While the opening ceremony at the 2008 Beijing Olympiad was an unparalleled production of imagination, choreography, and technical mastery, accomplishing the Chinese regime’s objective of demonstrating that its social order can match the hosting capabilities of any nation, it also serves to remind every person of conscience that this source and carriage of excellence is badly misplaced, because in all of the national pursuits of social and human value, China has failed to produce anything that can stand so proudly in the world as an example of progressive quality. 

The magnificent facilities will be remembered... along with the still-unilluminated shadow of Tiananmen Square;

the massive, human interaction of visual animations in the artful opening ceremony will be a standard of attainment in memory... along with the genocide in Darfur, where China holds the leveraged position to attain a halt in the killing, and does not;

the expressive dances of tribute to individuality and national identity will shine long after the last medal is placed over the head and around the neck of the last Olympian... as the yoke of repression clinching the necks and over the heads of those in Tibet and Xinjiang remain the darkened prophecy for the inner spirit of the people who are captured to be repressed under the red flag;

and the Torchbearer, elevated to soar above the heads of the people, carrying the spark to light the flame of competitive spirit and international peace and cooperation, will not be forgotten... but will not cause to be forgotten the freedom of choice to speak, to pray, and to express the voice of the soul, which remains harshly contained under the controlling thumb of a non-representative, quasi-communist regime. 

The light created for the world vision, to shine upon the gold, silver, and bronze that will mark the history of the Beijing Olympics, is obliterated by the darkness shadowing the flip-side of the reflective medals and venues, the darkness of death and suffering that, for every gleaming memory, will accompany to dim the luster and represent the true legacy of the Chinese-hosted games, unerasable by any achievement of showmanship or technology.