17 wasted days

The Beijing Olympics are over (you wouldn't know it, thanks to NBC's tape delays), and if any athletes took the opportunity to speak out about China's continued civil rights violations, we didn't hear about it. Lots of silent, smiling athletes accepting their medals and "minding their own business," "trying to avoid politics and focus on their sports." Spineless. Foolish. Because they could have used their platform to encourage change and, as many are self-absorbed (their daily routines requiring them to be this way to some extent), they could have had headlines and respect like what was given to Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Peter Norman in 1968. These athletes took a lot of criticism at the time, but in the years since they've become civil rights heros. And a move like this in Beijing would have been relatively low-risk. China's brutality is well-documented. It didn't need to happen on the medal stand, even. There were microphones thrust into the faces of hundreds of athletes.

So, thanks, Michael Phelps. Bolt. Lebron and Kobe. Lisa Leslie. Bryan Clay. LeShawn Merritt. Kerri Walsh. Walter Dix. Vincent Hancock. Venus and Serena. You did what you came to do. We're all so proud of you.