Li Ning Gives the Middle Finger to Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is a Hollywood legend, behind some excellent movies (and some disasters) and hey, he even made Jews kick ass in Munich, he gets some dap for that. I really could care less about him, until, of course, he decided to declare himself holier than thou and started opining about the Chinese Olympics. Sure, he was under excessive pressure from his liberal Hollywood friends who stupidly go about referring to the Beijing Olympics as the "Genocide Games."

This is not really meant as a post about Spielberg's decision to screw over BOCOG and look like an idiot doing it. China is not to blame for the situation in Darfur and while they've threatened to use their Security Council veto against certain legislation, they've been trying to work with the African Union to help find a solution to the problem as well as pushing the Sudanese government to move toward a new policy. Spielberg may not care about annoying Beijing, but I really don't think Beijing cares that much, if he wants to help, great, if not, it doesn't matter, the Opening Ceremonies will be great with or without him.

Whatever, in any case, going back to the title (and from my high school newspaperman days, law article writing/editing days, and political speech/copy drafting days, I've learned its all about a good title), browsing the malls this weekend, I stopped by Li Ning to see what was on offer. They're sponsorship of the Sudanese Olympic team has brought them under some fire, but Li Ning sponsors many different Olympic squads and right now, they're advertising and in store focus is on their deal with the Argentinian and Spanish basketball squads. But then I came across a couple hoodies and tshirts with their "One Team" slogan and the Sudanese crest and flag.

I don't think Li Ning really expects to sell many of these, even in China, so maybe its just them making a veiled political statement in defense of the government. Maybe I should buy one and send it to Spielberg.