Got Torch? No, You Didn't.

Somebody asked me the other day why there should be political protests of the Beijing Olympics, rather than leaving them be as a sporting event. Short answer: opportunity and attention. When the eyes of the world are on a country with such an abysmal human rights record, particularly when they're attempting to bolster their global image, it's a unique opportunity to shed light on the other side of the story.

The Olympics have been politicized ever since Hitler refused to put a gold medal around Jesse Owens' neck at the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin. Appropriate or not, it's a world stage like no other.

The thing to scratch your head about, if anything, is that America has absolutely zero moral right to call the Chinese out for human rights abuses (we're living on Native American land, don't forget, while they're living on reservations if they weren't eradicated, and people are currently whiling away their days at Gitmo as I type), but nonetheless we still have the moral responsibility. Protests like this are likely to spur people in power to put more pressure on the Chinese government in ways individuals simply can't.

As for the San Francisco torch run itself, fearing massive confrontations, the powers that be decided to pull a full-blown bait-and-switch, publishing a route, saying it might change, then changing it "at the last minute". And boy what a ruse ... elaborate, expensive, convincing, and very disappointing for the people who really wanted to see it. They did an excellent job of it, but I shudder to think of the cost.

Admittedly, it was smart to deceive everybody in that a) the protesters got to protest, b) the torch got to run, c) the cops had significantly fewer heads they needed to crack, and d) San Francisco suddenly became a big "where the fuck's the torch" game, pitting the media outlets' live coverage capabilities against each other in grand fashion. Everybody won, except those families and kids all dressed up and performing at McCovey Cove and down the fake torch route, waving flags, all happy and proud. Those folks? They got royally screwed. And that? Sucks.

Of course, undaunted, the protesters protested away ... and the media was there, awaiting the big confrontation with the very scary rows of tightly-wound riot police. Unfortunately for the protesters, they had to find other excuses to get violent ... which meant there wasn't any violence of note. According to the official reports, the total number of arrests was in the 10's or less, and violent confrontations about the same ... just some pushing and shoving.

But still, lacking an actual torch at which to aim their five zillion cameras, the media covered the protests instead, and everybody's message got out. So the City danced a nice little dance: they allowed free speech, without lighting the fuse of what was obviously a potentially explosive situation.

Interestingly, I was struck by the massive numbers of pro-Chinese supporters on the streets. Many were apparently bused in by the Chinese consulate and other pro-Chinese business groups, but many more came of their own accord. They all carried very large, very uniform Chinese flags, meaning they were supplied by an official source. To a one, these folks were all very, legitimately enthusiastic, which goes to show that patriotism is as binding as it is blinding. Hmmmm ... sounds famiiiiliar.

After it all went down, I listened to Mayor Newsom's post-mortem radio interview and I kept saying to myself over and over "bullshit". I believe he totally lied about it being a last minute decision to change the route as dramatically as they did because "the police couldn't guarantee everybody's safety". While I had thought (and still do) that it was a good decision overall, his statement angered me not only because it was utterly disingenuous and self-serving, but it was just an obvious lie.

There's no way the police can guarantee people's safety at any protest ... protesters are, by nature, angry, volatile and unpredictable ... you think SFPD isn't used to handling them? And there's no way they'd be able to make a split-second decision to magically reroute this whole phalanx of police and support vehicles to Van Ness and Pine (why there of all places, right?), creatively think to head up to the Golden Gate Bridge via Bay Street, and then whisk it along 19th Avenue right to the airport and outta town ... meanwhile magically securing this entire new route with the wave of a wand. Sorry, no. They had the bait and switch planned all along, and the original published route was an elaborate ruse from the get-go.

Why? The police don't do impromptu in the face of a predictable foe when they control the game, folks. They just. don't. The least Newsom could do is nut up and show us enough respect to tell the truth. I guess that's pretty naive, though. He knows it'll all blow over after the next news cycle and be forgotten.

And by the way, I'm actually a fan of the mayor ... I have friends in his administration, and they (including Gavin himself) have been good to me ... but he definitely just dropped a small notch in my esteem (I'm sure he's crying in his beer club soda). But alas, this is what ultimately happens the closer one gets to higher office.