President Barack Obama went to Copenhagen to pitch Chicago for the 2016 Olympics and the right criticized him for wasting time when more important things were at hand. Fox News highlighted every single local Chicago story that painted the city in a bad light.
Chicago did not get the Olympics.
The right criticized Obama for going to pitch for the Olympics if his administration didn't know whether or not it would be a slam dunk. Glenn Beck this morning compared Obama pitching to the Queen of England pitching. Glenn Beck is apparently ignorant to the fact that the Queen is a relatively impotent figurehead and that Tony Blair - at the time the functional leader of the country - did pitch to win the 2012 bid.
The right, of course, started humming the "If Bush went and failed..." rhetoric. The right is apparently ignorant of the fact that Bush was a failure and embarrassing detriment to any cause, while Obama is viewed as one of the most popular leaders in the world.
Had Obama NOT gone to Copenhagen and Chicago not won the Olympics, the right would have criticized Obama for not doing all he could to guarantee America's success in the eyes of the world. But since he tried and failed, the right is more than happy to roll joyously in the failure feces like a filthy dog or pig, even if it's not the best thing for America. They will then claim that rooting for Obama's failure is rooting for America's success, such as Bill Cunningham did last night, and discount this instance as non-applicable.
The 2016 Olympics did not go to Chicago for 3 reasons:
Visa
It takes people about 3 months to get a visa into the USA. D'oh!
Chicago?
I just spent the weekend in Chicago. I had a fantastic time with friends and family and my brief glimpse was one that was so amazing you feel briefly down from coming back. But it is a big, American city. It is ass getting into the city just about 24 hours a day and traffic is crazy and erratic inside the city at all hours. You really need to know where you are and where you are going, especially at night. Cramming thousands and thousands more people into that wonderful city, already bursting at the seams? Probably not a good idea. Chicago is truly awesome, but I think cramming the Olympics into it would not be good for the Olympics or Chicago.
America The Popular
Some goons on the liberal end were claiming racism had something to do with it. Bullshit. Some claimed Dubya ruined the image of America, which he did; but Obama picked that back up some. From what I could see of the presentations, it appeared that the bid for Chicago was shitty because it didn't focus on what Chicago could offer and how they could make it work, but "Hey, look at all these popular people like Chicago so you totally have to pick it!"
And that's not a Republican thing or Democratic thing but an America thing. We're crackheads for celebrity. Period. And that's how we run things. Unfortunately, while much of the world is also crack-nuts for American celebrity, the IOC is looking for something a little more substantial.
But whatever the right says about what is happening, I have yet to see Obama clearing brush while Americans he sent to Iraq in an illegal war die every day.
And that's my take on the situation. Yours?
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2 comments:
Obama was in a no-win situation but he sucked it up and took one for the team. Chicago lost because they felt they were 'entitled' to the games. They are like those people who are famous for doing nothing. It was all gloss and show but still contained an 'ugly' hidden underneath. Maybe when American culture (which I love) grows up a bit it too can gain the respect of the world and the IOC. Sure they are corrupt and evil like the Nazis were evil but this time I think they got it right with Rio. Just chain your valuables to your jumpers everyone.
Thanks Cal. America has a lot of growing up to do.
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