John Nichols: Obama, McCain & Tibet

President Bush has announced that, despite China's violent crackdowns on dissent in Tibet and its support for the brutal dictatorships of Sudan and Burma, he will attend next month's opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics. In response, Barack Obama distinguished himself from the man he seeks to replace. Asked whether he, as president, would convey legitimacy on the Chinese government's recent actions by attending the opening ceremonies, Obama said, "In the absence of some sense of progress, in the absence of some sense from the Dalai Lama that there was progress, I would not have gone." This was not Obama's first statement regarding Tibet or the Dalai Lama, who this week is in Wisconsin as part of a visit to the United States. In a foreign policy address delivered in March, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee member... [read full story]