On April 9, the Olympic torch will arrive in San Francisco, the only US city to receive the torch this time around. At first this didn’t seem too exciting…after all, I’ve lived in other areas the Olympic torch has passed through and mostly just remember the traffic snafus. This year, however, is different for a couple of reasons. Many American’s feel a bit queasy about wholly supporting China as an Olympic location over the issues of Tibet and Darfur (seriously Olympic committee, was it really necessary to force us to evaluate our standards of morality?–we much prefer to ignore these things and just do business with China).

San Francisco, true to its rebellious, diverse, and liberal nature, is divided. Mayor Newsom wants to make the Torch event a “journey for a sustainable future. This is our chance to showcase how local innovation and excellence– in fitness, environmental initiatives and sustainable business practices– can be examples for the world.” Basically, he wants this to be good PR for SF and the environment. That’s cool. San Francisco also has a large community of Chinese Americans that it might be less than nice to offend.

The City Council, however, begs to differ. The voted 8-3 to greet the Torch “with alarm and protest”, shelving a competing resolution to greet the Torch “in the true spirit of the Olympics” (meaning, nicely). Human Rights protesters have praised this anti-China stance and have all sorts of plans to protest the Torch on its journey through the city.

This all raises interesting questions. For one, does the US with our um, shaky, record on human rights ourselves (hello Gitmo) have a right to flat out condemn China? Maybe the Olympics should be about building a global community and warm fuzzy things. After all, there’s plenty of bad news to go around these days. On the other hand, a gathering of the global community does seem like an appropriate venue for a frank discussion about human rights and there’s no reason San Franciscans shouldn’t have the right to peaceful protest.

This year, I may be avoiding the area not just to avoid the inevitable traffic jams but also my own indecision. Any strong feelings out there on the Olympic Torch?

Update: The torch was greeted in both London and Paris with protests.