April
7 Olympic Boycott

That, and other news, in today's Political Panorama.

Hillary Clinton has called on President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, in the wake of the violent clashes in Tibet and the ongoing genocide in Darfur. Protesters today disrupted the torch relay through Paris, following vocal protests yesterday in London.

"These events underscore why I believe the Bush adminstration has been wrong to downplay human rights in its policy towards China," Clinton said in a statement. "At this time, and in light of recent events, I believe President Bush should not plan on attending the opening ceremonies in Beijing, absent major changes by the Chinese government."

"Idol" Guests: I reported last week that Hillary Clinton would appear in a taped segment on "American Idol." So, too, will Barack Obama and John McCain, with the spots airing on Wednesday.

Matthews for Obama: Some 13,000 fans (and/or Barack Obama supporters) attended Dave Matthews' Indianapolis concert for the candidate.

Biting Words: Via Ben Smith of The Politico is this section of an interview that Spike Lee gave to New York magazine.

What do you think of Obama? I’m riding my man Obama. I think he’s a visionary. Actually, Barack told me the first date he took Michelle to was Do the Right Thing. I said, “Thank God I made it. Otherwise you would have taken her to Soul Man. Michelle would have been like, ‘What’s wrong with this brother?’ ”

Does this mean you’re down on the Clintons? The Clintons, man, they would lie on a stack of Bibles. Snipers? That’s not misspeaking; that’s some pure bulls***. I voted for Clinton twice, but that’s over with. These old black politicians say, “Ooh, Massuh Clinton was good to us, massuh hired a lot of us, massuh was good!” Hoo! Charlie Rangel, David Dinkins—they have to understand this is a new day. People ain’t feelin’ that stuff. It’s like a tide, and the people who get in the way are just gonna get swept out into the ocean.