I get that, I think it’s horrible that the IOC didn’t see through them like 20 year old underwear, but once they had the games it was a done deal. Every world leader could have boycotted the opening ceremonies and again it would have been symbolic, no one would have cared. Unless the entire free world had boycotted the games altogether, it never would have made any difference (that would have at least been less of a financial boon for their government). But in a world driven by money, that would never happen. Not to mention, these atheletes are at their peak, this would essentially deny some of them a shot at living the dream they’ve had their whole lives. I’d hate to punish them to make a point that would ultimately not change anything. Again, it might ostracise China, and would take some dough out of their pockets, but in the end, they don’t care what anyone else thinks. And it’s clear from the reaction of the Chinese people to the torch protests that they would have seen it not as a failure of China, but as a hostile action from the rest of the world that was out to get them (such is the paranoia with which they’ve brainwashed their citizens). Real change is going to take time…they’ll need to discover that in the end, Democratic Capitalism has always worked out better than Authoritiarian Capitalism. That’s not a lesson we can teach with one Olympics.