Update by wordsmith:
CNN floored that the charm and rhetoric of “The One” didn’t even see Chicago through past the first round:
AP:
The city was eliminated so quickly that some of the would-be revelers weren’t sure what had happened. Some started asking if they had heard what they thought they heard.
“I’ve never really had a disappointment like this,” said 33-year-old Ken Rudd. “This is one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen.”
Many stood for a few minutes, staring at the screen, and at least one flung his hands into the air in a crude gesture toward the TV screen.
Within seconds, people began filing out of the plaza.
The only rational explanation is: The IOC are racists!
Update by Mike:
Obama’s luster diminished by desperate last minute effort!
Breaking news, more details later.
Three 747’s, one 757, a fleet of C-17 cargo planes carrying limos and support vehicles. Hundreds of military, Secret Service and staff as well as countless hours of senior staff time that could have addressed issues like Afghanistan or Iran.
All to ferry the Obama’s over for this failed effort.
Well, at least we won’t have to see new Olympic competitions in Chicago for local sports like gang murder or political corruption!
Awwww. My heart bleeds.
Millions for nothing, but, the manchild managed to squeeze in a 25 minute meeting with General McCrystal on the tarmac. Word had it that Obama might make a quick trip to Afghanistan before returning home, but I guess it was better for the good general to leave his post and accomodate Obama.
Used to live in the Chicago area when my father was posted to an air defense installation. Have no desire to ever go back.
Just think of all the disappointed corrupt Chicago machine pols and their big money developer friends who were all set to cash in on the building boom!
What a pity. All that corruption will just have to find a new outlet.
awwww–I guess the IOC wasn’t impressed by the magnitude of MO’s sacrifice for the children. The grifters surrounding Barry will just have to find another use for those properties that were going to be sold to be torn down for the Olympic Village now.
For the first time in my adult life, I’m glad the US lost something! Should be a wakeup call for pres. Mickey Mouse, but I’m afraid that he’s just going to try harder to ram something down our throats to make up for it.
Barry, Michelle, Valerie, Oprah and a cast of thousands… too bad… so sad!
GOD IS GOOD!!!!
I get that Chicago is full of corruption. I get that our President has more important things to bother himself with.
But if we were talking about a different city in the US, would all of you still not want the US to host the world for the Olympics? I think the United States, as the world leader we are, would have been proud to host such an event. Just maybe find a city with less corruption.
Oh, what “word had it”? The one you just made up? Gen McCrystal was in London not Afghanistan, and flew to see the President in Copenhagen.
@Mike’s America:
They probably have more outlets than they can handle as it is. Knowing these recent events have had multi-million dollar cost overruns, their city is broke, but their pals would have made off like………..bandits. Would have been great for future campaign contributions though.
The only thing I feel bad about in all this is that my nephew was on one of the planning committees. I got an email from him asking me to sign a petition, just deleted it, if he checked the names he would know ours weren’t there. He’s a good kid, I hope he doesn’t get in too deep, at least he doesn’t work for Daley but their paths cross, I wince.
Dick Morris is correct. Obama and Michelle are listening to people who are totally out of sink with world reality.
#1 Obama should have stayed put and talk to his military commanders about Irak and Afghanistan. Independents would have liked that. With Public Option out of the table, that would have been a good thing. No discipline!
#2- Michelle’s speech about her ‘sacrifice”, a total Blunder!
#3 Obama’s advisors have no understanding of European traditions. Europeans hate American Politicians!
They went to lobby the Europeans and one thing that Europeans hate is the American slick lobbying process. Europeans strongly believe that Americans are superficial, or skin deep only., that Americans are not intelligent and cannot have a serious conversation about a book or politics.
#4-On top of it , they took Oprah with them. She represents this superfical world of Americans that Europeans hate so much.
#5-Plus, if Obama thinks that people don’t like him in America because he is black, Europeans are very racists and afraid of American Blacks because they think they are too agressive and dangerous. They watch a lot of Hollywood movies. Imagine what they think about Chicago.
Gee, when are the Americans going to understand that Europeans don’t like them no matter what and it had nothing to do with George Bush.
Finally, who wouldn’t want to go to Rio? Copacabana, Garotas in the beach and the best caipirinhas, dancing Samba…cannot beat that, not even Obama.
@Blast:
Why would I make that up, get a grip.
This made my day 🙂 Zero is a falling star everywhere and Orca Winfrey is just a caricature.
The IOC rammed one right up O’Dumbo’s brain hole. Out in round one, like a pee wee football team playing the cowboys.
“orca winfrey” hahaha i nominate that for comment of the day. well there goes bama’s jobs program. the olympics would have employed alot of hot dog vendors…
*Beatles tune ringing in my ears:
“I’m a loser……………and I’m not what I appear to be…………”
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w222/RidesAPaleHorse/GIF/ATT000034.gif
From halfway to OP 3 40F and Free Enterprise prevails.
“I get that Chicago is full of corruption. I get that our President has more important things to bother himself with.
But if we were talking about a different city in the US, would all of you still not want the US to host the world for the Olympics? I think the United States, as the world leader we are, would have been proud to host such an event. Just maybe find a city with less corruption.”
Actually no I would not care if the US had the Olympics here right now. Most of the cities that host the Olympics go into a financial hole and it takes years for them to even pay off (tax) the cost of the buildings and events. Do we really need that happening in the cities that are sucking up billions every year in federal aid asking for more?
I love Drudge’s headline: “The Ego Has Landed”
The hot dog vendors would single handedly lower the unemployment rate for MONTHS….come off the unemployment rolls then never go back on LOLOL!
And who would NOT want to go to Rio??? Beautiful beaches, colorful sights 🙂 I wonder if they are wee wee’ing all the way HOME ROFLMAO!!!!!
WOw what will Obama do with the unused Stimulus money he was rat holing to finance the Olympics?
You know what this means? The whole world is Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacist….!
This is all Glen Beck’s fault! How dare he bring up the tangled web of Obama/Jarrett financial crony connections at such a critical time. This is just more proof that FOX is an enemy of the State. (And a friend of real Americans:)
We don’t need the BILLIONS of dollars of debt right now. Chicago didn’t deserve it anyway.
GO RIO!!!!!!
I was pleased to hear that odumbo failed yet again – especially on this. How he expects to go around the world and trash the USA and then expect them to believe it is a great place to hold the olympics is clearly beyond him – and i think uri was right with his comments about european thought – they only detest the russians more
In some kind of cosmic irony, Obama and company left a carbon footprint exactly the size of Chicago.
Ya’ll gotta hear this guy…It’s like he just found out the Easter bunny isn’t real.
CNN “fluffer” can’t believe it!
This really has nothing to do with Obama. I live just a few blocks away from Washington Park where the Olympic Stadium was to be built and 1 1/2 miles from where the Olympic Village would have gone. The problem with the Chicago bid is that they did not put their finances in order until the last minute. We also have some issues with our transportation system. There were a lot of good things going for it but politically, Rio had the edge because the Olympics have never been held in South America. You really can’t think of crime because the murder rate in Rio is four times that of Chicago. The infrastructure cost is double that of Chicago’s bid. This came down to a regional vote.
Personally, I was looking forward to charging $500 a night for my extra bedroom.
The other side of this is that Mayor Daley didn’t have the backing of the people. Don’t let them fool you. Only about 48% of Chicagoans supported the Olympic bid. He now has to submit a vision of Chicago that does not include the Olympics and that is where is he going to fail. And you can believe the African Americans in the Washington Park neighborhood would have been displaced and now we’ll see if he is really committed to the development of the area or turn his focus back to downtown and the northside.
So, um, why are you so happy at the USA losing out? You *are* an American patriot … right?
@Missy
Are you basing that on what Bill Kristol is predicting?
It makes sense. He can deflect from today’s ego-brusing, put Afghanistan back in the front of the news-cycle for the weekend, and bring the Good General back to the “office”.
Reasons to be happy Chicago lost out – cost overruns, corruption, security issues, huge debt put on the people. Yeah. Rio gets it all now but I’m sure the Chicago machine will give them lessons on how to work it out.
He should never have put the prestige of the Office on the line for something like this. You don’t learn the job on the job, when you screw up the entire world sees it.
@james:
A completely off topic question for you….does anything remain of the “World’s Colombian Exposition” which was held in 1893 in Chicago?
I just finished reading a fantastic book about that event by Erik Larson.
I haven’t traveled to Chicago yet and was curious if anything was preserved from that event.
FedUp #6…I enjoyed your post. My thoughts almost verbatum
USMCdaughter1 #12….wonderful….
Zipity #21….right…we are all racists…so what else is new
ThomNJ #25….RIGHT ON!
Billi #29…BO has gone around the world trashing America…and now that America has been trashed in the eyes of the world, why would the IOC give the 2016 Olympics to such a lousy country (in BO’s eyes)….He started it…and THEY finished it. He got what he deserved. And yes Billi, I AM A Patriot. I love this country. I would never trash her at all. But this man deserves the comeuppance he got. America did not…but this man did
I do believe that this fools chickens are really coming home to roost….unforutnately “our tax dollars at work” are taking a beating
ok, prove it, quote and supply a link to “Word had it that Obama might make a quick trip to Afghanistan before returning home,”
@Blast:
35 seconds of Googling:
View at EasyCaptures.com
Obviously there was speculation that Obie would travel to Afghanistan…otherwise the press would never have asked Gibbs about it.
I can’t help but think that IOC played the one like the fool he is. Why else would the one risk the embarrassment of showing up just to walk away empty handed? A few of our close friends, France, England, Germany, and Poland, (all recently snubbed by the one) and their friends, knew Chicago wasn’t going to win, yet they drop hints that Chicago is in a dead heat with Rio. Of course, the one’s ego gets the best on him and he believes if shows up in person, he will sway the needed votes to Chicago, he even has MO make a tearful speech of the sacrifices she has made to fly all the way to Europe, how could they not vote for Chi-town.
Then they dropped the hammer on the one, Chicago was first to be eliminated, their plan worked perfectly. So much for the one’s understanding of foreign relations
@Aye,
I would have to say that the legacy of that event has to be Jackson Park, The Museum of Science and Industry and the Art Museum. I believe some other buildings survived but did not stay in the city. I can see the Museum of Science and Industry from my house and the lagoon is still there. Where some of the builder were is now the beach which runs from 31st street to 93rd street. That is the other unique thing about Chicago. We have almost 28 miles of lakefront and 95% of it is parks and beaches open to the public.
The World Fair also encouraged a lot of people with money to build in the area. So if you ever do a search on Hyde Park and Kenwood, you will see that there is a lot of old money in the area as well as the University of Chicago. By the way, this is the same area where President Obama resides.
It’s one of the best areas to live in Chicago. I can walk to the beach, to great dining and I’m 15 minutes away from downtown. I am biased but having living in Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Memphis, Chicago is probably the best big city in the states. But again, I am biased.
so this is what obama meant by fixing the economy. What is it they say about putting all your eggs into one basket? Especially a basket with a big hole in it. Just kidding, I know this isn’t his fix for our economy. Actually I’m not.
@james:
Thanks!
I found it interesting that the entire venue was build on what was basically mud. The soil was so soft that the developers had a horrible time figuring out a way to build foundations that wouldn’t crumble.
The efforts of the architects for that event are what brought us the skyscrapers that we take for granted now.
So many things that are commonplace to us now were brand new inventions then. The Exposition brought us the first Ferris Wheel, Juicy Fruit gum, and others. Also, there was this beer that won a blue ribbon in the competition there….I bet everyone knows which one that was.
Thank you, God!
@Blast:
More for you to chew on:
Well, the beer of choice now is Goose Island. There is the 3-1-2 and the dark Ale. The 3-1-2 is a little fruity so I tend to go with the dark ale… that with a Chicago-style pizza…. the IOC doesn’t know what its missing.
You folks need to get to Chicago at some point.
I’m thinking that Chicago & the Obama’s should reimburse the taxpayers for the totally unnecessary and wasteful expense to ferry all those narcissitic, egomaniacs to Copenhagen – just to get bitch-slapped in front of the whole world.
Let the media spin begin!
Here’s another thought on the matter: Obama has been the most omnipresent President in history. He’s on TV ALL THE TIME. He’s spent more time talking to David Letterman than he has General McChrystal in Afghanistan (though he did meet with Gen. McC. on the tarmac in Copenhagen for 25 minutes… guess who did most of the talking?)
Obama thinks that whenever he speaks the vast majority of people listening swoon in delight. That may be true for the typical campaign rally of Obamabots but it is NOT true of anyone else in the real world. Why do you think French President Sarkozy lectured Obama about living in the real world?
Take heart conservatives. The fantasy of Obama crashed and burned in Copenhagen just as it crashed and burned in the UN Security Council a few days before. Obamabots may still be drinking the Kool Aid but fewer and fewer people outside that delusional orbit are still sippin’ that fluid.
Why would the IOC vote for Chicago, when Obama has been running all over the world bad mouthing the USA? Remember you reap what you sow, and Obama has done a lot of sowing!
mike, the only problem with your assessment is that the olympic vote had nothing to do with obama. this was mayor daley’s vision and they made missteps a year ago that caused concern for the IOC. there was a lot of issues with financing and the insurance to cover cost overruns. daley had the city council sign it but then has a press conference almost insinuating that he wouldn’t honor it if tax payer were on the hook.
then you have the fact that Rio had a very strong bid and were the sentimental favorites going in to the vote. if you look at it, chicago wasn’t even considered a strong contender until this past summer when the city council approved the insurance package.
i know you guys think that everything is about obama but sometimes that’s just not the case. this is one of those times.
@Blast:
And the hits just keep on coming:
View at EasyCaptures.com
And again:
View at EasyCaptures.com
Dudley, as an old attorney buddy taught me….never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to.
Bumpersticker……..
http://i979.photobucket.com/albums/ae277/RAPH6969/NIC.jpg
Chicago Olympics 2016, an unborn event, was in the last trimester simply YANKED OUT of the running. OH HECK! Obama … ain’t abortion a bitch?!?
Obama left with very little political capital and returned with virtually NONE; polls will show that Obama is even less popular now than ever before. The cost for this utter embarrassment for both Obama and his wife? Over a million dollars, and our brave soldiers are fighting and dying in a war that Obama has put on pause for his convenience.
Uh, try over TEN MILLION dollars for the POTUS,FLOTUS and FATUS.