Along with millions worldwide, I watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics and was spellbound by the artistry and fireworks. Days later, I heard on the radio that the amazing fireworks I saw on TV were partially generated via computer automation and that the NBC “live” coverage of the Olympics wasn’t so live as the network could not film the fireworks and showed footage provided by a Chinese company. Matt Lauer, NBC news anchor, only hinted that the fireworks were not all real, but he had me fooled.

The cute girl singing during part of the ceremony was actually miming to the music and not using her own vocal chords. Aren’t the Olympics supposed to showcase human power? Trickery is our power.

What did I see that was real? The Emperor’s new clothes?

How many of those Olympic record-setters are taking steroids or other “performance enhancing” drugs that are not traceable by Olympic drug tests? (We may only find out years from now when some of these young athletes write their tell-all memoirs or appear on TV showing their physical deformations caused by illegal drugs.)

The media is not just fooling us with fake fireworks, but also with the presentation of the Georgian-Russian war over South Ossetia. Why do I not see photos and videos of the refugee camps in Russia for those Southern Ossetians fleeing the Georgian shelling of Tskhinvali in the Western press? Here’s a link to an English language report from the Russian press.

Why do condemnations of Russia’s bombing of Georgia not mention that Georgia was the first to start with violence in Tskhinvali? Mikhail Gorbachev appeared on CNN’s Larry King
stating my same point: the Western media is not showing the destruction Georgia caused and is only focusing on Russian bombing in Gori and other places in Georgia. Here’s the link:

The reason I know this information is because I occasionally watch the Russian news. I do agree that Russian news stations can be a propaganda arm of the Russian government, but I don’t see American news stations as being objective angels either. It’s convenient to make Russia look like the big bad aggressor, especially now that the US is competing with its new Communist opponent at the Olympics: China.

Even Senator John McCain stated “We are all Georgians” in his words of support for the Georgian people.

No we are not.

Many Americans can’t locate the state of Georgia on a map, much less this small country in the Caucasus!

Get real Senator McCain!

We are not all Georgians. We are all desperate for fossil fuels.

The US government is helping to build a gas pipeline in Georgia that would bring much needed gas from Central Asia to Western Europe, circumventing Russia’s borders. Russia doesn’t like that.

Are we not showing the calamities made by Georgian forces in Southern Ossetia because Georgia is part of NATO and is giving Russia a smack in the face by bowing to the West? I am no supporter of the Russian government, I am simply interested in knowing the truth.

So far, this is what seems to be the truth to me:

Both Russia and Georgia are guilty of killing innocent civilians. The US government wants the Central Asian gas pipeline to go via Georgia and not Russia. Some of the fireworks in Beijing never existed. The cute Chinese girl didn’t sing. Some Olympic medalists are probably fakes as well.

We can’t be tricked all the time. —
-Susanna Zaraysky blogs for New America Media about the issues of global identity, global citizens, multilingualism, and the life of a child of immigrants. Her website is: www.susansword.com and her email is info@susansword.com.