Update on Sochi

Not that there's anything really new -- just more horror stories, and more posturing. John Aravosis has pulled together some of the most pertinent stories, so I don't have to. A couple of the comments I left there, in response to other commenters:

". . . who could have forseen the IOC so publicly, club-footedly and unnecessarily caving in to them?"

Anyone who's paid attention to the IOC for the last thirty years. I'm reminded that when everyone and his brother was starting "(Insert Category Here) Olympics," the only group the IOC sued was the organizers of the Gay Olympics, which is why we now have the Gay Games. I don't expect the ball-less wonders at the IOC to stand up for human rights -- I expect them to clutch their pearls and worry about their "brand." If they pulled their heads out of their behinds for a minute, they might just realize that this is damaging their brand more than anything else they could do, but they don't have that kind of perspective.

and

"Back here in the States, the haters are cheering what Russia's been doing."

Birds of a feather.

And that is not just name-calling. Look at the similarities between the attitudes and rhetoric of the Russians and the professional gay-bashers in this country. I ran across a story a bit ago that Scott Lively was claiming credit for the "gay propaganda" law in Russia. (He "advised" them to adopt that sort of measure; and of course, we all know Scott Lively has the clout to advise countries on their domestic policies.) They have in common an authoritarian mindset and a need for an "enemy" to justify their activities, if not their very existence. (I'm not going to go into Godwin territory, but you can connect the dots.)

Some troll jumped in, unfortunately, the kind who thinks every post on every blog should reflect his priorities, so most of the comments are responses to him, which is silly. Jerks like that just want the attention.