I read an Op-Ed piece in The New York Times entitled The Politics of Spite. Although it's obvious Paul Krugman likes to hear himself talk, or whatever the written equivalent of that would be, it's equally obvious he missed the point. Because there's so much spin in this article, you'll heave up your corndog when you get to the end, and yes, it was a good idea you didn't have that Icee.
Something very important happened on October 2, 2009. The World told Obama, "No, you can't," when the Olympic Committee eliminated Chicago on the first round of voting.
Though many in the media want to claim this decision was political, and that Christmas had come early by giving the World a chance to kick the US and not have to take heat for it, I don't believe this was the case. I don't believe the Olympic Committee hates the US, and I don't believe it was their intent to get even for the rest of the World.
Although it would be fun to spend the rest of my time writing this article about the ineptitude of Obama, and cap it off with a nice zing like--What's next? Is the White House chef not going to leggo his eggo?--there are deeper issues here.
The simple truth is Barack Obama acted like a complete fool and embarrassed us in front of the World. There are many layers to how he accomplished this. For starters, he sends his wife and...Oprah? Really? I'm sorry, but The Olympics doesn't house a pie eating competition. Why on earth would you send Oprah as a representative to the single greatest athletic competition in the universe? Not to mention, she didn't even speak.
I think that was a major contributing factor to them eliminating Chicago. How insulting is it that we think we can just flash a miscellaneous celebrity at them and sway the vote? Like the Olympic Committee was going to say, "Damn, they brought out Oprah, it's over now. We might as well just hand it over."
Anything's possible...Then he shows up, gives a quick speech which was basically all about him, and then rushes off like he's too busy to stick around. When you're pleading your case to a committee, especially an important one like The Olympic Committee, and you're trying to sway their vote in your favor, at what point does giving them the proper respect and dues not come into the picture?
I just want you to know, Bob. I've always hated your skeevy little guts. You suck, I rule, it's just that simple. Can I borrow five bucks?...Yeah that's gonna happen. Nothing says win like self-aggrandizing pomposity.
Obama's arrogance and lack of respect was even mentioned by members of the committee.
The thing America is finding out, is we are no longer a Superpower. Gone are the days of Reagan and America's World prominence. We're still in the Country Club, but we're just one of the guys. Barack Obama is no more important than Nicolas Szarkozy, Gordon Brown, Angela Merkel, or any other major World Leader.
He's starting to believe his own press. He thought he was just going to waltz into The Olympic Committee and they'd give him whatever he wanted because he's Obama. The Olympics are bigger than World Leaders, and they don't care if you're the first black American President, or the media's self-made second coming of Jesus.
So now we get to bust out the wahmbulance because "The vast right-wing conspiracy" is at it again. They're mean and spiteful and won'ts gives us whats ourses! Puh-leeze.
Unlike Rush Limbaugh and others, my moment of joy was not from Obama not getting his way. My moment of joy was when they told him no and then picked Brazil. Finally, something they couldn't blame on racism.
