Lindsey Graham, Edward Snowden and the suggestion of boycotting the 2014 Olympics in Russia
NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden has officially applied for temporary asylum in Russia after being holed up in the Moscow airport for weeks.
If Russian President Vladimir Putin grants Snowden asylum, what should the US do?
According to a suggestion by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), boycotting the 2014 Olympics in Russia should be considered. In an NBC news interview, Graham said, “I don’t know if putting the Olympics on the table is the right answer, but i do know this, what we’re doing is not working.”
“I love the Olympics, but I hate what the Russian government is doing throughout the world,” Graham said.
When asked about whether the Snowden issue is big enough to perhaps threaten the Olympics, Graham responded asking, “If you could go back in time, would you have allowed Adolph Hitler to host the Olympics in Germany?
Graham told the Hill in an interview, “I would (consider the boycott) just send the Russians the most unequivocal signal I could send them.”
“It might help, because what they’re doing is outrageous,” he said. “We certainly haven’t reset our relationship with Russia in a positive way. At the end of the day, if they grant this guy asylum it’s a breach of the rule of law as we know it and is a slap in the face to the United States.”
However, it doesn’t appear Graham has many people on the Hill who supports his suggestion. House Speaker John Boehner said of the Graham idea, ” Listen, I love Senator Graham. We’ve been close friends for 20 years, but I think he’s dead wrong. Listen, why would we want to punish US athletes who have been training for three years to compete in the Olympics over a traitor who can’t find a place to call home?
Even his partner in overseas intervention, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) isn’t on board with Graham–“There’s many things we can do, but I think the experience of cancelling the Olympics the last time around wasn’t very good.”
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