That is kind of like saying that unless you know for a fact that you are bringing home Super Bowl rings, then you shouldn’t put your best quaterback on the field. Don’t want to risk his getting hurt or anything, you know.

As to no one on the Right going: Does this mean that none of them care enough about America to go and try and get the countless jobs that this would have spurred? To try and get the money that would have poured in from the rest of the world? Why didn’t they try to do something? Or are you trying to suggest there was some vast conspiricy that stopped them from going?

Do you think that maybe the fact that we are in the midst of two wars, and constantly worrying about terrorist attacks, might have had a little to do with it? That Brazil was not impacted as hard by the recession, and looks like it is already starting to come out of it, meaning that they have the money to spend on building stuff, might also have had a small bit of influence on the subject.

That’s a statement that I can agree with in a rational sense. I don’t agree that it is a “Capital ‘F’ FAILURE” which seems to be the tenor of the criticism, but it is, in the sense you defined it, a literal failure to achieve that goal, so the statement is gramatically “fair”. I’ll agree to that.

But that’s not what Rick said. He blamed it on Obama’s past statements, and developed an argument that he was “not-ready-for-primetime” which is demonstrated by his making “bad” statements that were destructive to America’s interests (getting the nod). A capable leader would know not to say such things bacuase of exactly this kind of fallout. Amatuer!

And that is an ENTIRELY different kettle of fish.

Rick isn’t saying Obama failed to sell the bid — he argued that the prior statements of Obama ruined the sales job before it even happened. Whether Obama went to the IOC or not isn’t what settled the Chicago bid in his post — it was what people heard/thought of America from Obama before he went. He “badmouthed” America, so hell no we won’t give you a bid. It wasn’t a failure of salesmanship, but rather his traitorous slander that scared the IOC.

What Rick implied is that if Obama hadn’t made “those” statements, then Chicago would have had a better chance at the bid. “Well, we might have held the Olympics in Chicago, but this friggin’ jagoff shows up asking us to do it? If he asked me to keep breathing I’d hold my breath until I pass out — did you hear he said America wasn’t always perfect?!? What a dickhole!”

Perhaps Obama can be blamed in some manner for the IOC decision — since we don’t know why Brazil got it and we didn’t, we don’t know if Obama was a hindrance or a benefit that ultimately wasn’t enough. Leaping to “Obama’s Anti-American ideologically driven rants influenced the deal” is wishful thinking, and hurtful, unproductive, destructive, hate-fulled wishful thinking at that.

I said we have no idea what motivated the IOC decision, but let me try to go beyond that. I’m not an IOC member. You aren’t either (an educated guess on my part). But just to fantasize, what issues do you think influence their decision? Potential for profit? Potential facilities? How much the members get bribed? Favoritism? How the selection will play out in the world media? Begging? I could imagine any and/or all of these playing some role in their decision.

How unsupportive a country’s leader has been of past administrations for the bidding country? I really can’t imagine that would factor at all. If the new President said something like “We’ve stopped most of the roaming death squads, but there’s still a few out there we’ll try to clean up before the games” . . . then maybe, but that to me falls more under “not making the games look bad with a massacre” and less under “the leader isn’t supportive enough of past regimes”.

Furthermore, that assumes that Obama’s statements were offensive to the IOC. I know that to the True Red Faithful, his comments (which were precisely what?) were the equivilant of a Black Mass . . . but did non-Americans recoil in horror? Did they condemn Obama? Did they care? Wasn’t most of the planet moderately pissed off at us already? I sort of thought they were pissed off because of exactly what Obama was talking about — wouldn’t that mean that the comments HELPED, instead of hurt?

That he did not secure the bid is an undisputed fact. Should he have tried to get the bid without having a guarantee that his efforts would pay off? Maybe, but maybe not. I think that’s a debatable point, but a fair debate in that there are credible views on both sides (to me, at least).

That the bid failed to some extent because of prior Obama comments unrelated to the Olympic bid? That’s uncredible regardless of whether he brought the bid home or not. To propose that, as Rick did, can’t be motivated by any facts, but rather by unsupported hatred. And that’s what I’m complaining about. I understand disliking a person, but that’s not a justification for criticism — it’s a replacement for justification.

Since it isn’t based on facts, we can just keep saying it no matter what happens. Dow went down? Obama shouldn’t have made those comments. What an Amatuer. Dow went up? The market rallied just to show Obama that nobody respected him for being such an amatuer and making those statements. Friggin’ amatuer. I get it. Obama is wrong in thought, word, and deed. Nothing more to add? Then I’m going to stop listening . . . and I don’t want to stop listening.

You’ve explained how Obama failed in his mission, and fairly so. Can you explain how Obama’s comments “speaking negatively of his country” (again . . . what exactly did he say?) influenced the failure? If it did, or if it reasonably could have . . . then I’m wrong and I’ll learn something about how the world works. If it didn’t or couldn’t reasonably have influenced the failure . . . then Rick is wrong and he shouldn’t stoop to that crap.

… you lost your argument here. Nobody on the right went to Copenhagen. Obama did. The analogy doesnt hold.

Obama went to Copenhagen personally to sell Chicago 2016 Olympic bid to the IOC. Chicago lost. Whether Obama was the cause of the failed bid (doubtful), the fact remains that Obama attempted to get X to happen (Chicago 2016 Olympics) and it didnt happen. If he could influence the IOC, whatever he did didnt measure up (knocked out in first round). If he himself could not influence the IOC decision outcome on this to any extent anyway, then he never should have gone in the first place.

Either way, that makes his trip a failure, and only Obama is responsible for that.

Yawn. Obama pushing the lamestream narrative only shows he and they are locked at hips or lips or both. Reality check: That narrative is not the main substance of the disagreement and dissent of Obama’s Government power grabs, but a hyperbolization of it, designed to marginalize all Obama criticisms in order NOT to actually respond to it.

The Obama Power grabs of concern are:
1. Health Care Reform ($1.7 trillion+ in 10 years, with more in the out years)
2. Cap and Trade.
3. The Stimulus ($787 billion)
4. The Omnibus ($410 billion) & massive planned deficit spending ($9 trillion in deficits)
5. Antitrust lawsuits against Google, et al.
6. Czarist power: Pay Czar, Green Jobs Czar (oops, by Van Jones), Car Czar, etc.
7. Turning Pell Grants into an entitlement.
8. Having the Food and Drug Administration regulate tobacco.
9. Consumer Financial Protection Agency.
10. Federal Trade Commission overreach.

“I’m not sure I see the correlation between the failure of N-Obama to get the Olympics in his dear Chi-town and the failure of America. I believe that these Olympic Committee folks saw through the fact that all N-Obama wanted was the pat on the back he would have gotten here in America for getting the Olympics. Not to mention the audacity of a sitting American president to actually think that his mere presence would sway people who more than likely hate America anyway!”

Good grief! First of all, the Chicago 2016 bid was being put together LONG before Obama came along as Prez. The “Not to mention…” sentence is absolute nonsense. ALL of the heads of state were there–ALL OF THEM. Chicago didn’t lose because of anti-Americanism either: Chicago lost because their bid was bad–the Olympics there would have been a disaster.

Terrific writing. Your so correct about the IOC loss for the Chicago Outfit/Daley/Criminal Racketeering Enterprise Chicago City Hall/Fred Roti “Made Man of the Chicago Outfit” & 1st Ward Alderman/1st & 11th Ward Hired Truck Scandal/Family Secrets case Grand Ave., Rezco/Blago.

See: chicagoguncase.com. U.S.Supreme Court took 2nd Amendment Case See Fred Roti Ordinance on Chicago gun ban.

I believe I read Obama has reasigned Fitzgearld U.S. Atorney out of Chicago installed there by President Bush. HHHHHMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.

I guess he was getting to close to bankrupting the Daley Machine of Corruption, so its good bye Mr. U.S. [A]ttorney since it was he who nailed them all thusfar, with Blago and company to go.

Lets see if the DOJ continues on with the prosecution[s] in the same manner as Fitzgearld would have done, or if the White House indulges in political “Executive” obstruction of Justice as in [Hint] the Black Panther dismissal to shut everyone up in the Chicago=Cook County Machine” et al including Springfield illinois in violation of the Three Seperation Of Powers Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The voters reap what they sow and pick their same poison every election cycle. Be careful what you wish for it may just come true and boy they’re voting record sure proves their poison is killing them DALEY[pun intended] financially with taxes rats and fraud. So keep on voting. Twice, and don’t forget the dead including the wiseguys.

“we just spent 8 years being told that it was the rights uncritical patriotism - love of country - that got the United States into so much trouble and fostered the notion that it was the left that actually hates America. Are we to take seriously the idea that all of a sudden, the right hates America because Obama was elected?”

Huh? I honestly can’t remember a single instance from the past eight years where someone on the political left asserted that people on the right are patriotic.

The idea that the right hates America is a strawman; the suggestion is that people on the right hate Obama more than they love their country. Nor is the suggestion that this is something “sudden;” rather the suggestion is that many people on the right weren’t patriotic even before Obama was elected.