Journey of Disharmony

The ceremonial relaying of the Olympic Flame from Olympia to the site of  the games is the brainchild of none other than Joseph Goebbels. That's right folks, the whole torch thing was a Nazi good idea. I only mention this because of  this controversy surrounding the current Journey of Harmony, which has met some resistance by the rest of the world in light of China's treatment of Tibet.

Some people worry that the violence that has confronted the latest edition of the flaming tour will crush a sacred tradition. Most people don't know that the whole torch thing originated with the 1936 Berlin Games--you know, the one's that was closed to Jews. The United States considered boycotting  the games, but then Germany put a couple of Jewish names on its athletic roster, not that they were allowed to compete. In the United States, Jewish organizations staged rallies against the German Olympics and two Jewish-American competitors abstained from competing.

That's the trouble with boycotts, the reason for the boycott never changes, but athletes pay the price by not competing.  The Olympics will survive this, and so will the torch relay. But before we become teary-eyed about  the whole process, it's good to remember how it started. By the way, the  Berlin Olympics were also the first games to be televised live, albeit only in Berlin and Potsdam.