When a global terrorist asks Homer Simpson to choose a target, either France or Italy, and Homer chooses France, the terrorist quips, "Funny. Nobody ever picks Italy." Indeed, it is just as rare to find THE SCRAPBOOK taking sides with the French. But that's where we find ourselves after a recent blowup over whether Paris or Beijing would be the better site for the 2008 Olympic Games. Following harsh criticism for its human rights violations (including Mike Murphy's piece in the March 19 WEEKLY STANDARD), Beijing fired back by improbably slamming fellow contender Paris. A recent People's Daily reported that in Paris, "Certain urban areas leave something to be desired when it comes to cleanliness. In particular, errant dogs and rabid dogs are increasingly numerous. If this plague isn't controlled, it could harm their Olympics 2008 bid."
Umm . . . how to put this? Let's just say, if THE SCRAPBOOK were giving Beijing PR advice on how to get the Olympics, inviting comparisons of the treatment of dogs in France with their treatment in China would not make our list of helpful hints.
Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, 52 House members, including Dick Gephardt and Tom DeLay, are proposing a resolution condemning Beijing's application to host the 2008 games, saying that China's "extrajudicial killings, use of torture, forced confessions, arbitrary arrest and detention of prisoners" make it unworthy to play host to the games. Let us hope the International Olympic Committee gets the message.