Time to extinguish the Olympic flame—for good!

I’m jumping on the bandwagon-its time for President Bush to announce a U.S. Boycott of the upcoming Beijing games. Protests in Europe and now San Francisco have disrupted the traditional relay of the Olympic torch.

IOC President Jacques Rogge is upset that such a great event has been marred. The torch is supposed to be about “unity and harmony.”

What a load of crap! The Olympics, and the IOC are about money. Why else would they allow one of the most oppressive nations on the planet to host this event? You can rest assured, NBC WON’T air essays on China’s human rights record, the happenings in Tibet, or the thousands of people displaced so that the Games can run smoothly.

WATCH VIDEO OF PROTESTORS AS THEY ATTEMPT TO PUT OUT THE OLYMPIC TORCH AFTER THE JUMP...

But this event, supposed to bring nations together, has a history of doing otherwise. As far back as 1936, held in Berlin, ‘brotherhood’ was the last thing on anyone’s mind. Hitler’s Nazi party removed “Jews not welcome” signs from around Berlin. Two U.S. sprinters, both Jewish-Sam Stoller and legendary sportscaster Marty Glickman -were removed from the relay team the day before the event. This was done with the full cooperation of the U.S. team-making the matter more disgusting.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE 1936 BERLIN GAMES

Once the Cold War began following World War II, an US vs. THEM mentality filled the games as East and West factions cheered for their sides. DON’T forget the 1972 massacre of 11 members of the Israeli Olympic team by the PLO.

In recent years, professionals-including our own Dream Team NBA basketball stars-have sullied the wholesome, amateur status the Olympics. Politics, which caused large scale boycotts at the 1990 Moscow and ’84 Los Angeles games, has reared its ugly head again.

So I say, let’s end the Games for good. There are plenty of ‘world championships’ and amateur festivals around. But of course, it won’t happen.

The Good Book says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.”Its’s money alone that’s allowing the IOC and NBC to look the other way and pitch their traveling circus tent in Beijing. On a world scale, the Olympics are a drop in the bucket. The people of Darfur could live forever on the money NBC will spend to house their TV crews. But it would be nice to see a statement made, by our President and the rest of the world, that some things just won’t be tolerated.