I suppose that if this had happened on Bush's watch, some dingbat Republican Congresscritter would be asking the Congressional dining hall to change the name of danishes to "freedom pastries."
If this is accurate, and if that's what the IOC thinks, then we should send a few drones around their offices ASAP. (More seriously, along the lines of Ismitje's post above, this is a sign that the IOC think way to highly of themselves. The idea that heads of state should bow to them is a bit problematic)
Jefe, it really is kind of sad, that these people actually get joy from America missing out on something so long as "their" team scores a point. I thought the Stupid Pointless War was, well, stupid and pointless. But never for one ********ing second did I want us to LOSE!! No, you obviously underestimate the ability of guys like Beck to keep it fresh, to find some new faux outrage with which to rile up the Beerkings, er, I mean the rubes.
Munich 1972, West Germany 1974 Italy 1990, Albertville 1992 Also, I didn't know until today that the equestrian competition for the '56 games (host city Melbourne) was held in Stockholm (and Sweden hosted the WC in '58).
That doesn't make any sense at all. Were they going for the two cities in the world that are furthest away from each other?
That question is only relevant if Lula has access to drones. More seriously, I don't think he needed to. They had the "It's about time we put this in South America" argument going for them.
From the Swedish Olympic Committee website: http://www.sok.se/inenglish/stockholmmelbourne1956.4.18ea16851076df63622800011093.html
This is a blessing in disguise for Obama, if he heeds the lesson. Maybe now he can stop wearing the President of the World hat. Being publicly snubbed by foreigners is not going to hurt him with U.S. voters. They already think Europe is full of snobs, anyway.
Bullcockpoppy. Like it or not, President of the World is one of the hats that a PotUSA has to wear. It's what the world demands of the US, even if begrudgingly so (even China likes having the US in its backyard!). There's a reason a dozen gazillion people came out to see him speak when he visited Berlin last summer (and the right wingers said all those foreigners fawning over him was a bad thing - how does that compute?). Also, can we stop acting like Obama is the first head of state to lobby for the games, ever? Also,
Why? This is the first time a US President has ever gone to lobby for a US city and when the White House initially said Obama wouldn’t be going to Copenhagen no one batted an eye, and when the White House reversed course and said he would be going the conventional wisdom was his trip meant Chicago had already sealed the deal. Personally I don't care one way or another, but it does appear the President overestimated his appeal. Anyway, it would be fun to be in Rio today.
"These are lame jokes, yes, but I also think they reveal the profound misunderstanding of how international relations works that exists on the right. The competition to host the 2016 Olympics is just that, a competition. It’s a friendly competition, yes, but it’s still a competition. It’s zero sum. If Rio wins, then Chicago and Sao Paulo and Tokyo lose. But the overall relationship between the United States and Iran is not a zero-sum competition. A world in which Iran accepts verifiable safeguards on its nuclear program in exchange for security guarantees and a relaxation of American sanctions is a world in which both the United States and Iran wind up better off. A world in which the US and Iran cooperate in Afghanistan is a world is which both the United States and Iran wind up better off. If we fight in Iran, we both wind up worse off." See, that's the problem with the right on foreign policy. They're still in 7th grade dick measuring contests.
I'm hoping for a behind the scenes deal. All 18 Chicago voters switched to Rio in Round 2. Maybe in return for the American support for the Olympics, Brazil could organize South American support for the US 2022 World Cup bid. And also due to the failure of the Chicago bid, maybe Obama will redouble his efforts next year and get behind the US 2022 World Cup bid as well.
weird (and/or nonsense) - Everything I have heard said that due to all their past problems with bribery and corruption from the individual olympic committees and the IOC, each delegation only had a very brief 1-5 hour opportunity to meet with the IOC. I heard this a week or two before the meeting, so it wasn't made up to make Obama look bad. I am very sure that nothing Obama said or did, or didn't say or didn't do, had much to do with Chicago not getting the show.
You saw that the heads of state for the other three countries also appeared in Copenhagen, right? Were they also overestimating their appeal? Pele, I believe, was there too.
Actually, it's the blue dog Democrats that are proclaiming him a lame-duck president. These are the same Democrats that actually pretend that socialism might not be such a great idea. Topper
I hope America haters like Beerking realize that no matter what he did or how things went down, it was a no-win for him in the eyes of the citizens of Rightwingia. Obama goes, Chicago wins -> Obama's wasting America's money just so he can rep his hometown during an economic downturn Obama goes, Chicago loses -> Flashing light headline on Drudge Report, gleeful wingnuts Obama doesn't go, Chicago wins -> Obama's so elitist and detached, he can't even be bothered to show up for an American triumph Obama doesn't go, Chicago loses -> Obama doesn't care enough about America, or his own hometown! Whatever, sane people will stop caring about this by Monday. America-haters will find something else to bitch about. The only lingering worry is that Chicago's defeat will mean yet another NYC bid for 2020 or 2024. Like the infrastructure isn't strained enough.
So the Iran nuke situation is solved now? *whew* I knew the Anointed One would jawbone them out of their wholesome ambitions. Thanks, genius, for pointing out that Mr. Carter -err- I mean Mr. Obama can chit-chat Iran into submission. BTW, if you get an email from a high ranking official in Nigeria offering you millions if you give him 10 grand, just delete it. Topper