I mean sure. What's not to love about a few bashed heads, global protests, violent police actions and mass arrests? Between the human rights problems with their last location, previous problems with bribery and then the regular dopings (which go well beyond Beijing, obviously) the IOC remains as clueless as ever. Has Beijing really changed at all?
In a report to the IOC, the committee's chief evaluator and coordinator for the 2008 Olympics insisted that the games produced "lasting legacies" for Beijing and its people.
"I am more convinced than ever that the games have and will prove to be a positive catalyst for change in China," said Hein Verbruggen, who led both the IOC's evaluation commission for the 2008 Games and its coordination commission.
The former IOC member's 28-minute report made no mention of the arrests and harassment of dissidents before and during the games, protests that were violently crushed in Tibet, forced evictions to clear the way for Olympic construction or other abuses documented by human rights groups.
