By Joe LAURIA

The International Federation of Felines (FIFe) on Tuesday ordered a ban on the importation of Russian-bred cats, presumably anywhere in the world.

“No cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia, regardless of, which organization issued its pedigree,” the FIFe board said in a statement.

The board said the ban was imposed because of events in Ukraine:

“The FIFe Executive Board is shocked and horrified that the army of the Russian Federation invaded the Republic of Ukraine and started a war. Many innocent people died, many more are wounded and hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are forced to flee their homes to save their lives. We can all witness the destruction and chaos caused by this unprecedented act of aggression.

On top of that our Ukrainian fellow feline fanciers are desperately trying to take care of their cats and other animals in these trying circumstances. We are extremely happy that many members of FIFe clubs bordering Ukraine, such as Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, are lending a helping hand to their Ukrainian breeder friends.

The Board of FIFe feels it cannot just witness these atrocities and do nothing, so it decided that as of 01.03.2022:

• No cat bred in Russia may be imported and registered in any FIFe pedigree book outside Russia, regardless of, which organization issued its pedigree.
• No cat belonging to exhibitors living in Russia may be entered at any FIFe show outside Russia, regardless of, which organization these exhibitors hold their membership in.”

So far the International Canine Association has said nothing about Russian dogs. Russian birds cannot be stopped from flying over the border.

Apparently taking no public position on Ukraine — no matter one’s walk in life — is making oneself an accomplice to Russia’s actions. It demonstrate the kind of pressure felt by ordinary people to not be seen as siding with Russia, even if that means not importing Russian cats.

It also highlights U.S. impunity for massive, unprovoked attacks on other nations, such as Iraq in 2003, that provoked no such public outcry in the West. On the contrary, dumping French wine and renaming French fries “Freedom Fries” was the outcry against France trying to stop that disastrous invasion.

‘The United States of Amnesia’ – Gore Vidal https://t.co/vfyqc7weEJ

— Joe Lauria (@unjoe) February 28, 2022

Sporting and Cultural Bans

The cat ban follows voluntary actions against Russian cultural and sporting organizations and individuals that fall outside the scope of U.S. and European sanctions.  On Monday Russian orchestra conductor Valery Gergiev was fired from his job at the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also been banned orchestras in Rotterdam, Vienna and at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Warner Brothers has delayed releases in Russia; Spotify has closed its office in Russia; the Glasgow Film Festival has dropped two Russian film and the Venice Biennale has removed Russia’s pavilion among other cultural bans.

A university in Italy even tried to ban a course on Fyodor Dostoevsky, but reversed itself after an outcry.  “Not only is being a living Russian wrong in Italy today, but also being a dead Russian, who was sentenced to death in 1849 because he read a forbidden thing. That an Italian university would ban a course on an author like Dostoevsky is unbelievable,” said Paolo Nori, a writer who is teaching the course.

The North American-based National Hockey League, which has hundreds of Russian players, announced that it was severing its business ties to the Russian Federation:

“The National Hockey League condemns Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and urges a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible. Effective immediately, we are suspending our relationships with our business partners in Russia and we are pausing our Russian language social and digital media sites. In addition, we are discontinuing any consideration of Russia as a location for any future competitions involving the NHL.”

Russian-born NHL players have reported receiving threats. Dan Milstein, an agent who represents most of the Russians playing in the league, spoke of one of his players being verbally attacked on the street. “He was yelled at to, ‘Get back to your country,’ and was called a Nazi and other words,” Milstein told ESPN. “Clients are being called Nazis. People are wishing that they are dead. These are human beings. These are hockey players. These are guys contributing to our society, paying millions of dollars in taxes to support the U.S. and Canada and doing all kinds of charity work back home. Stop looking at them as aggressors. Stop being racist.”

In its statement, the NHL defended its Russian-born athletes. “We also remain concerned about the well-being of the players from Russia, who play in the NHL on behalf of their NHL Clubs, and not on behalf of Russia,” it said. “We understand they and their families are being placed in an extremely difficult position.”

The International Ice Hockey Federation has banned Russia and Belarus from participating in this year’s world championship.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) has recommended that athletes from Russia and Belarus be barred from its events.

The International Football Association (FIFA) has suspended Russia and barred it from competing at the World Cup later this year in Qatar.

The video game maker EA Sports has gone so far as to remove Russian teams from its soccer and ice hockey games.

IOC Executive Board recommends no participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officialshttps://t.co/XZyLIi11XR

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) February 28, 2022

Media Shut Downs

The European Union and Britain have removed English-language Russian broadcasters RT and Sputnik from the airwaves and cable networks and Google has removed their channels from YouTube in Europe.  Hackers have shut down Russian government ministry websites, including the Kremlin’s, making it difficult to access transcripts of Russian government statements.  Only the Russian state newswire TASS, appears to be functioning normally, although it too was hacked on Monday. Signed with the logo of the hacktivist group Anonymous, the following message appeared on its website:

“Dear citizens. We urge you to stop this madness, do not send your sons and husbands to certain death. Putin makes us lie and puts us in danger. We were isolated from the whole world, they stopped buying oil and gas. In a few years we will live like in North Korea. What is it for us? To put Putin in the textbooks? This is not our war, let’s stop it! This message will be deleted, and some of us will be fired or even jailed. But we can’t take it anymore.”

Russia intervened militarily last Thursday in the eight-year old civil war in Ukraine in which ethnic Russians have been under attack after resisting the U.S.-backed 2014 coup in Kiev.

Journalism 101: Two sides to every story.

How can the Russian side to this story be reported if Russian media is shut down by Western governments?

Only one side is allowed to be told. #censorship

— Joe Lauria (@unjoe) February 28, 2022

consortiumnews.com

Despite the worldwide boycott movement against awarding the 1936 Olympics to Berlin, they finally took place, bigger and more brilliant than ever before. Dictator Hitler stood with them in the summit of his international recognition.

The crimes of Hitler’s government were internationally known since the beginning of 1933. They began immediately after the seizure of power in January 1933 with the arrest and murder of political opponents and their incarceration in concentration camps. This mainly affected communists, social democrats and other leftists. All parties except the NSDAP were banned. After May 1, 1933, the trade unions were smashed and expropriated.

The Nazis excluded Jews, Sinti and leftists from sports clubs. The two Jewish sports associations, Maccabi and Schild – they had about 350 member clubs in Germany in 1935 with a total of 40,000 members – were no longer allowed to use sports facilities. It was also clear that there should be no Jews on the German Olympic team.

Alternative Games in Barcelona

In 1931, two years before Hitler came to power, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had awarded the 1936 Olympics to Germany – Winter and Summer Games.

In 1933, after Hitler came to power, only two governments drew consequences: the Soviet government and the Republican government elected in Spain in 1931. For 1936, they prepared the second People’s Olympics in Barcelona with workers’ sports federations from 17 countries; the first People’s Olympics had taken place here in 1931. But when the 2,000 participants arrived in July 1936, the fascist coup of General Francisco Franco began, supported by supplies from U.S. corporations such as Texaco, General Motors and Chrysler – despite the neutrality decided by the U.S. Congress.

Sports federations from several European countries called for a boycott of the Berlin Olympics. The largest athletic association at the time, Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in the U.S., under President Jeremiah Mahoney, also called for the boycott.

Alternative Jewish Games in New York and Tel Aviv

In May 1933, Rabbi Stephen Wise organized demonstrations in New York with the American Jewish Congress. The AAU organized a World Festival of Workers’ Athletes there. It was supported by Jewish civic leaders, including New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, New York State Governor Herbert Lehman, and the Jewish Labor Committee and the Anti-Nazi League. But the major Jewish organizations American Jewish Committee and B’nai B’rith held back on criticizing the Nazis. On August 15 and 16, 1936, the World Festival in New York drew only 400 participants.

In 1935, the second Jewish sports games, the Maccabiad, had taken place in Tel Aviv, with 1,350 participants from 27 countries. Most of the athletes, however, did not return to their home countries because of the advance of fascism in Europe – in Spain, Hungary, Austria, and Poland, for example.

Alternative Winter Spartaics in Norway

In Norway, leftist organizations put on a Winter Spartakiade in 1936, with athletes from the Soviet Union, Sweden, and Finland. But the world press, such as the New York Times, reported only from the simultaneous Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

In Austria, six of the eight Jewish athletes, including swimming champion Judith Deutsch, refused to participate in the Berlin Games: They were banned for life; Judith Deutsch emigrated to Tel Aviv as late as 1936.

But there were several Jewish U.S. stars, such as weightlifter David Mayer and Samuel Balter of the winning basketball team, and sprinters Samuel Staller and Marty Glickman, who wanted to be in Berlin. Harold Abrahams, a Jewish gold medalist in the 100 meters at the 1924 Games in Paris, lobbied for Berlin as president of the British Athletic Association along with Defense Minister Thomas Inskip.

The IOC: Nobles, Generals, Entrepreneurs

The organizers of the traditional games proved more powerful. Berlin became the venue.

The 1936 International Olympic Committee (IOC) included princes from the monarchies of Denmark, Japan, and Liechtenstein. Colonels, generals, field marshals, and grand admirals came from Germany, Italy, Poland, South Africa, Yugoslavia, and the Netherlands.

Both IOC members from the United States were entrepreneurs – Chicago construction tycoon Avery Brundage and real estate speculator William Garland. From France came Marquis de Polignac, head of the Pommery & Greno champagne cellars. From Germany came Karl Ritter von Halt, a member of the board of the Deutsche Bank, a member of the NSDAP and of the SS circle of friends Heinrich Himmler who was fond of donations. From Sweden came Sigfrid Edström, head of the electronics company ASEA.

The noblemen and their families, such as the British IOC members Clarence Napier Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare of Duffryn (=Lord Aberdare) and the 6th Marquess of Exeter (=Lord Burghley), were furthermore not only owners of large estates, but were also involved in companies. This was also the case with Baron Henri de Baillet-Latour, the president of the IOC; he belonged to one of the ten richest families in Belgium, which held shares in the largest bank, Société Générale, and other companies.

Decision mainly by the U.S.

The IOC and National Olympic Committees stifled the boycott movements. Quick commitments for the Games came from the fascist Axis powers of Italy and Japan, as well as from the fascist-friendly ruled states of Finland, Poland, Hungary, South Africa, Portugal, Romania, and Austria.

The 1932 Los Angeles Olympics had set new standards because of the number of participants, the records, the size of the stadium and the other modern sports facilities. The participation or non-participation of the successful sporting nation of the United States – “the world’s greatest sporting powerhouse ” – would determine the significance of the 1936 Games.

The president of the American Olympic Committee (AOC) was Avery Brundage. His company owed its rise to government contracts during World War 1. He was the largest developer and real estate investor in Chicago. He had skyscrapers, luxury apartments and hotels built, including a manufacturing plant for Ford.

President of the U.S. Olympic Committee: ardent anti-Semite

Brundage admired Hitler and showed himself to be an avowed anti-Semite: “No Jews are allowed in my club in Chicago either. ” He saw the boycott movement as a “Jewish-Communist conspiracy. ” IOC President Baillet-Latour also supported Brundage’s anti-Semitism: “Jews usually start shouting before they have a real reason to do so,” he wrote to Brundage.

At the initiative of IOC President Baillet-Latour, Brundage was elected to the IOC. His U.S. colleague on the IOC, Charles Sherill, a brigadier general in World War 1, a lawyer in New York, and U.S. ambassador to Argentina and Turkey, was enthusiastic about fascism. In the New York Times on March 4, 1933, Sherrill, like other U.S. industrialists, praised Hitler as the best German politician. Likewise, Sherill had previously hailed Mussolini as the new statesman who could restore order in Europe with his system in place of the incompetent democracy.

Hitler Bribes the Founder of the Olympic Games

To keep the founder of the Olympic Games and honorary president of the IOC, Pierre de Coubertin in line, Hitler granted him an “honorary gift” of 10,000 Reichsmarks (about $100,000 today) shortly before the opening of the Games. Hitler had already offered him a life pension in 1935 if he supported the hosting of the Games in Berlin.

Swedish IOC members also played an important role in favor of Berlin. Clarence von Rosen, royal equerry married to a wealthy U.S. industrialist’s daughter, was in-law to Herman Goering’s wife Carin. Brother Eric von Rosen founded Sweden’s fascist movement, and Clarence joined in.13 The second Swedish IOC member was Sigfrid Edström: the head of the Swedish electronics company ASEA did good business with the German Reich.

Churchill for Berlin

Two British IOC members, Lords Aberdare and Burghley, also lobbied for Berlin. Sir Noel Curtis Bennet, who was in favor of boycott, found no support.14 Winston Churchill appeased: communism is worse than Hitler!

French Champagne King for Berlin

After the German Wehrmacht occupied the demilitarized Rhineland in March 1936, French sports officials called for a boycott of the Summer Games, including Marc Bellin de Coteau, president of the International Hockey Federation (HIF), and Jules Rimet, president of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). For France, however, IOC member and champagne king Marquis de Polignac tipped the scales. France’s ambassador in Berlin, André Francois-Poncet, a lobbyist for French heavy industry, had already enthusiastically welcomed the Winter Games in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

Apartheid General for Berlin

Henry Nourse also had nothing against the Nazi regime, on the contrary. The IOC member from South Africa had distinguished himself as a lieutenant-colonel in the British colonial army under General Lord Kitchener during the Boer War (1899-1902): In concentration camps, Burian families and locals were starved to death, scorched earth tactics applied, and killing was indiscriminate. Nourse became the owner of South African gold and coal mines, where he was able to exploit blacks with state help – even before the formal legalization of apartheid after World War II.

None of them were swayed by the crimes of the Nazi regime, nor by the Nuremberg Race Laws passed in 1935, nor by Nazi Germany’s military support for Franco’s coup in the weeks leading up to the Games.

Mass enthusiasm and elite luxury

The Winter Games in the Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen took place undisturbed from February 6 to 16, 1936, while the Summer Games were held in Berlin from August 1 to 16, 1936.

At first, the Nazi newspapers Der Stürmer and the Völkischer Beobachter had agitated against Negroes and Jews, who had no place at the Olympics. But at the Winter Games in the Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, just as in Berlin, all signs with “For Jews forbidden” were removed, the demonized “Negro music” jazz was briefly permitted, and swastika flags waved cosmopolitanly to the international audience.

Token Jews

The U.S. member of the IOC, Charles Sherill, recommended to Hitler in two personal meetings how a few token Jews on the German Olympic team might reassure the international public. The Nazis followed Sherill’s recommendation: two “half-Jews” were added to the German team as token jews: In addition to ice hockey star Rudi Ball, it was fencer Helene Mayer: outwardly she resembled the ideal image of the blond Aryan woman and lived in the USA. At the award ceremony, she gave the Hitler salute in the stadium.

The newly built Olympic Stadium with 100,000 seats – modeled on the equally large stadium for the 1932 Games in Los Angeles – was the largest in Europe. It was surrounded by a huge parade ground, an Olympic village, spacious sports facilities for the various disciplines and with art exhibitions.

Richard Strauss, Evangelical Church, Leni Riefenstahl, Coca Cola …

In 1936, the Nazis invented the torch relay from ancient Greek Olympia across Europe, which has been customary since then. 3075 runners carried the torch through five countries to Berlin. The final runner was only found after three rounds of judging: Running style, physique and posture, hair and eye color as well as political attitude – everything had to be right.

The world-famous composer Richard Strauss created the Olympic anthem. Hitler’s sculptor Arno Breker contributed the sculptures of naked Aryan athletes: The Winner, The Decathlete. The Protestant Church held the opening mass for the IOC in the Berlin Cathedral. The light domes of Hitler’s favorite architect Albert Speer, developed for the NDSAP party rallies, also shone above the stadium.

Fanfares accompanied Hitler’s arrival, fights and award ceremonies. For the first time, competitions were televised. Corporations like Coca Cola appeared as sponsors. The IOC commissioned Hitler’s favorite director Leni Riefenstahl to make the official Olympic film, which was also made with the help of motorized cameras – including underwater cameras – that were new at the time.

Goebbels: “Italian Night” on Aryanized Property

Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and Field Marshal Hermann Göring vied for the favor of celebrities with lavish parties. Goebbels had an “Italian night” organized on his Aryanized property on Berlin’s Pfaueninsel (Isle of peacocks ).

Goering invited guests to his Prussian palace. At any one time, 1,000 guests were invited: Kings, European nobility, the diplomatic corps, the IOC, officials from the SS, NSDAP and the ministries, stars of stage and film, medal winners. Fireworks, dances with costumes from the ancient and Victorian eras were offered, fighter-bomber ace Ernst Udet showed his stunt tricks.

New York Times, Daily Express, Kölnische Zeitung

Hitler had declared that the games “strengthen the bonds of peace between nations. ” It was not only the German bourgeois media that were on Hitler’s course.

Thus the Kölnische Zeitung (It is still in the subtitle of the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, the present successor newspaper) wrote: “The greatest celebration that the new Germany is giving to all the peace-loving peoples of the world.” The Anglo-Saxon press, which shaped “world opinion,” also chimed in: “Greatest sports show in history” (New York Times), “wonderful change in the thinking of the German people” (Daily Express, London).

Avery Brundage fulfills all of Hitler’s wishes

Already at its meeting in the Hotel Adlon at the beginning of the Games on August 1, 1936, the IOC decided: the Games for 1940 would be awarded to Tokyo – regardless of Japan’s imperialist expansion in Korea, China and Taiwan. In 1939, the IOC awarded the Winter Games to Germany again. Brundage and the IOC fulfilled all of Hitler’s wishes.

Because of the excellent, also economic relations with the USA, Hitler’s Germany wanted to present itself in Washington by a considerably enlarged embassy: None other than the contractor Brundage was to get the contract for the new building in Washington.

Roosevelt dismissed Ambassador Critical of the Nazis

In 1938, after the Games, the Roosevelt administration replaced its previous ambassador to Berlin, William Dodd, who had been critical of the Nazis, with Hugh Wilson, a Hitler admirer. The latter berated U.S. media as “Jewish-controlled” for occasionally being too critical of Germany’s treatment of Jews in the meantime.

Wilson, on the other hand, praised the Hitler government for working toward a “better future.” Hitler had “brought his people out of moral and economic despair and led them to pride and prosperity. ”

Churchill reiterated his appreciation of Hitler: “One can dislike Hitler and yet admire his patriotic achievement,” Churchill wrote in 1937. The dogged anti-Communist then worried whether Hitler might adopt the wrong tactics toward “Russia” and remain unsuccessful: “Will Hitler make the same mistake as Napoleon? ”

Churchill’s fear came true. Fighting and war in the same direction continued and continues to this day.

In line with its cultural and geopolitical biases, Western mass media has selective blinders, when it comes to criticizing the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Within this prism, the IOC meddling with the Belarusian athletics (track & field) staff and stated investigation of Russian state TV is quite okay.

The latter matter concerns derisive comments made about some Western LGBTQ athletes. In comparison, there’s no great call to investigate the (rhetorically put) U.S. state sponsored likes of Travis Tygart and Lilly King, making misleadingly negative remarks against Russian athletes.

The aforementioned Belarusian situation involves the treatment of a disgruntled sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, who openly complained about getting selected for a relay team – followed by her being ordered home. Thereafter, she claimed political suppression, which made her the lead world headline (not just sports) on the BBC, for at least a full day, if not more.

Prior to Tsimanouskaya being ordered home, her complaint was over a coaching decision, along with an assertion that Belarusian athletics isn’t well managed. There’re numerous coaches the world over, who wouldn’t take kindly to such manner – arguing that she was hindering the morale of the team.

Meantime, how many Belarusian Olympic athletes showed solidarity for Tsimanouskaya? How many of them fled Belarus? Belarus having some clear human rights problems doesn’t by default make her into a genuine political dissident.

I’m reminded of the balderdash written about Artemii Panarin, supposedly being threatened by the Russian government for his political views. To date, there has been no such scenario. Since Panarin’s stated political comments, the greatest threat to him seems to have occurred when he was crudely body checked during an NHL game, in the U.S. by a non-Russian player.

You Olympic historians out there will recall German long jumper Lutz Long, congratulating Jesse Owens after their competition at the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. Apparently, Long didn’t face any reprisal from the Nazi government.

In the spirit of sportsmanship, Ukraine’s Tokyo Olympic bronze medal winning high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh, hugged her Russian rival, Mariya Lasitskene, who won gold. That scene was a bit too much for the extreme nationalists with ties to the Kiev regime, who’ve openly criticized Mahuchikh. This criticism relates to the many Ukrainian citizens, who’ve close family and friends in Russia, while not having an anti-Russian outlook. Any IOC investigation on this particular?

At Tokyo, the all around individual rhythmic gymnastics competition, saw an upset, with Israeli Linoy Ashram, getting gold over the favorite Dina Averina. In Russia, there has been prominent criticism of the judging in that event – highlighting that Ashram committed some noticeable errors in her routine. On the flip side, some say Ashram performed the more difficult program. To no avail, Russia protested the decision.

My last article on the Tokyo Olympics drew this excerpted and slightly edited (without misrepresenting anything) reply from someone in Russia:

I am a patriot of my country. I don’t like a lot of things inside the country. But in which country is everything good? It’s especially bad that Russia does not know how to professionally deal with the misinformation of foreign media. Russia must learn to defend and attack in the media. Your help is huge. Thanks. I hope that many will change their negative perception of Russia.

In the West, it’s fashionable to portray Russians as cheats. Some years back, there was a U.S. aired commercial involving anti-Russian extraordinaire Bela Karolyi, being frustrated upon the sight of a depicted Russian judge. For the purpose of maintaining neutrality as much as possible in major international competitions, it’s commonplace to not have officials referee games involving their country.

Concerning neutrality, the World Anti-Doping Agency is headed by a Pole, Witold Banka, exhibiting an anti-Russian bias. Ditto the British head of World Athletics (track and field) Sebastian Coe. The nearly complete ban of Russian track and field athletes at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and quota of ten Russians in that sport at Tokyo benefited Poland and Britain, in conjunction with a prevailing anti-Russian bias in these two countries.

Pertaining to Russia’s participation at the rescheduled 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, there’ve been a number of arrogantly ignorant and hypocritical Anglo-American mass media commentary, which serve as a further indication of the warped state of establishment journalism.

One of numerous examples is Ian Birrell’s pompously titled August 1 inews.co.uk article “The Russian Olympic Committee Proves It: Tokyo 2020 Has Been Perverted by Money and Power“. In its About section, inews.co.uk claims to be “your essential daily briefing, covering everything you need to know about the things that matter – without jargon or bluster” adding that it’s “proudly independent and have no agenda when it comes to political disputes – but we won’t hesitate to call out injustice or wrongdoing when we see it, no matter who’s doing it.”

Contrary to Birrell’s rehashed BS, Russia is competing at Tokyo because much of the “state sponsored doping” charges made against it are dubious. Before a non-Russian hearing, Russia was able to point this out.

Delving further into this matter runs counter to the faulty image of deceitful Russians stealing glory from noble Anglo-American athletes. This observation isn’t intended to deny any Russian wrongdoing. Rather, it underscores an inaccurate generalization. It’s not as if Russia has denied any sports doping problem among some of its athletes.

The Russian government funding of a given entity doesn’t by default mean the former knows everything about what the latter is doing. It’s misguided to believe the Russian government has complete control over everything in Russia.

Russia didn’t get completely vindicated on competing in Olympic affiliated events. The ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) designation in place of Russia is an indication of a pious reality dominating some key aspects in international sports. The ROC label is clearly designed to collectively nation shame, with some hoping Russia would just not show up altogether.

The Russian Olympic participation in Tokyo is a blow to those who sought a complete ban of all Russian athletes. With the unfairness of collective guilt in mind, these very same anti-Russian advocates (like Dick Pound and Travis Tygart) appear to be quite reluctant to ever support a blanket ban against their fellow compatriots.

Birrell states it’s “highly unlikely, to put it mildly, that all their medal-winners have clean records.” To date, I’ve seen no conclusive evidence indicating that Russian Olympic athletes over the last five years have come under less scrutiny for drug testing. If anything, they rank as being among the most scrutinized of participants. Birrell’s political agenda is clear, with his inaccurately partisan references to Vladimir Putin, Crimea and Chechnya – subjects having nothing to do with Russia’s Olympic athletes.

Like Birrell, Henry Bushnell’s July 30 Yahoo article “Are Russian Drug Cheats at the Olympics? Here’s What We Know,” mentions the much discussed comments made by U.S. swimmer Ryan Murphy after losing the 200 meter backstroke to Evgeny Rylov. On the participation of Russians, Bushnell writes: “The question of whether they should, though, is a tricky one, because none of the 300-plus Russian athletes competing in Tokyo have been found guilty of doping. However, that doesn’t mean they aren’t guilty.”

At play is a blend of often unchallenged sore losers and bigoted hypocrisy. In politically correct circles, there’s an understandable outcry to use crime statistics to put African-Americans under greater scrutiny and suspicion. There’re plenty of non-Russian sports doping infractions. A number of other countries are ahead of Russia, when it comes to getting exemptions for using banned drugs.

Rhetorically put to Bushnell, how do we know for sure that non-Russian winners are clean? More pointedly, how do we know for sure Murphy is clean? Recall Carl Lewis moaning about Ben Johnson, who was eventually found to have cheated. Later on and under less drama, it was revealed that Lewis himself doped. Much unlike Johnson, the victorious Rylov doesn’t have a suspicious background, in terms of a dramatically changed appearance and athletic performance.

Murphy has since walked back his comments a bit – something seemingly beyond Sebastian Coe, the British head of the track and field (athletics) governing body. Coe brashly said Russia should consider itself lucky to have any Olympic track and field participants. In doing so, he’s further exhibiting a snide disdain for Russians. Specifically, the ones who’ve qualified and have been tested.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Russia is allowed a quota of only ten track and field athletes, regardless of how many well tested and event qualifying Russians there are. How ironic that quotas against some groups are considered bigoted unlike others.

Back in 2016, Coe lobbied for drug cheat Yulia Stepanova to compete at the Rio Olympics. He did no such advocacy for the clean gold medal contending Russian athletes (notably Yelena Isinbayeva and Maxim Subchenkov), who were banned from competition. After getting busted for doping, Stepanova spilled the beans on two of her countrywomen, who doped as well. Stepanova proceeded to participate in a factually challenged German aired propaganda film against Russian track and field athletes.

In a PBS NewsHour segment, the prominent African-American sociologist Harry Edwards, spoke to a sympathetic host about the adversity which athletes like Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka face. On a local TV news network, I watched an upbeat feature concerning the Jewish-American players on the Israeli Olympic baseball team.

Thanks to the unofficial censorship out there, my not for Anglo-American mass media kudos acknowledges the Russian Olympic athletes and patriotically responsible Russians at large, who’ve put up with the unjust attacks against them.

The downplaying of Russian participation at Pyeongchang, is seemingly done to spin the image of many Russian cheats being kept out. At the suggestion of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) closely vetted Russians for competition at the 2018 Winter Olympics. In actuality, the 2018 Russian Winter Olympic participation wasn’t so off the mark, when compared to past Winter Olympiads – something which (among other things) puts a dent into the faulty notion that Russia should be especially singled out for sports doping.

At the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Russia had its largest ever Winter Olympic contingent of 232, on account of the host nation being allowed a greater number of participants. The 168 Russian Winter Olympians at Pyeongchang is 9 less than the Russians who competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Going back further, Russian Winter Olympic participation in 2006 was at 190, with its 2002 contingent at 151, 1998 having 122 and 1994 (Russia’s first formal Winter Olympic appearance as Russia) 113.

The aforementioned Reuters piece references a “historian“, Bill Mallon, who is keen on using the 1992 Summer Olympic banning of Yugoslavia (then consisting of Serbia and Montenegro) as a legitimate basis to ban Russia from the upcoming Summer Olympics. In this instance, Alan Dershowitz’s periodic reference to the “if the shoe is on the other foot” test is quite applicable. Regarding Mallon, “historian” is put in quotes because his historically premised advocacy is very much incomplete and overly propagandistic.

For consistency sake and contrary to Mallon, Yugoslavia should’ve formally participated at the 1992 Summer Olympics. The Olympic banning of Yugoslavia was bogus, given that the IOC and the IOC affiliated sports federations didn’t ban the US and USSR for their respective role in wars, which caused a greater number of deaths than what happened in 1990s Bosnia. The Reuters article at issue references a United Nations resolution for sanctions against Yugoslavia, without any second guessing, in support of the preference (at least by some) to keep politics out of sports as much as possible.

Mallon casually notes that Yugoslav team sports were banned from the 1992 Summer Olympics, unlike individual Yugoslav athletes, who participated as independents. At least two of the banned Yugoslav teams were predicted to be lead medal contenders.

Croatia was allowed to compete at the 1992 Summer Olympics, despite that nation’s military involvement in the Bosnian Civil War. During the 1992 Summer and Winter Olympics, the former USSR participated in individual and team sports as the Unified Team (with the exception of the three former Soviet Baltic republics, who competed under their respective nation). With all this in mind, the ban on team sports from Yugoslavia at the 1992 Summer Olympics, under a neutral name, appears to be hypocritical and ethically challenged.

BS aside, the reality is that geopolitical clout (in the form of might making right), is what compels the banning of Yugoslavia, unlike superpowers engaged in behavior which isn’t less egregious. Although a major world power, contemporary Russia lacks the overall geopolitical influence of the USSR. Historian Stephen Cohen and some others, have noted that post-Soviet Russia doesn’t get the same (for lack of a better word) respect accorded to the USSR. This aspect underscores how becoming freer, less militaristic and more market oriented doesn’t (by default) bring added goodwill from a good number of Western establishment politicos and the organizations which are greatly influenced by them.

On the subject of banning Russia from the Olympics, Canadian sports legal politico Dick Pound, continues to rehash an inaccurate likening with no critical follow-up. (An exception being yours truly.) Between 2016 and 2019, Pound references the Olympic banning of South Africa, as a basis for excluding Russia. South Africa was banned when it had apartheid policies, which prevented that country’s Black majority from competing in organized sports. Russia has a vast multiethnic participation in sports and other sectors.

As previously noted, the factual premise to formally ban Russia from the Olympics remains suspect. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is set to review Russia’s appeal to have the recommended WADA ban against Russia overturned, as Western mass media at large and sports politicos like Pound continue to push for a CAS decision against Russia.

The British head of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, brazenly supports a ban on all Russian track and field athletes, until it can be firmly established (in his view) that they’re clean. Coe’s take has been widely reported in Western mass media, with little, if any second guessing of the hypocrisy he exhibits.

Despite missing three consecutive drug tests, American sprinter Christian Coleman, was allowed to compete at this past World Athletics Championships. It’s quite doubtful that any Russian would be allowed the benefit given to Coleman. As is true with a number of other sports, there’re credible reports indicating that World Athletics has an inconsistent worldwide drug testing regimen.

A few years ago, an ESPN “Outside the Lines” segment (aired at an early Sunday morning low ratings time slot), noted that some top Jamaican track and field athletes have regularly missed drug tests, as a Jamaican whistleblower on this issue has been castigated in her country. (Pardon me for not having a transcript of that show.)

Regarding non-Russian Olympians, Coleman’s situation is by no means an isolated one. Numerous Norwegian cross country skiers, along with prominent US Olympians Serena Williams, Simone Biles and Justin Gatlin, are among a non-Russian grouping that fall in the category of either missing drug tests, failing them, or getting an exemption for using an otherwise banned substance.

The ban against Russia competing as a country at the 2018 Winter Olympics didn’t see a noticeable banning of top Russian Olympians for suspected drug use. (Under the Olympic flag and anthem, these Russians competed as the “Olympic Athletes from Russia”) Hence, that prohibition was essentially a form of collective punishment against an entire nation and its people. At the recommendation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Russia now faces a banning for the next Summer and Winter Olympics.

On the reportedly altered Russian database of drug test results, how many other countries have been asked to forward as complete an accounting of their respective athletes? As of now and as reported, this particular pertaining to Russia looks shady. Verifiable specifics on the database editing haven’t been released. Regardless, when it comes to drug testing over the past several years, Russia’s top Olympic caliber athletes are probably the most carefully scrutinized in the world. These individuals spend time outside Russia (training and/or competing), where they can and have been suddenly tested. Unless my information is wrong (which I doubt), they also get tested in Russia, with samples going to the WADA and/or a WADA affiliated vender.

The British WADA member Jonathan Taylor, said that a lengthy appeal process at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), could allow for Russia to formally participate at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Taylor is against this scenario – instead favoring for Russia to be excluded from the next Summer and Winter Olympics. He emphasized that a CAS ruling against Russia after the 2020 Summer Olympics, would result in that country getting banned from the 2024 Summer Olympics.

I suspect that most Russians don’t see Taylor as a fair reviewer, who is truly concerned about Russia’s best interests. If Russia can’t achieve a relatively quick CAS appeal in its favor, it’s arguably in Russia’s best interests to have a delayed decision, allowing for a formal Russian 2020 Summer Olympics representation.

As time passes, there’s a chance that a growing number will see how unfair Russia has been treated, in conjunction with organizations like World Athletics and WADA possibly getting an overhaul, to better prevent any unfair treatment against a given nation and its people.

“I join everyone by saying how appalling this is and how appalled as a parent you can be when you read these things,” Adams said to reporters, referring to the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case that has consumed USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee. Moments earlier, he had addressed a mild softening of the IOC’s ban on Russian athletes from the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, vamping about “democracy and liberty and freedom.”

Part of the U.S.’s evasion of culpability here derives from how the country has structured its institutions. Americans have a well-established doping regime, too; it’s just privatized and corporatized, like America itself. By law, the USOC, which is said to have covered up more than 100 positive tests from 1988 to 2000, receives no public funding, and the job of exotic chemical experimentation on the athletes tends to fall to outfits like the Nike Oregon Project. The USOC itself operates according to a statutory federalism by which governing bodies oversee their own sports.

I hold the USOC directly accountable. I’ve been trying to alert them to this problem. Their legal defense, if you follow the court cases, is, ‘It’s not our problem.’Former Olympic swimmer Nancy Hogshead-Makar

“I always felt like I got in trouble,” 2000 Olympian Jamie Dantzscher told “60 Minutes” a year ago. “I wasn’t working hard enough. I was told to lose weight. At one point, I started making myself throw up.” Nassar, she said, “was like my buddy. He was on my side.” Getting medical treatment from him “was kind of like a bright light,” she said, even though it was under the guise of treatment that Nassar was also sexually abusing her.

So far, beyond the courts, the only meaningful reckoning with the Nassar scandal is happening in Congress, of all places. The House passed a law in the wake of Nassar’s sentencing that will increase mandatory reporting requirements for officials at athletic federations, such as USA Gymnastics and the USOC. More congressional scrutiny could soon follow, especially given fresh awareness that similar problems exist in USA Swimming and across the U.S. Olympic program, too. 

Some time away from Olympic competition might just help. Ban us.

You can’t get much more bluntly obdurate and belligerent than that. Have the Americans no shame?

Pence subsequently contradicted himself when he told US media that Washington may be open to diplomacy with North Korea while maintaining its “maximum pressure” policy. Given the background of belligerence from the Trump administration towards Pyongyang, any belated US overtures of diplomacy need to be treated with caution.

That means that as soon as the 23rd Winter Games wrap up later this month, Washington can be expected to ramp up pressure on its ally South Korea to take a more adversarial line on North Korea.

How much more counter-productive can you get?

Over the weekend, there were hugely significant diplomatic milestones reached between the two Koreas. South Korean President Moon Jae-in greeted and shook hands with Kim Yo-jung, the younger sister of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un. It was the first time that a member of the Kim family ever visited South Korea.

President Moon also greeted North Korean President, Kim Yong-nam. The dignitaries met at the Blue House, the official residence of South Korea’s president in what appeared to be a cordial exchange.

A major development was the acceptance of an invitation by President Moon to visit North Korea “as soon as possible” to hold face-to-face talks with Kim Jong-un. Kim’s sister was said to have conveyed the personal message. That forthcoming encounter – would be the third round of inter-Korea talks since the beginning of this year – and would arguably mark the biggest diplomatic event towards an historic reconciliation since the end of the Korean War (1950-53).

Given Washington’s hardline position of demanding North Korea to terminate its nuclear weapons program before any dialogue gets underway, one can anticipate that Washington may try to block any meeting between the two Korean leaders. This will be a real test of South Korea’s autonomy from Washington’s policy.

We can expect too the resumption of US-led war games around the Korean Peninsula. The usual military maneuvers were earlier this year put on hold at the request of South Korean President Moon Jae-in in order to facilitate a rapprochement for the Olympic event. Going by Pence’s bellicose rhetoric, the US will step up the war games again, which will inevitably strain – if not thwart – the nascent cordial ties between Seoul and Pyongyang.

North Korea has long protested US military exercises on the Korean Peninsula as a provocation and threat of war.

What is emerging very visibly is the destabilizing role of the United States in Asia-Pacific. Washington’s position is starkly opposed to any peaceful dialogue. That’s it. It is a brazen admission of its belligerent designs for the region.

As the world’s nations were gathering for the opening ceremony of the Olympics on Friday, Russia’s deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov slammed Washington’s provocative announcement of more “tougher sanctions” being loaded up on North Korea.

“The US bears responsibility for straining new peace efforts between North and South Korea,” said Ryabkov, who added that the new sanctions were cynically timed by Washington to scuttle the inter-Korea talks.

This cynical politicization of the Olympics by the Americans is staggering in its brazenness. They are using both barrels too.

Out of one barrel, the US has foisted its agenda of using the Olympics to denigrate and demonize Russia over the fabricated doping scandal. The banning of Russian athletes over highly dubious allegations of drug abuse is an orchestrated propaganda stunt to demean Russia’s international image.

Out of the other barrel, Washington is doing everything possible to snuff out the Olympic ideal of “sport unifying peoples”.

Ahead of the Games, as noted, vice president Pence was in Japan warning that the “US would defend its allies against North Korean aggression”. This is a tired American trope always aimed at militarizing the situation and polarizing relations. To further wind up the aggravation, in addition to announcing draconian new sanctions, Pence also vilified North Korea as “the most tyrannical regime on Earth”. (Ironic guilt projection surely!)

While in Japan, Pence did hint vaguely that he might be open to a brief exchange with the North Korean delegates during the opening ceremony of the Olympics in South Korea’s PyeongChang.

In the end, Pence reverted to type, by snubbing the attendance of a dinner being hosted by President Moon for the North Korean dignitaries.

Furthermore, the American vice president pointedly invited an American citizen, the father of Otto Warmbier, to accompany him during the Olympic ceremony. Warmbier was the American student who was imprisoned in North Korea and who died last year shortly after being repatriated to the US by Pyongyang due to his failing health condition while in custody. It’s not clear if the student was abused in prison or if his health simply declined. But Washington has stridently used the case as “evidence” of North Korean state brutality.

In any case, it seems clear that the Trump administration has been totally wrong-footed by recent Korean politics. Despite incendiary rhetoric from Trump against North Korea – threatening to “totally destroy” the country – Pyongyang has reciprocated diplomatic overtures with South Korea. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has a strong political background in seeking rapprochement with the North going back to the “Sunshine Policy” during the 1990s and early 2000s.

Moon has shown an admirable determination to pursue detente with Kim Jong-un in spite of Washington’s intransigence and hostility.

The next steps after the end of the Olympics will be crucial. Will President Moon buckle to Washington’s pressure to become more adversarial? Or will he stand up to the Americans by insisting the US-led war games must be further postponed so that dialogue is allowed to consolidate?

And that is the danger. While the Koreans have been talking over the past two months and cementing cordial ties over the Olympics, it is ominous that Washington has been steadily moving B-52 and B-2 nuclear bombers into the region at its Pacific base of Guam. There have also been provocative US media reports of the Trump administration considering a “bloody nose” pre-emptive attack on North Korea.

The glaring contradiction is highly instructive of Washington’s real nature as a belligerent, criminal regime. While the Koreans are attempting to find some peaceful coexistence, the Americans are recklessly agitating for war.

The odious politicization of the Olympics by Washington with regard to Russia and Korea is an eye-opener of American destructive designs.

Washington doesn’t just want to snuff out the Olympic torch. It wants to torch the entire region. 

Considering that a nuclear conflict over North Korea appeared imminent in recent weeks, the winter Olympics at Pyeongchang, South Korea, is a most welcome distraction – and might even deter a major war on the peninsula.

The highlight of the games was the arrival of Kim Yo-jong, the younger sister of North Korea’s ruler, Kim Jong-un. This was the first time a member of North Korea’s ruling Kim dynasty had come to South Korea. Her handshake with South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in was a historic and welcome moment.

So too the planned joint marches by North and South Korean athletes under a new reunification flag.  For all Koreans, this was a deeply emotional and inspiring ceremony.

But not for US Vice President Mike Pence, who was sent by Trump to give the Olympics the evil eye.  He even refused to stand for the joint marchers in a surly act that spoke volumes about his role.  Whether he meets President Moon or Kim Yo-jong remains to be seen. Even a cup of tea between Pence and Kim could end all the crazy talk about nuclear war. Does anyone in Washington know that North Korea lies between China and Russia?

All this drama is happening as the Trump White House is advocating giving North Korea a `bloody nose.’  Meaning a massive bombing campaign that could very likely include nuclear weapons.  Trump, who received a reported five exemptions from military service because of a little boner spur in his foot, revels in military affairs and thinks a ‘bloody nose’ will warn Kim Jong-un to be good. Trump is planning a big military parade at which he will take the salute.

This writer went through US Army basic and advanced infantry training with a broken bone in my foot, and has no sympathy with the president’s militaristic pretensions.

South Korea’s able president Moon is moving heaven and earth to prevent a war in which his nation would be the main victim.  Some 2-3 million Korean civilians died in the 1950-53 Korean War.  All North Korea and much of South Korea were bombed flat by US air power.  Now, as tensions surge, US heavy bombers and nuclear weapons ring North Korea, ready to flatten the north and make the rubble bounce.

North Korea’s thousands of heavy guns dug into mountains just north of the DMZ (I’ve seen them) could flatten all of South Korea’s capitol, Seoul, north of the Han River, killing millions, not counting nukes and poison gas.  South Korea, the world’s eleventh industrial power, would again pay the terrible price for a new war on the peninsula.

One of VP Pence’s main missions is to whip up support among rightwing South Koreans who bitterly oppose any peace deal between the two Koreas and support attacking the north.  Many on South Korea’s hard right are evangelical Christians.  It’s no coincidence that Mike Pence, an ardent fundamentalist protestant, was sent to show the flag and rally opposition to any détente with North Korea.  Whatever happened to ‘turn the other cheek?’

Washington does not want a lessening of tensions between the two Koreas.  And much less, talk of potential reunification.  If the two Koreas came to peace, what justification would the US have for keeping powerful air, land and naval forces in strategic South Korea, often called ‘America’s unsinkable aircraft carrier.’  Japan is no more favorable to a united Korea.

South Korean President Moon has been calling for a new, positive era in north-south relations. He has been adamant in opposing any chance of war on the peninsula.  But Washington has simply ignored Moon or brushed aside his objections to threats of war against North Korea.  The North Koreans routinely accused the south of being ‘American puppets.’  Pyongyang is the only ‘legitimate, truly independent Korean government,’ charges the north.

Interestingly, in the event of war, South Korea’s 655,000-man active armed forces and 4 million-man reserves come under the command of a four-star US general.  US nuclear weapons can be moved through South Korean bases.  The so-called joint US-South Korea joint command is mere window dressing.

It’s hard to say how close the US was to attacking North Korea.  Trump certainly backed himself into a corner by all his foolish threats to unleash ‘fire and fury’ on North Korea.  The Olympics delayed the rush to war against North Korea. But once they are over, the war drums will resume beating. President Trump is probably thinking about a dandy parade after a short, devastating attack on North Korea – provided, of course, that the troublesome northerners don’t manage to retaliate by landing a few nuclear warheads on Japan and Washington.

ericmargolis.com