The American ProsceniumnThe OlympicsnAlmost every student of Soviet affairsn—on both the right and left, and in thencenter—agrees that the boycott of thenMoscow Olympics will be a tremendousnblow to the Soviets in terms of realnpolitics, prestige, image, economics andninternal stability.nIn retrospect, only an utterly limitednmind would object to the statement thatnthe world’s participation in the Berlinn1936 Olympics was a fateful mistake.nThe American athletes, sons and daughtersnof a society that was not perfect butncertainly decent, had to bow their headsnand salute the German swastika, whichnwas soon to become the symbol of somenof the worst aggressions ever committednagainst mankind. Among them was thenvictorious Jesse Owens, a telling argumentnagainst racism, but he too had tonsalute and bow his head before the gloatingnnazi scum in the tribune, whosencrimes-to-come acquired a certain legitimacynand honor from the Americannsalute.nThat the whimpering American athletesncan envision themselves salutingnthe Soviet flag at the Moscow stadiumnand still claim that they are dignifiedncitizens of a free country, familiar withnthe moral standards of a lawful democracy,ncan be explained only if one concludesnthat their perceptions and consciencesnare of the same stuff as theirnparallel bars or starting blocks. Theynobviously do not identify the Sovietnemblem with murdered Afghan peasants,nor the Soviet massacres whichnwill undoubtedly be revealed in daysnto come. Accepting honors from thenbenignly smirking Politbureau assassinsnseems, to some of our athletes,nunconnected with honoring the communistnmob and accepting their sinsnand wickedness. And this honor is exactlynwhat Brezhnev wants from thenOlympics; he must show his Russiann38inChronicles of Culturenslaves how he, his slave-holding and hisnboundless evildoing are meekly respectednby other nations.*nThe against-the-boycott reasoningnand rhetoric of Lord KiUanin, the InternationalnOlympic Committee, assortedntrack-and-field altruists, senilenFrench counts suddenly turned pacifists,nand idealistic weightlifters escapes thensense of reality of anyone with an averagenI.Q. Since the U.S.S.R. was admittednto the Olympiad after World War II,nthere has been nothing but politics innthe games. The communists have openlynannounced that a winner reflects thensuperiority of his country’s social system,nand have ruthlessly gone afternvictories in the stadiums for purelynpolitical reasons. They brazenly forcednthe West to accept their regimentednprofessional gladiators as amateurnsportsmen, thereby ramming down thenthroats of the Western “incorruptible”npress a lie of the same totalitarian calibernas their recent claim that they invadednAfghanistan to protect its peoplenagainst a foreign aggression. Only twicenhave Olympic politics-as-usual yieldednto warfare (which is, according tonClausewitz, the violent extension ofnpolitics): when desperate Hungariannwater-polo players, at the news of thenRussian invasion of Hungary in 1956,nfilled the Melbourne swimming poolnwith Russian blood; and when in 1972nin Munich, the PLO, a close ally of thenU.S.S.R., murdered defenseless Israelinathletes with Russian weapons andn*We should point out that there are somenAmerican athletes who are able to see beyondnthe gymnasium; Jimmy Clark, a topnotchnamateur boxer, not only publicly supportsnthe boycott, but also refused to participatenin an international boxing matchnrecently held in Moscow, and the entirenMuhammad Ali Athletic Club has statednthat they will not go to Moscow, no matternwhat decision is made in the USOC or thenIOC.nnnmoney, and, in all likelihood, with Russia’snpolitical blessing. In neither casendid the moral dinosaurs like AverynBrundage and Lord KiUanin even thinknabout suspending the games; in theirnvision of the world, politics and sportsndo not mix.nThe Carter administration should benduly commended for the idea of boycottingnthe Moscow Olympics, butnchided for not having declared a unilateralnwithdrawal—without first lookingnaround for support and company.nSince its modern revival, the Olympicsnwithout Americans are not the Olympics,nbut merely an international tournament.nSince the Soviets’ entry, thenOlympics have become a contest betweenncommunist robots and freenAmericans, with an occasional goldnmedal going to a New Zealand miler,na West German hammer thrower or anKenyan long-distance runner. The politicalnsubstance of this actuality hasnmany faces: most Americans are unawarenthat every American gold medal,nevery humiliation of the Soviet team, isncelebrated by inebriated crowds in thenstreets of Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.nLet the Swedish and French sycophantsngo to Moscow and revere the giant Sovietnstar that shines over the napalraednbodies of Afghan children as well asnLenin Stadium. Without us, the Olympicngames will offer all the excitement of ansoccer match played with a tennisnball.nWhy Are We Doomed?nBecause we have George F. Kennan,nand the Russians don’t.nDoes this mean that Mr. Kennan isna black character, bad guy, Russiannoperative, one of those against us, ornjust someone who wants to do us in.’nNone of the above.nMr. Kennan is a distinguished American,na meritorious diplomatic representative,nour former ambassador tonMoscow, a noble gentleman who firmlynstood up to the Soviets during the Truman/Stalinnepoch, and who now enjoysn