Good morning, all.

So, do we attend the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing or not? Or do you just not care.

Former President Jimmy Carter, the man who brought you the boycott of the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, says the situation today is far different than the one he faced 28 years ago. As such, he feels America should participate in the upcoming event despite China’s crackdown on Tibet or its complicity with the genocide in Darfur. Seriously, what are a few atrocities if it means interrupting synchronized swimming, eh?

The former president expressed his feelings yesterday when he appeared on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”:

STEPHANOPOULOS: While you've been in Nepal, the controversy over the Olympics has been kicking up as the Olympic torch has been going around the world. You led the boycott of the Moscow Olympics to protest what the Soviet Union was doing in Afghanistan. Should the U.S. boycott the Olympics this year to protest China's crackdown on Tibet and its complicity with the genocide in Darfur?

CARTER: No, I don't think so at all. That was a totally different experience in 1980, when the Soviet Union had brutally invaded and killed thousands and thousands of people, who – in Afghanistan then. They were threatening to go further south and take over other countries. Fifty-four nations in the world decided to boycott the Olympics. Two-thirds of the U.S. Olympic Committee, a relatively independent group, decided not to go. The Congress voted overwhelmingly not to go. And that was a completely different situation. But I hope that all the countries will go ahead and participate in the Olympics in Beijing.

To be honest, I agree with the former president that we’re facing “a totally different experience.” However, I am guessing we think that for different reasons.

Perhaps meaningful at one point, the Olympics have become a silly, silly exercise where athletic achievement serves only as a colorful backdrop for Coke or McDonalds commercials. The Games have become nothing more than another vehicle for companies to get their message out to a global market. And with these summer games set snack dab in the middle of the world largest emerging market of consumers, there is zero chance we’ll be boycotting. Zero.

Folks, a billion people can buy a lot of Nikes. Especially when they made the Nikes in the first place.

Oh sure, we might skip the opening ceremonies. But seriously, if you’ve ever watched the opening ceremonies, you would want to skip it as well.

Sadly, the Olympics have become nothing more than a 17-day infomercial. Why? Well, the world no longer needs to rally to defeat Hitler’s supermen or to cheer on its best amateurs against the professionals from behind the Iron Curtain. Globalization has killed the need for the Games.

The athletes, many of whom already live and train in the United States before “representing” their home country, no longer perform for national pride or some abstract sense of competition. Heck, it’s not even about giving our kids a chance to showcase their skills on the world stage anymore. For many events, we send our jaded pros to sleepwalk through a few days of competition and sell a few jerseys.

In the end, for the athletes, the Games are about nabbing endorsements and a possible reality television show gig. Lasting memories and iconic moments are few and far between.

Don’t believe me? OK, tell me right now three people who won gold medals in the 2004 Games? Just three. If you weren’t personally invested in it – friends, family, teammates – you have no idea. It’s no longer the must-see event of a generation or two ago.

“Do you believe in miracles … brought to you by AT&T.”

So what are we to do? Who cares? To me, boycotting the Summer Games would be akin to not watching the final episode of “American Idol.” It doesn’t matter if you’re there or not, the damage is already done.

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