Check out this short, somewhat low key NY Times article about President Bush’s recent announcement that he will attend the upcoming Olympics in Beijing.

At first I quickly browsed the article and thought, “Big deal — another visit by a head of state to another country.”

But five minutes later it hit me, I did a double take and thought, “Holy cow, this really is a pretty big deal,” and I went back and re-read the article, in detail.

Why do you think our President visiting Beijing for this event is (or is not) a big deal? I believe this announcement is significant.

Why would the US say yes to this invite by China President Hu Jintao, what do we hope to gain by such an acceptance, and what do you think will be our pre- and post-Games strategy to obtain that goal? What are the risks if we guess wrong on this?

Conversely, how might this help the Chinese in their domestic and geopolitical strategy plans, what do they hope to gain, and what do you think will be their pre- and post-Games strategy to get there? And what do they stand to lose if they guess wrong on this?

Or, has this whole thing (and the result) already been orchestrated by the Washington and Beijing behind the scenes?

Sport is pure! Sport is pure! Let the athletes compete and keep politics and the politicians out of the Olympics!

Yeah, right. If you believe that, my friend, let me take away the crack pipe you have been smoking.

Big stuff. High stakes. It will be interesting to see if both sides can control the diplomacy game and play the world audience to their advantage.

Stay tuned ….