A columnist who appears in the New York Post, Dale McFeatters, was out with a column yesterday on the Communist Chinese crackdown in Tibet, where, he reports, the Tibetan government says that 99 innocent protesters have been killed. Mr. McFeatters goes on to mention that this has prompted calls for a boycott of the Beijing Olympics, or at least the opening ceremony. And then he opines: “Barring some really heinous act by China, this would be a mistake.”

It makes one wonder — if killing 99 innocent Tibetan protesters doesn’t qualify as “really heinous,” what does? How many protesters would have to be killed in Tibet for Mr. McFeatters to deem it “really heinous”? A hundred? A thousand? Would two thousand innocent protesters slain qualify as “heinous,” but not reach the higher standard of “really heinous”?

For the Tibetans and the vast millions under the boot of the government of Beijing, this is not an abstract matter, or a laughing matter. And it’s a matter that will ultimately have to be dealt with by the American government, at the highest levels. The White House yesterday said that President Bush will go ahead with his plans to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games, despite the Lhasa Massacre. It’s the White House’s way of agreeing with Mr. McFeatters that 99 dead don’t qualify as really heinous.

Now, we don’t quarrel with Mr. Bush lightly. He has risked more for the spread of democracy and freedom on the planet than any world leader we can think of. But it’s hard to imagine how he could answer the question, “How many innocent individuals will have to be slain by the Chinese communists for merely exercising their rights to free speech, peaceable assembly, and petition before you decide you can’t in good conscience attend the opening ceremonies.” The lesson of the last week is that the answer to that question is some number larger than 99, and no doubt China will be tempted.