New IOC head

Thomas Bach, a gold-medalist in his time, has been elected as the new head of the IOC (International Olympic Committee). The link leads to Spiegel Online, but the story is minimal. No mention of...you know.

"I want to thank all my friends and colleagues who voted for me," Bach said after the decision. "I know of the great responsibility of an IOC president. This makes me humble."

That's nice, Tom. Now go straighten out this Russian gay-pogrom thing -- and get back to us right away. The world is waiting.

Is Russia preparing a gay holocaust?

Seriously, every time I read a story about gays in Russia lately, it seems more dire.

I mean, let's add it up. Russia established a law against "gay propaganda" that essentially means gays can't admit their existence. And now they're working on taking children away from gay families! Can you even imagine the level of animus that motivates such a move?

This reminds me of the situation in Germany just before the holocaust. When we hear that a huge majority of the Russian population agrees with the government's position, that's saying something important. The holocaust couldn't have happened without the permission of German citizens. There's wind in this sail.

Please read the linked article, which recounts an interview with a lesbian in Russia who actually had to sit down with her ll-year old biological daughter to explain that Putin might take her away from her family.

Plus, as you know if you've been following the horror in Russia, the government literally encourages the beating of gay men by doing nothing when gays are tricked, kidnapped, humiliated and beaten by Nazi thugs (who are all closet cases, I'm sure). Many of these attacks were recorded and displayed on social media -- yet no one arrests the perpetrators. And if they had been arrested, I've read they'd only get three months for doing such a thing.

This is, I insist, a prelude to a gay holocaust. What will Obama do when Russia crosses that red line? It will be interesting, to say the least.

The whole world must rise up and revile Russia publicly for its inhuman pillorying of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. That's the only way to stop what's coming next.

Roundup of Sochi failures

A NY Times story comes down hard on the International Olympic Committee -- and others -- for failing to address Russia's anti-gay law when they had a chance. Some excerpts:

Before the law was passed, the I.O.C. could have pressured Russian officials, saying it would not support the Sochi Games under such conditions. Instead, the Olympic Committee acquiesced. 

“There should have been early, alarmed communications by the I.O.C. in relation to the law,” said Minky Worden, the director of global initiatives and an Olympics expert for Human Rights Watch. “As far as we know, there weren’t.” 

Olympic sponsors like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s also have been publicly muted. In effect, they are underwriting the Games in Sochi that contradict their own corporate policies against discrimination. 

Failure all around. The IOC always seemed to me like a bunch of distant one-percenters. That vision is confirmed. There's one hopeful note in the story, and it's from NBC:

Recently, Mark Lazarus, the chairman of the NBC Sports Group, told television critics, “If it is still their law and it is impacting any part of the Olympic Games, we will make sure that we acknowledge it and recognize it.” 

They'd better. And if they're smart, they'll have Rachel Maddow as the NBC voice of the Sochi Olympics. She'll knock it out of the park. 

I wasn't going to watch the Olympics this year. But now I'll have to. In closing, a special boo for the IOC: You people stink.