Sorry Conservatives. You can set up all the straw men you like, but Obama had nothing to do with the failure to get the Olympics in Chicago.
It was the standard practice this year for the national leader to present the bids. Tokyo's bid was presented by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Rio de Janeiro's bid was presented by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. And Madrid's bid was presented by King Juan Carlos. The heads of state of all 4 Olympic finalists went to speak at the IOC. This included the King of Spain himself.
President Obama gave a ten minute speech presenting Chicago's bid. Obama was respecting the international community by going. Had he not he would have essentially been saying "I'm too good for this, unlike the rest of you kings and presidents who have to grovel". Going to Stockholm was the proper thing to do.
Last January 8th, does anyone have a clue what President George W. Bush was doing that day? He was in Chicago, meeting with the IOC in an effort to support the bid of Chicago for the Olympics. You know why? Because it's the right thing to do to support your country and the individual governmental entities in it, if you are the head of state.
And let's not forget the reason the IOC ditched Chicago during the first round: The Republican-led Salt Lake City bribery scandal. The International committee is pissed that we exposed their delegates for the whores that they are during the Salt Lake bidding process, where Salt Lake bribed their way into hosting the games and got caught. Another big factor was the Atlanta Olympic bombing by right-wing nutjob Eric Rudolph.
And the big deal-breaker was how intrusive our customs and immigrations policies have become since 9/11, particularly the fingerprinting of foreign tourists.
The IOC works on a principle of "turns" and on countries being due. South America has never had a turn. Brazil (as much as China) is transitioning from a poor country to an important country. By the standards the IOC uses outside of the technical standards so long as Brazil made it to the finals they were going to win. Anyone who follows IOC politics knows this. Madrid wasn't getting it, Tokyo wasn't getting it, and after Doha got punted (who technically had the 4th best bid) and Rio was allowed to move into that slot, Rio was going to win. If Doha hadn't had that one major flaw in their bid it would have been the 2016 Olympics in Doha. The IOC was looking from a country from the global south to host. Africa, Middle East, or South America, if they had a technically proficient candidate that candidate was going to win. South America is just next in line for the Olympics. Last I checked, we don't live in South America. Rio was always the leading city to get the Olympics. Rio put up three times as much money as Chicago did. We've already had the Olympics 7 years ago. It's not like we're being shut out.
There are two places in the world right now that would be a complete disaster to hold the Olympics: The Middle East and United States. The chance of domestic terrorism from a religious conservative is just too great to ignore in these places. Religious fanaticism is starting to take it's toll on this country much like it has in the Middle East.
That's why the United States didn't get the bid. The IOC said as much on Friday.
Obama had nothing to do with the failure to get the Olympics in Chicago.
But Conservatives cheer America losing anyway. Really? This is the best you Conservatives can come up with? This is what you're going to run with in your talking points? I thought it couldn't get any lamer than birth certificates and the "war on Christmas", but there ya go. I mean, holy shit. There's grasping at straws, and then there's mind-blowing idiocy like this.
Do Conservatives really not see how bad it's making the conservative side look for the rest of the country to see Conservative talking heads crowing with delight at the idea that our country won't get to host the Olympics, just because Obama made a simple ten minute speech supporting Chicago's bid? Do you have any idea how insane it makes all Conservatives look? Do you ever want to win an election again?
And remember this well: If Obama hadn't gone, Conservatives would have blamed the loss on the president... failing to go.
Remember when Bush bid for NYC to host the Olympics? I do. The celebrations were attended by Paul Simon and Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters and all kinds of other "intellectual New York liberal/commie/black/jews". They weren't there booing the president. They didn't decide to renounce their support for the New York bid when Bush lent his support.
Remember when liberals cheered "Yay! The United States lost!" When Bush's NYC bid failed? No? That's because liberals didn't cheer. We don't celebrate America losing. That's what Conservatives do.
That's right, folks. Conservatives are cheering: "Hooray! The United States lost!"
Three years ago, these Conservatives would have called for someone to be tarred and feathered in the town square if they cheered about the US losing the bid to host the Olympics in 2016. Fast forward to the Obama years and Conservatives are leading the pack to cheer the US failure to win the bid.
Conservatives have been building up this illusion of patriotic duty and morality for years. Mom and apple pie and honorable military service to a great nation that's here to save the world from itself. But now everyone is starting to realize that Conservatives / Republicans don't really care about morality or even the rule of law. It's all been a lie. Now Conservatives aren't even bothering to pretend to play along anymore.
Conservatives are happy the United States didn't win the bid to host the Olympics. These folks are TRUE PATRIOTS!
It's basically what anybody with even a speck of intelligence already knows: Conservatives don't care if America loses, because they put Party before Country.
But hey, what do you expect from right-wingers? Just look at the right-wing bloggers who exploited a story about a terminally ill child for partisan reasons? Never mind the fact that the FedEx story is such a RARE occurance, that the right-wingers break open the champagne and stumble all over themselves to point this story out! They are inadvertantly reenforcing what the liberals were saying all along. Yet again, the right-wingers shoot themselves in the foot.
And I'm sorry, anybody who has nothing better to do on both a Friday night and Saturday night than post on a blog, really shouldn't be pointing out who is or isn't an EPIC FAILURE.
But hey, maybe someday the GOP will actually have a real accomplishment to boast about.
And we'll leave you now with this Olympic Flashback: '02 Salt Lake Games Tainted By Scandal, Bribery and Glenn Beck's Church.
It was the standard practice this year for the national leader to present the bids. Tokyo's bid was presented by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. Rio de Janeiro's bid was presented by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. And Madrid's bid was presented by King Juan Carlos. The heads of state of all 4 Olympic finalists went to speak at the IOC. This included the King of Spain himself.
President Obama gave a ten minute speech presenting Chicago's bid. Obama was respecting the international community by going. Had he not he would have essentially been saying "I'm too good for this, unlike the rest of you kings and presidents who have to grovel". Going to Stockholm was the proper thing to do.
Last January 8th, does anyone have a clue what President George W. Bush was doing that day? He was in Chicago, meeting with the IOC in an effort to support the bid of Chicago for the Olympics. You know why? Because it's the right thing to do to support your country and the individual governmental entities in it, if you are the head of state.
And let's not forget the reason the IOC ditched Chicago during the first round: The Republican-led Salt Lake City bribery scandal. The International committee is pissed that we exposed their delegates for the whores that they are during the Salt Lake bidding process, where Salt Lake bribed their way into hosting the games and got caught. Another big factor was the Atlanta Olympic bombing by right-wing nutjob Eric Rudolph.
And the big deal-breaker was how intrusive our customs and immigrations policies have become since 9/11, particularly the fingerprinting of foreign tourists.
The IOC works on a principle of "turns" and on countries being due. South America has never had a turn. Brazil (as much as China) is transitioning from a poor country to an important country. By the standards the IOC uses outside of the technical standards so long as Brazil made it to the finals they were going to win. Anyone who follows IOC politics knows this. Madrid wasn't getting it, Tokyo wasn't getting it, and after Doha got punted (who technically had the 4th best bid) and Rio was allowed to move into that slot, Rio was going to win. If Doha hadn't had that one major flaw in their bid it would have been the 2016 Olympics in Doha. The IOC was looking from a country from the global south to host. Africa, Middle East, or South America, if they had a technically proficient candidate that candidate was going to win. South America is just next in line for the Olympics. Last I checked, we don't live in South America. Rio was always the leading city to get the Olympics. Rio put up three times as much money as Chicago did. We've already had the Olympics 7 years ago. It's not like we're being shut out.
There are two places in the world right now that would be a complete disaster to hold the Olympics: The Middle East and United States. The chance of domestic terrorism from a religious conservative is just too great to ignore in these places. Religious fanaticism is starting to take it's toll on this country much like it has in the Middle East.
That's why the United States didn't get the bid. The IOC said as much on Friday.
Obama had nothing to do with the failure to get the Olympics in Chicago.
But Conservatives cheer America losing anyway. Really? This is the best you Conservatives can come up with? This is what you're going to run with in your talking points? I thought it couldn't get any lamer than birth certificates and the "war on Christmas", but there ya go. I mean, holy shit. There's grasping at straws, and then there's mind-blowing idiocy like this.
Do Conservatives really not see how bad it's making the conservative side look for the rest of the country to see Conservative talking heads crowing with delight at the idea that our country won't get to host the Olympics, just because Obama made a simple ten minute speech supporting Chicago's bid? Do you have any idea how insane it makes all Conservatives look? Do you ever want to win an election again?
And remember this well: If Obama hadn't gone, Conservatives would have blamed the loss on the president... failing to go.
Remember when Bush bid for NYC to host the Olympics? I do. The celebrations were attended by Paul Simon and Whoopi Goldberg and Barbara Walters and all kinds of other "intellectual New York liberal/commie/black/jews". They weren't there booing the president. They didn't decide to renounce their support for the New York bid when Bush lent his support.
Remember when liberals cheered "Yay! The United States lost!" When Bush's NYC bid failed? No? That's because liberals didn't cheer. We don't celebrate America losing. That's what Conservatives do.
That's right, folks. Conservatives are cheering: "Hooray! The United States lost!"
Three years ago, these Conservatives would have called for someone to be tarred and feathered in the town square if they cheered about the US losing the bid to host the Olympics in 2016. Fast forward to the Obama years and Conservatives are leading the pack to cheer the US failure to win the bid.
Conservatives have been building up this illusion of patriotic duty and morality for years. Mom and apple pie and honorable military service to a great nation that's here to save the world from itself. But now everyone is starting to realize that Conservatives / Republicans don't really care about morality or even the rule of law. It's all been a lie. Now Conservatives aren't even bothering to pretend to play along anymore.
Conservatives are happy the United States didn't win the bid to host the Olympics. These folks are TRUE PATRIOTS!
It's basically what anybody with even a speck of intelligence already knows: Conservatives don't care if America loses, because they put Party before Country.
But hey, what do you expect from right-wingers? Just look at the right-wing bloggers who exploited a story about a terminally ill child for partisan reasons? Never mind the fact that the FedEx story is such a RARE occurance, that the right-wingers break open the champagne and stumble all over themselves to point this story out! They are inadvertantly reenforcing what the liberals were saying all along. Yet again, the right-wingers shoot themselves in the foot.
And I'm sorry, anybody who has nothing better to do on both a Friday night and Saturday night than post on a blog, really shouldn't be pointing out who is or isn't an EPIC FAILURE.
But hey, maybe someday the GOP will actually have a real accomplishment to boast about.
And we'll leave you now with this Olympic Flashback: '02 Salt Lake Games Tainted By Scandal, Bribery and Glenn Beck's Church.