHING, just one little thing, and maybe it will add up… to something.
Obama care for no one!
http://nativeamericansagainstobama.wordpress.com/
Hillary fans, don’t give up White House hopes just yet
By Jesse W. Brodey
Don’t count Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton out of the presidential race. Sen. Barack Obama, the “hopeful” Democratic presidential nominee, may talk himself out of the nomination.
He has yet to detail his solutions to programs he so ideologically outlined during his pied piper march to victory.
If Obama of Ilinois and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the presumptive nominees of each party, continue talking the way they are, spouting pie in the sky without specifics while flip flopping and displaying their unfitness to be president, the delegates and superdelegates may switch their votes to choose more suitable presidential nominees.
http://countusout.wordpress.com/
Don’t count on it. Among them all I don’t see a complete spine.
if they didn’t have the guts to do it in June they’ll never have the courage now.
I agree…Hillary has always been the most qualified but they are all a bunch of yellow cowards. Afraid of that “R” word.
I know by R word you meant race, but they ought to be afraid of the other R word (Republicans).
Are there no limits? The party leaders must stop this man. I am clueless as to why they don’t.
Good Post Dakinkat…What has happened in Tibet and the lack of real coverage in this country ( USA ) is tragic. The Olympics has become a cash cow…Not that there is any real cash supporting our athletes but it seems as if the Networks, Corp. Sponsors and China are set to make some doe.
Why hasn’t this been reported….
Iran, China to Cement Cooperation
http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=40085
I am so sorry to hear that the editor of the newspaper was assassinated just because he/she dared published Ang Dawa’s generic statement of human rights. It’s not surprising that a candidate whose minions threaten and attack anyone who dissents with their views has no problem sponsoring the China Olympics, thereby ignoring the terrible human rights violations of that country.
hit the nail on the head…well said.
Supreme domination … the ultimate quest for China and Obama.
If he were what he pretended to be, he would certainly speak out against any violation of human rights and he would find some other way to broadcast his graven image and his empty words all over creation.
He and NBC apparently fit hand in glove with the oppressive Chinese regime.
Novak Smells Trouble for Obama: McCain “Closer Than He Should Be”
What? No bounce from the Berlin Milli Vanilli concert (you remember - all flash and dazzle, but they were lip-synching somebody else’s tune)? How could this be? Couricwilliamsgibson tried so hard to turn a one week vacation into presidential-caliber foreign policy experience.
http://patriotroom.com/?p=631
ha, Berlin Milli Vanilli, haha
Thanks for the eye opener. I never thought about this. I agree BO is a mistake. I am so BO out that now I will have two reasons not to participate in NBC’s coverage of the Olympics. The first is the negative treatment all other candidates received while the anchors and pundits fawned over BO during the primaries and second..I am not sure I can see another image of the great BO with out becoming physically ill.
He makes me want to vomit, honsetly. I just can’t stomach him for 5 seconds. It is like waterboarding, although maybe waterboarding is not so bad???? I can’t say for sure. All I know is I would rather hear fingernails on a chalkboard over that phoney any day!
I have never hated a politician as much as that fraud.
I am voting McCain. I don’t agree with him about alot of things, but he doesn’t make me want to vomit. He seems to have a soul and a conscience, too. Obama? Not so much!
Berlin Milli Vanilli concert
That’s funny!
Thanks Charles for the warning about the olympic ads, I’ll watch the events via tivo so I can skip the commercials.
Obambi is NOT concerned about human rights, he is too busy slipping notes at the wailing wall.
Lord , protect my family and me from FOX and any media not in the bag for me. - Obambi
Forgive me my sins as there have been many corrupt things I have done. - Obambi
Help me guard against my snobbish and arrogant pride and the despair I have caused in Chicago because of it. - Obambi
Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just as I still can’t talk properly when I have no teleprompter. - Obambi
And make me an instrument of your will, my lord devil. - Obambi
oh my…well said!
And lest we forget what was Hillary Clinton doing in Beijing 13 years ago…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk3nzRt7p94
Hillary 08
PUMA
One would wish that the Olympic games could be a doorway to peace and prosperity around the world. It is tarnished by the practices of decades and will never rise to that glorious goal however! I think money corrupts everything it goes near!
Yeah, Obama is not that into other people’s rights.
“Protesters” (ie, Americans expressing their 1st Amendment rights) will be CAGED in Denver at his coronation.
Maybe people should just WEAR chicken wire to Denver and call it a MOBILE “First Amendment Zone.”
The latest with Sinclair
http://larrysinclair0926.com/
PRO-OBAMA BLOG & SELF-PROCLAIMED NIECE OF JOSEPH R. BIDEN, D-DE, SOLICITS MURDER ON THE INTERNET
Posted by Larry Sinclair on July 27th, 2008
What I would like to know is if there are any athletes not participating because of the oppression and mistreatment of chinese people? And the ones that are, SHAME ON THEM. Having anything to do with this spectacle is disgusting.
I don’t blame the athleltes as many struggle to come up with the funds to compete. I blame the Committee who chose the site.
competing is not nearly as important as standing up for what is right.
workingclassartist,
Thanks for pointing this out. I used to struggle with this concept, but the truth is athletes have a short shelf life. And they are dedicated to their sport. It’s up to the Olympic Committee and its sponsors. They should have made a more responsible decision.
However, there are a lot of people who will learn more about the struggle for human rights due to their exposure to the Olympics.
We should bombard the regular big advertisers (fast food, sodas etc) with emails and phone calls threatening to boycott their products if they continue advertising on NBC, MSNBC, CBS, CNN and NYT. Let them know that unless these “news” organizations change course and stop their one-sided reporting, suppression and distortion of news, we will not buy any of their products.
imustprotest-
thanks so much for this link! People must look at HRC years of service to our nation and our world. She is no phony in this mission in her life. This is the real HRC.
I was searching for this link-thanks!!!
Its incredible to read the vicious attacks (in comments section) made on HRC on this link.Horrible anger…Why? The truth hurts and sometimes all that Obama supporters can do is lash out in anger . They can not dispute the facts. They wont go there because it is a losing battle so they attack her on anything else they can get their hands on.
Also, if people want to really evaluate the IMPACT of Sen Obama’s hollow votes in the legislature- I strongly suggest you read the following article-its one of the BEST ANALYSES out there.
NO MATTER WHO YOU VOTE FOR IN NOVEMBER- PLEASE read this article first if you want to get a better understanding of what an opportunist Sen Obama really is and how much does he really care for our country. LOOK AT HIS VOTING RECORD- IT DOES NOT LIE!!!
http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/The_Obama_Craze_Count_Me_Out_5413.html
Interesting article athy. You’re right, actions speak louder than words. Obama’s votes and non votes (present) conflict with his flowery rhetoric. Time for people to wake up from the kool aide haze.
backtrack barack can not see any one but himself.
he is not capable of understanding human rights violations unless it happens to him.
Watch how he treats people. Unless they are of some use to him they do not count in his world.
he dislikes America and the American People.
he will use his supporters and then discard them like trash.
America and the world can not afford this sicko anywhere near the whitehouse.
COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS
PUMA RULES
thank you for this piece dak, this is lost in all his hype. his yearning to get the Chicago Olympics outweighs any pretense about his caring for the atrocities committed by China against any voice of protest and against Tibet and its people and the Buddhist monks..
and how does PELOSI rationalize this move by Uhhbama? she wanted to have Bush boycott the game opening, but it is okay to spend 5 mill promoting it?
I refuse to watch the Beijing Olympics! Mia Farrow wrote an article about this just the other day.
What a disgrace that they were allowed the Olympics in the first place. What with their murderous tactics, poisoning of the environment and the genocide of the Tibetan people - why give them the Olympics to host?
They can go to hell!
I think of the Olympics as Switzerland, aka as neutral territory. The athletes who train all their lives deserve a politics-free zone. That said, the host country is always under more scrutiny for things like human rights violations etc. when the games arrive at their doorstep and China is no different.
Optimists look at the 2008 Summer Olympics in China as a positive step towards opening a mutual dialog between the Chinese and the world. They will surely put on a good show. Sometimes going through motions leads to real change. (Except in BOs case, he can practice all he wants but he’ll never get to Carnegie Hall.) One hopes this will be the case with China.
Obama has a right to buy air time on NBC; and, Bush made a good decision to attend the opening ceremony.
What I have a problem with is this: As BHOs press agent par excellance - NBC is probably not telling the whole story about BHOs media buy. He’s prob. getting “comped” big time. If he bought $5 mil in ad spots, it’s prob. worth twice that.
The hoopla surrounding his campaign and how the media turned politics into a ratings bonanza and a plus for their advertisers is unprecedented and has been obvious from the outset.
NBC is creating demand for “politics as entertainment” with their advertisers who want to capture the most-desired 18-34 y.o. audience. This matches the Olympic viewing audience perfectly.
For NBC this is a very tidy sponsorship deal that will please their advertisers and that’s ALL they care about.
PUMAs can and should continue to boycott MSM and their advertisers in proportion to their offenses which for this PUMA means: I’ll hang on every minute of Olympics coverage and mute the ads.
We owe our athletes that much.
There are plenty of venues for protesting China’s human rights violations, BHO and his Gang of Four and the media for that matter.
Once again McCain shows he has the balls to stand up for what’s right. And Obama… nothing more than a shill.
And I’m tired of people who keep saying that Bush is “agreeing” with Obama about timetables and McCain wants to prolong the war. McCain never wanted a prolonged war and the only reason Obama’s timetables are even getting traction is because of the successes of the surge.
I find it frustrating that Obama could criticize McCain, Clinton, Edwards and others for voting the war and being wrong. Yet when he’s wrong about something (the surge STRATEGY), he refuses to admit it.
[…] should NOT be rewarded with Money or Prestige! Posted on July 28, 2008 by dianej Dakinkat2’s blog rasies an important questions, ”Aren’t the progressives supposed to be the ones […]
Great blog.
The top picture is a LIE. It was a picture taken in 2001 for a MOVIE called TOUCH.
“This is not an uncommon ‘tactical move’ from the Chinese government, as could be seen on the back-cover of the 2003 annual TCHRD Report. This photo was apparently made when soldiers were ordered to put on robes to play as actors in a movie.”
Chinese army changed to new uniform in 2007. Here is the link.
http://cimg2.163.com/cnews/2007/7/19/2007071917401241796.jpg
China is a human right’s violator and puts pressure on Nepal to arrest all Tibetans threatening the idea of “one china”. This is something that I notice you also blog on … China’s international propaganda movement to eradicate Tibetans, those who practice Falun Gong, and intellectuals that disagree with their regime is well documented. While the picture may have been passed to me in bad faith, the message stands as well as Ang Dawa’s experience.
China has been pressuring Nepal to suppress any one who disagrees with the one china policy.
Obama is NOT trying to help the chinese. Obama is paying back NBC and MSNBC for all their fine work during the primary.. Just wait and see how he pays them for the general election if he wins.
Which means they’ll still get the high ratings, which is how they sell ads.
Obama TOTALLY refused to join in on Hillary’s call to boycott the games. He was more concerned with not making waves so that he could secure the games for Chicago in 2016. I wrote about this sorry assed man’s willingness to ignore genocide for a chance to get the games in Chicago. He danced around this issue like only smarmy Him can do:
http://uppitywoman08.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/obamas-boycott-dilemma-genocide-vs-chicago-games-2016/
And now he makes a huge advertising buy besides. The games, death and torture brought to you by Barack Obama. What’s a few dead bodies if Barack Obama can run some ads. Barack Obama is without conscience and any words from him are just that: Just Words.
Sorry dakinikat, you have been deceived by your buddhist monk friend and by the so-called friend who claimed to have taken the picture of Chinese soldiers “right after the riot”. This picture has been bandied around for quite a while now, and as Sharlene said, is a lie and a hoax. Here’s a text from the ICT:
“April 3rd, 2008 International Campaign for Tibet (ICT)
ICT does not regard this photo as credible evidence of Chinese soldiers disguising themselves as Buddhist monks during unrest in Lhasa last month. This image is most likely from a movie set in which soldiers dressed as monks to serve as extras. ICT is in possession of similar images dating from 2001.
In recent weeks images showing soldiers in Tibet carrying monks’ robes have been distributed widely across the internet, with some commentators claiming they provide evidence that Chinese soldiers disguised themselves as Buddhist monks during unrest in Lhasa last month. ICT does not regard the images as credible evidence of this claim. Similar images, of soldiers carrying monks’ robes in the Jokhang, are in ICT’s possession, taken during a film shoot in Lhasa which involved soldiers appearing as monks. These current images are likely to be the same - in recent years soldiers have been hired to play monks in both Chinese propaganda movies and in mainstream foreign films - for instance, Michelle Yeoh’s ‘The Touch’, shot in Lhasa in 2001.
The images were initially published in an article by Gordon Thomas in Canada Free Press on March 21 but the article was quickly taken off Canada Free Press’s website. Further background information on the circumstances of the article can be found at:
http://thinkpossible.gaia.com/blog/2008/4/dharma_or_deception_chinese_soldiers_dressed“
Even if the picture at the top is part of a movie, then this does not remove the major argument. It is well-documented that China is a human rights abuser. Thousands of monks and nuns have disappeared. Three senior most Lamas were said to have ’suicided’ in March. There is not only the issue with Tibetans but those who are part of the sect called the Falun Gong.
China has systematically tried to wipe out the Tibetan culture and practices. It has used extreme measures to stop access to anything on the internet that resembles freedom of thought.
The basic message stands. Beijing’s human rights violations should not be rewarded. Obama’s ad buys are supporting a show put on by a repressive regime. John McCain is meeting with victims of that regime.
Nepal has been caving in to pressure to arrest all Tibetan protestors. Just today, they arrested more. China is placing pressure on its neighbors to contain its Tibetan exiles while it puts on its show to gain prestige and money.
even Britney Spears is boycotting the Beijing Olympics. Need I say more? Can not the future leader of the free world do more?
I would think Obama would be kissing the Dalai Lama’s feet, since they both like to play the victim.
Yep, politics has been turned on its head this election cycle.
Your comment about progressives supporting human rights is well taken. Apparently, when human rights get in the way of your own goals, then human rights lose out. I am very cynical of so-called progressives anymore. Many progressives are no better than their far right-wing opponents that they continually rail about. They appear to be of the mindset as George Bush in that “you’re either with us or against us”. They abhor compromise. This just reinforces my belief that no extreme in politics is good. Give me a moderate voice any day.
What say you progressives to the repression committed by the communists in China against the Tibetans? Will you stand with the oppressed? Speak louder because the world can’t hear you! Your current actions are abysmal.
Chinese authorities must let UN human rights experts and independent observers into Tibet to investigate the human rights situation. If they have nothing to hide then why not?
I also think they have to immediately release any Tibetans detained for taking part in a peaceful protest, like ones in support for the Dalai Lama or the independence of Tibet.
Check out Amnesty International’s website - http://uncensor.com.au/ and take action on China’s human rights issues.