Senator Lindsey Graham Suggest Sochi Olympic Boycott

I don’t know if putting the Olympics on the table is the right answer, but I do know this: What we’re doing is not working. #Russia

— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) July 17, 2013

Politico reports that US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has floated the idea of the US boycotting the 2014 Sochi Olympics as a statement of protest over Russian

Sen. Lindsey Graham said on Wednesday that the United States should weigh boycotting the 2014 Winter Olympics over Russia’s conduct around the world, including the country’s handling of NSA leaker Edward Snowden.

“Yes, I would consider it. I know athletes would be heartbroken,” the South Carolina Republican told NBC News’s Kelly O’Donnell in an interview broadcast on “Today.” “I don’t know if putting the Olympics on the table is the right answer, but I do know this: What we’re doing is not working.”

Graham said the move would put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to change his ways.

“I love the Olympics, but I hate what the Russian government is doing throughout the world,” Graham told NBC News. “If they give asylum to a person who I believe has committed treason against the United States, that’s taking it to a new level.”

Graham also pointed to the Olympics in Nazi Germany as an example of when governments need to take a stand.

Hard to see this getting traction, but serves as a reminder that sports and large-scale geopolitics are never far apart.