Let Us Go to Rio!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[John-in-KC]

 

So the Community Organizer in Chief wasted carbon profligately spent political capital on a fool's errand.

 

IMO, Rio won because they stuffed the IOC members pockets the most.

[Merlyn_LeRoy]

So you're saying you want a president that bribes officials?

[Lisabob]

John, come on, Presidents are supposed to lobby on behalf of their cities who apply for these things. If Obama had not done it, people would've been hollering even louder. If McCain had won the election, he'd have gone off to do this, too.

 

But yeah, I'm with Merlyn in this case. What is it you actually want here?

[John-in-KC]

Lisa,

 

So why didn't Mr Bush, Mr Clinton, Mr Bush the Elder, Mr Reagan, Mr Carter, Mr Ford, Mr Nixon, Mr Johnson, Mr Kennedy, Mr Eisenhower ...?

 

Merlyn,

 

No. I'm just saying the US should not expect to win in environments where bribery and graft is one one of the societal mores. We have strictures against it, based on our societal mores. Other folks do not have those strictures.

[CA_Scouter]

Ditto Merlyn and Lisa.

 

J, your apparant contempt for Dems parallels someone else's contempt for a certain youth organization.

 

Separated at birth perhaps??? ;-)

 

 

[Lisabob]

Are you so sure that none of those presidents campaigned for the olympics to be in the US? I suspect that they did. LA in '84, Atlanta in '96, Salt Lake in '02 were not flukes and the IOC didn't pick us just 'cause we're nice people with a good country. Maybe it was more behind the scenes back then, but smoke filled rooms are even more likely to produce bribery and scandal than pandering that occurs out in the open.

 

 

[Eamonn]

Rio???

No, mate!

I'm off to London.

Ea.

[CalicoPenn]

Until 2006, Heads of State just didn't go to the final IOC Congress Meetings, so none of the Presidents prior to that time would have been expected to go.

 

In 2006, Tony Blair went, and helped London get the 2012 games. This was a game changing moment. It's telling that the Heads of State of Brazil, Japan and Spain all went to Copenhagen. For President Obama not to go, would have looked very odd in this new reality. Mitt Romney, who headed up the Salt Lake City games has even suggested that President Obama really had to go, and future Presidents will also be wise to go as well.

 

How would it have looked to the world had President Obama not gone to Copenhagen when the Heads of State of the other three countries did go - especially with President Obama being from Chicago? Some say he wasted political capital - I'd say his graciousness before, and especially after the vote is a gain for the US in the world's eyes - he's shown that Americans truly can be gracious in defeat, and not the spoiled brat that many in the world saw us as during the last administration.

 

Yep, Chicago lost out (though about half of the city would disagree). What I find interesting is that a major concern of the IOC was that Chicago was planning on creating temporary facilities, and wasn't planning on spending as much as Rio bid. I'd suggest that this speaks volumes about the fantasy world the IOC members seem to be living in, and their lack of understanding of economic realities.

 

Not to knock Rio here, but it's rather ironic that Rio had bid billions more than anyone else, and the IOC seems to accept that Rio can get that kind of money when it announced just last week that it was being forced to cancel a World Cup swimming event planned for next month because it couldn't afford it. Rio can't afford a swim meet, how does it expect to afford the Olympics?

 

Much has been said by critics in Chicago about the debt the Olympics put cities in - Athens, Beijing, even Montreal, which is still apparently paying off debts from 1976! What I found most interesting is that these critics haven't listed the cities that didn't find themselves mired in debt caused by the Olympics - and there is a commonality to the list: Los Angeles, Atlanta, Salt Lake City - note all from the US. It appears that US Cities don't fall into debt because of the Olympics, while cities from elsewhere do.

 

Cities that have hosted the Olympics complain that they now have venues that are vacant and essentially unusable. Chicago put together a plan that would allow for both temporary facilities, to be removed when the games ended, and for easy conversion of permanent facilities to become useful after the games. The IOC didn't like that - can't have something that doesn't result in a permanent monument to waste, can we?

 

Alas, I believe John is quite right in stating that Rio got it because they stuffed more into the pockets of the IOC members. I think it would be interesting if the US were to force the World Court to conduct a criminal enterprise investigation into the IOC.

 

[John-in-KC]

And Mr Blair was not a Head of State. He was a head of Government.

 

HM Elizabeth II is the HoS of the UK, last time I checked.

 

I disagree with Jay Nixon, the Governor of my State, on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. Save that, he's a good Governor. His political party? D

 

The Honorable Claire McCaskill, junior Senator of my State, showed incredible moral strength in how she managed her healtcare town halls this summer. She also didn't start attack ads last election cycle until about 2 weeks after her opponent. We don't necessarily agree on many issues, but I'll vote for her the next time. She's an honorable woman. Her political party? D

 

Senator Baucus, from all I see, is giving us his very best effort to find middle ground between the sideline positions of each party. What's his party? D.

 

I just don't believe in Forrest Gump governance (stupid is as stupid does), and that's what this little fiasco was: Wasting diplomatic capital when Iran, China trade, and assorted other issues call for it.

 

Lisa: This was worth a Presidential letter imo. No more, no less. A letter is worth oh, about $1000 of EOPOTUS time, tops. I cannot tell you what the meters ran to take AF1 over the pond.

 

This trip was a fool's errand.(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[BrentAllen]

I don't see how Mr. & Mrs. Obama helped Chicago's case much, at least by what they said. Michele's dad had MS, so bring the games to Chicago? Huh? Obama wants to walk out his door and be at the Olympics? That's a reason? Sorry, but they didn't say anything to build the case for Chicago. I guess they were just counting on their celebrity status. In the end, it probably didn't matter much - the deal was already done. I did find it humorous that the Obama's were treated like rock stars by IOC members beforehand, and then Chicago was tossed in the first round.

 

It's hard to imagine another city out-bribing Chicago. Daly is probably insulted.

[GernBlansten]

You folks are really pathetic.

Dancing on the failure of America to win hosting the Olympics.

You really are pathetic, and not very patriotic.

[Lisabob]

Head of State/Head of Gov't. It's one of the things I teach my students, but let's get real. In the US the president is expected to play both roles. Jumping on someone for choosing the "wrong" comparison mode really is a bit over the top. And by the way, I haven't bothered to look but I bet it was the Japanese Head of Gov't that lobbied the IOC too, unless perhaps the Emperor showed up.

 

Was it a waste of a trip? Maybe. But that's the way the game is being played, and had Obama not attended (and Chicago wasn't picked) then people would undoubtedly have questioned *his* patriotism, or competence, or what have you. No doubt some would've used that as "proof" that he was a secret Kenyan national or something, as well.

 

Eamonn - are you really going to the London games? I can't wait to hear all about it if you do!

[sherminator505]

I think that many who are unhappy with Obama in the White House would have found something to say about him no matter what he did in this matter, just as it seems to be in most matters involving Obama. Had he not gone, many of these same folks would be second-guessing Mr. Obama's non-appearance right about now.

 

Recall that at last year's Olympics, President Bush stayed for four days just to watch, even as the situation in Georgia (the country, not the state) was deteriorating. I don't recall that drawing nearly as much criticism at the time.(This message has been edited by sherminator505)

[John-in-KC]

No, Lisa, Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. He's an American citizen by birth. That's settled, except to the truly whacko. I ask you retract that.

 

I have very high expectations of my President. When I look at Presidents historically, I look at Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Truman as being among the very best. FDR and HST in particular, for they had both internal and external matters to deal with.

 

I expect my President to show great maturity in his use of his political and diplomatic capital. He starts out with only so much. How he uses it either earns him more or spends it down to zero. We've seen what happens when a President spends his political capital down to zero: His name was Gerald R Ford, and he had veto after veto over-ridden by the Congress. We've seen what happens when a President spends his diplomatic capital down to zero: His name is James Earl Carter. I won't say anything other than Desert One.

 

You don't go into a lion's den without understanding the rules. Google IOC and bribery, what do you get? LOTS. That includes the SLCOOC. Read this: http://www.vexnews.com/news/6585/bribes-ioc-corruption-rears-its-ugly-head-as-chicago-shunned-and-rio-parties/

Chicago and the US went into this as we should, with our heads held high, and walking up to the front of the table. Unfortunately, much of the rest of the world does not work that way. Graft and bribery aren't significant crimes, they're part of the political landscape. People back up to the Olympic table, including the Salt Lake City Olympic Organizing Committe.

 

Speaking of Salt Lake City, here is NPR's summary of coverage: http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/ioc/

 

So here comes Obama in the 747 with his cast of many. The Chicago hopefuls have already sent Oprah and Michelle ahead to schmooze in the final hours. How much more "glitter" does the proposal need, for Pete's sake?

 

Meanwhile, General McChrystal met with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs this week at Ramstein. There are reports he gave Admiral Mullen his Request for Forces. In the meantime, that fracas continues. There's also the little fracas in Iraq. In addition, the head of your political party, Lisa, does not seem to have a VISION, GOALS, or a SMART implementation path to health care reform. Instead, the Congress, which has an ironclad Democratic majority, is floundering around. Where's LBJ, HST, or FDR and their world-famous armtwisting methods?

 

Finally, for those who think eight years without an attack on the US is an indicator we've defeated terrorism... there's a concept in military thinking called strategic patience. Our enemies have it, we don't. Had Chicago won the games, I'd bet the last dollar of my IRA that we'd see something akin to the Palestinian incursion on the Munich Games of 1972... only worse.

 

You're not going to make me fall off this, Lisa: This trip was a waste of diplomatic capital that the United States needs from the President: He has to deal with keeping NATO forces committed to Afghanistan, we've got the makings of a trade war with China going on, over 10% of our workforce is out of a job... there's enough for him to do inside the US.

 

Lisa, I never did answer your initial question: I want him not to have made this trip at all. Since I cannot go back in time, I can call it as I see it, "A Fool's Errand."

 

Hier Ich Stehe, to quote Martin Luther.

 

ETA:

I googled President Bush Beijing Olympics. Here are the results for your reading pleasure:

http://www.google.com/search?gbv=2&hl=en&q=president+bush+beijing+olympic+games&start=10&sa=N

 

Eamonn: I second Lisa. Start planning coverage of your 2012 return visit to your native land. We'll bring the Dutch ovens full of cobbler, you bring the slide show (This message has been edited by John-in-KC)(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[sherminator505]

"We've seen what happens when a President spends his political capital down to zero: His name was Gerald R Ford, and he had veto after veto over-ridden by the Congress."

 

Bad example. Gerald Ford wasn't elected President. He didn't arrive as Vice President on an elected ticket. He was appointed by Nixon after Spiro Agnew resigned. The only political capital he had was a Senate confirmation in his pocket.