Anybody got a light?

The Associated Press
PARIS - Paris' Olympic torch relay descended into chaos Monday, with protesters scaling the Eiffel Tower, grabbing for the flame and forcing security officials to repeatedly snuff out the torch and transport it by bus past demonstrators yelling "Free Tibet!" ...

Five times, the Chinese officials in dark glasses and tracksuits who guard the torch extinguished it and retreated to the safety of a bus - the last time emerging only after the vehicle drove within 15 feet of the final stop, a track and field stadium. A torchbearer then ran the final steps inside.

COMMENT: At first, I had to ask, can you imagine being the Chinese official who has to re-light the Olympic torch? This torch was originally lit by ceremonial fires in the birthplace of the modern Olympics. It was meant to keep burning throughout the Olympic games. But from now on, it won't be from a fire that began in Athens, but from some anonymous guy with a Bic lighter. But no, as I read on:

France's former sports minister, Jean-Francois Lamour, stressed that though the torch was extinguished along the route, the Olympic flame itself still burned in a lantern, where it is kept overnight and on airplane flights. A Chinese official said that flame was used to re-light the torch each time it was brought aboard the bus.

COMMENT: So, I can relax a little, except that this world tour of the Olympic torch seems to be a terribly bad idea for the Chinese. Probably about as bad as holding the Olympics in China. As I understand it, the thinking was that by holding the games in Beijing, the committee hoped this would help open up China to the rest of the world and allow more freedom. Instead, the Chinese are clamping down even harder and using the Olympics and its torch for their own propaganda. Bad idea. ... But really, it can't get any worse for the Chinese. Or can it? READ ON ...

Outside, a few French activists supporting Tibet had a fist fight with pro-Chinese demonstrators. The French activists spat on them and shouted, "Fascists!"
In San Francisco, where the torch is to arrive Wednesday, three protesters wearing harnesses and helmets climbed up the Golden Gate Bridge and tied the Tibetan flag and two banners to its cables. The banners read "One World One Dream. Free Tibet" and "Free Tibet."

COMMENT: Given the current political climate, just about anywhere in America would have been problematic for the Chinese. But to put San Francisco on the world tour for the Olympic torch? What were they thinking? They're just asking for trouble.

Then again, their colossal public relations mistake could serve the greater good. If protests continue to gather strength, this might actually put some real pressure on the Chinese government to address its human-rights abuses. And that, finally, is what all the protesting is about.