Well the Olympic Games are going to Beijing.
For those who subscribe to rationalization, I suppose the argument that this will "open up" China can be made. Of course after some 500 years of western attempts to open up China I have my doubts that a few no-nonsense rounds of synchronized swimming will do the trick.

China apparently did try to tune in to the delicate sensibilities of human rights advocates. As proof of this, they tabled plans to use Tiennamen Square (the site of the 1997 massacre) as the venue for beach volleyball. This would be tantamount to Washington D.C. hosting the skeet shooting competition inside Ford's Theater.

But my favorite headline in the whole deal appeared on the day after Beijing had been awarded the games. Seems some who demonstrated their opposition had been "detained" for espousing their views. That'll teach them.

I was reminded of yet another Ambrose Bierce column from the 1880's that is laced with irony, especially in the face of most recent events. He was writing about the activities of the "Kearneys" as they'd come to be called. These were a group of vigilantes, largely Irish in ethnic composition, headed by a man named Dennis Kearney. They took it upon themselves the task of ridding San Francisco of its Chinese citizenry.

The Kearneys were known for their midnight raids on Chinatown when burning, pillaging and general torment of the Chinese was the object of the evening.

Bierce reported that early one such evening, the vigilantes came upon a hovel and entered the crude basement in search of things to destroy. Pitifull hidden under some tarps, they found a crude printing press that still had a few of the bulletins it had printed that day stuck to it's bed. The bulletins warned other Chinese that the Kearneys were planning a raid that night and to take whatever precautions for self-defense were necessary.

Bierce said that the Kearneys grew so infuriated at their discovery that they smashed the press, burned the hovel, and proceeded down the street to continue what they'd been doing.

I think that is the same modus operandi the Chinese are likely to adopt over human rights issues and anti-government demonstrations. They will no doubt be so embarrassed by such incidents that they will do everything possible to "detain" everyone involved, even those who report the events.

The spectre of a thousand dissenters holding FREE SCOTT HAMILTON signs while chanting "Where is Donna Devarona?" is chilling to contemplate.