I don't know why I feel compelled to weigh in on international politics this week other than the fact that everyone else does, too.

So here are my two cents worth.

Pity Leo Rautens. He's got to be wondering if the Olympic ideal is just a pipe dream. In 1980, as a member of Canada's men's basketball team, he was caught up in Canada's boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow and got to play backyard hoops in Philadelphia.

The boycott came about when U.S. President Jimmy Carter issued an ultimatum to the Soviets after the invasion of Afghanistan and Canada fell in line along with Japan, West Germany and, yes China.

Today, Rautens is head coach of the Canadian men's team and the prospect of a boycott of the Beijing games has been raised over the ongoing unrest in the struggle between Tibet and China.

Now, the games are supposed to be about ideals but, certainly in my memory, they've been propelled by nationalism and politics. The selection process is highly political, the judging of some events has been discredited, the games have become targets of terrorists wanting to make a point and, in the name of nationalism, the games have exacted a heavy toll on host countries.

There is no better time for Tibet to draw attention to its issues.

"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."
-Baron de Coubertin

I doubt that a boycott is really in the offing, but for athletes who are working toward the goal of an Olympic performance, this discussion is cruel.

And it raises a question: If we ask our athletes to pay a price for the people of Tibet, will the average Canadian be asked to pay a price, too?

Maybe there's another way to pressure China. We could strip the dollar store shelves of cheap Chinese imports and send a tough message from consumers. Perhaps we can rename the egg roll and call it a freedom roll.

We could all advocate tax increases to support more foreign aid for the people of Tibet.

Seriously, it would be sad to use the Olympic movement once again to create the symbolic outrage on the backs of athletes who make such sacrifices in their own lives to compete at the international level.

Fortunately, the secretary of state for sport, and our local MP, Helena Guergis, will help the nation's athletes stickhandle through this issue.

And while we're piling more responsibility onto the MP, I have to blame Stephen Harper for the fact that Guergis seems to have been, in the public perception, so badly derailed over the handling of the Brenda Martin story.

Harper, known for his ability to tightly control media access to his ministers, appears to have allowed Guergis to be left high and dry on the Brenda Martin file when CTV came looking for an interview.

I'm certain that we don't know the whole story behind the Martin case and perhaps, for Guergis, it's better that way.

But it will be a long time before she can shake the image of bolting out the back door at a media event in an effort to lose the camera crew and reporter from CTV's W5. If you missed it you can see it on the CTV website or on YouTube.

And the spin on her attendance at a cocktail party in Mexico in January while her staff didn't follow through on a phone call to a Brenda Martin supporter waiting outside the jail has certainly not played well.

Ah, the world was so much simpler when Liberal MP Paul Bonwick backbenched his way to constituency stardom!