Thought Theater

Having the Olympics in China is providing us with a first hand view of message management...so much so that our two political parties might actually be able to learn some nifty new tricks.

It looks like I've been living under the false impression that U.S. political campaigns had a monopoly on spin doctoring. Little did I know that the Chinese have taken it to a whole new level. First we learned that they digitally enhanced the fireworks display at the opening ceremonies. Then we find out that the little girl singing "Ode to the Motherland" was lip-synching. I guess we're supposed to conclude that pretty Chinese children are tone deaf?

All of this comes on the heels of tearing down unsightly housing districts, shutting down factories, and restricting the use of automobiles. In the following video, The Onion takes it a step further and suggests the Chinese are spinning avian flu as Olympic fever.

If I were John McCain or Barack Obama, I'd send a scouting crew to see who they can hire out from under the Chinese government. After all, many of these folks are probably out of a job in a few days...that is if they're able to avoid imprisonment for failing to skew the medal count in China's favor. Come to think of it, I'll bet several of these folks can make our hacker-safe voting machines sing...if you know what I mean.