Re: Shanghai Incident

On Nov 14, 1:33 pm, Adam Beneschan <a...@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 13, 5:55 am, BBO expert <n...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

goldstarsteve wrote:
IMHO its a pity they mixed there politics with bridge - do you agree?

Hell, no. I have a lot of respect for people who wear their politics on
their sleeves - even if their politics are wrong. They had an opportunity
to make a statement, knowing it could get them into trouble, and they took
it. Brava!

No "brava" from me. What strikes me is that the statement they made
was so pointless. If they had made a statement that could have
expressed an opinion on something that actually has current relevance,
like "We Support Hillary" or "We Support Giuliani" or "We Support the
Writers' Guild" [yes, I know this took place before the strike] or
"Down With Ahmedinejad" or even something like "Free Tibet"---which
last *really* could have gotten them in trouble given where they
were---at least I could understand it. I agree with Raija and others
that it would be inappropriate, but I could at least understand it.
But "We Didn't Vote For George Bush"? So what? This really can't
make an impact on anything, given that Bush is not running for re-
election. It sounds more like a gratuitous personal attack on an
unpopular present, mixed in with smugness, sort of like "Look how
smart we are, we didn't vote for the guy who turned out to be so
unpopular". So the "statement" they were risking getting into trouble
over was, at least the way I see things, pretty pathetic.

-- Adam

Oh, I think it says a lot. None of the men's teams there could have
said "We didn't vote for Bush" unless they decided to lie about it. I
think it was the right approach to let some of the world know that
many Americans share their opinions about Bush and they even did what
they could four years ago to stop him. This was the only time to make
such a statement and have an impact. Bravo ladies and the USBF should
be defending their right to say what they want even if they don't
agree with them. The ladies represented the USA, not Russia or some
other state that would have complete control of what their members say
or do. I'm sure glad there were no bridge players at the Boston Tea
Party. Our country is built on protests and stating opinions without
fear. Yes, the USBF can and probably will be asses about the whole
affair. Why don't they just use their right of free speach and let the
ladies know they didn't appreciate their making a statement on the
medals podium and let it go at that. That would set the right tone of
letting them know that not everyone agreed with their actions but it
would also send a message about the freedoms in the USA.

JB

.

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