Taking the Gloves Off
[Guest post by DRJ]
Obama is taking the gloves off … Michelle Obama, that is, and the fight is in Copenhagen and not Afghanistan:
“The First Lady leaves for Copenhagen tomorrow evening, and from the moment she arrives, she will begin lobbying for Chicago to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. She, White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett, and TV mega mogul Oprah Winfrey will try to meet with every one of the 100+ International Olympic Committee members.
“The gloves are off!” the First Lady declared with a smile. She spoke with a handful of reporters in the State Dining room at White House, and relayed a story from last weekend’s G20 Summit in Pittsburgh.”
The Obamas feel right at home with this kind of competition:
“Mrs. Obama likened the next few days, to final days of a campaign.
“People are making up their minds until the very end. And that one conversation or you know, one example or illustration that connects could make the difference,” she said. “We’re just not gonna assume that the decision is made, so that no matter what the outcome is we’ll feel as country, as a team, that we’ve done everything we can to bring it home.”
That’s very much why the President decided he too should join the team on the ground in Denmark. The President will take a red-eye flight on Thursday night and spend just a few hours on the ground.”
The President has reportedly also been “working the phones” in support of Chicago’s 2016 bid. Too bad General McChrystal isn’t on Obama’s speed dial because America would be far better served if the Obamas did “everything we can” to get a victory in Afghanistan instead of the Olympics for Chicago.
— DRJ
This is an opportunity for a lot of money to disappear down a rat hole in Chicago.
Alta Bob (3dd3fe) — 9/28/2009 @ 2:54 pmPresidential priorities. Worth noting for the history books–in case we’ll still be writing history books in the wake of this administration.
m (2530e7) — 9/28/2009 @ 2:57 pmI suspect the rat hole is the principle concern of Jarrett et al. She made a lot of housing money disappear fast.
Mike K (2cf494) — 9/28/2009 @ 3:06 pmMichelle will fight to the last dollar of someone else’s money.
Perfectsense (0922fa) — 9/28/2009 @ 3:18 pmif they are dumb enough to award the Olympics to Chicago, i propose that they turn the venue into an amusement park after the Games…..
they can call it 6 Flags over Nothing.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 9/28/2009 @ 3:23 pmHaving tried to work with the IOC and local organizing committees, I am glad to not be in jail.
JD (df4ec8) — 9/28/2009 @ 3:38 pmObama’s not going over to lobby for Chicago, he’s going over to claim the prize. I suspect the decision has already been made.
What president (especially The One) would take a risk that might cause him to fall flat on his face?
No, in his continuing campaign for the title of Savior of The World, he’s heading over to let everyone behold his majestic powers.
JohnG (b54101) — 9/28/2009 @ 3:46 pmFinally, we will get something even more corrupt in Chicago than the Cook County Democratic Organization — the International Olympic Committee. (The Justice Department is to blame, with all its prosecutions of the Mafia, that we have not had it sooner.)
nk (df76d4) — 9/28/2009 @ 3:50 pmI think Obama hates brown people. The Olympics have never been in South American and El Yanque Grande is trying to crowd out Rio De Janerio.
(/sarc…….or is it?)
Techie (482700) — 9/28/2009 @ 3:59 pmThis recent tweet is from Barack Obama’s Teleprompter: “Big Guy says he’d work just as hard on healthcare and Afghanistan as Olympics if the fix were in on the other two, too.”
JVW (d1215a) — 9/28/2009 @ 4:02 pmOf course, that should read “South America”.
Techie (482700) — 9/28/2009 @ 4:07 pmAnd we are barely 9 months into this 48-month term. Can it get any worse?
Kevin Murphy (805c5b) — 9/28/2009 @ 4:34 pmThey talk toughest about the most trivial.
Obama is not a leader, he’s a cheerleader.
SPQR (26be8b) — 9/28/2009 @ 4:37 pmAs others have said, I think the fix is in and Obama is going in order to reap the benefit of “He got the games for Chicago!”; another false honorarium. After living through Atlanta’s games I would never wish to be in the same state for another one.
PR (0c7a09) — 9/28/2009 @ 4:39 pmRumor has it that the Olympic logo will soon add an additional O, now making it six O‘s or as some might call them, rings.
mmm, mmmm, mmm, Barack Hussein Obama
PC14 (82e46c) — 9/28/2009 @ 4:49 pmHere is an interesting site, run independent of the IOC, that discusses the various cities’ bids for being the host site. They have Chicago trending upward but still running ever-so-slightly behind Rio as the favorite to win the 2016 games.
JVW (d1215a) — 9/28/2009 @ 5:03 pmAs a Chicagoan I say: Go rio!!!!!
BT (78b929) — 9/28/2009 @ 5:29 pmI see Oprah is going along to help spread the love. Perhaps she could finance the whole trip, since she probably has more money than the Government does these days.
PatAZ (9d1bb3) — 9/28/2009 @ 6:12 pmLiving in St Louis, I think having the Olympics within a short drive would be great if I ever got desperate enough to support the second most corrupt international organization in the world. Of course the Olympics occur every other year unlike the UN which is constantly corrupt.
At least Avery Brundage is no longer living like a UN diplomat on the backs of the athletes. But the current bunch of hacks would never let a few deaths of Jewish athletes interrupt their fun. They learned a lot from good ol’ Avery.
MU789 (9ab961) — 9/28/2009 @ 7:10 pmIs it normal for a President and First Lady to campaign for a specific U.S. city like this? I keep thinking that it really is rather unseemly to be “competing” like this, especially when it will doubtless financially benefit people they know.
Doing this when he’s only spoken to Gen. McChrystal once is just…weird and un-Presidential.
Best wishes,
Laura (d80a4d) — 9/28/2009 @ 7:18 pmLaura
Laura – Gen. McChrystal should feel honored to have spoken to the president once. Most Americans never get to speak to the president at all. Heh!
daleyrocks (718861) — 9/28/2009 @ 7:35 pm[…] on the Olympics, Chicago, government waste and falsehoods: Patterico’s Pontifications: Taking the Gloves Off No Games Chicago: September 29 Rally Hillbuzz: Chicago’s wasting $10.1 million to design Olympics […]
Protest Tuesday: Majority of Chicagoans Do Not Want 2016 Olympic Games & Huge Bill That Comes with It (video) « Frugal Café Blog Zone (a66042) — 9/29/2009 @ 2:46 am“Too bad General McChrystal isn’t on Obama’s speed dial”
Scrappy’s work ethic in evidence once again. If he dithers long enough we’ll be left to sue for peace.
gary gulrud (06aaa3) — 9/29/2009 @ 7:36 amCan it get worse? Yes we can!
WestWright (be2a2f) — 9/29/2009 @ 2:06 pm[…] on the Olympics, Chicago, government waste and falsehoods: Patterico’s Pontifications: Taking the Gloves Off The Powers That Be: Quick ‘O’lympic Host City Prediction No Games Chicago: September 29 Rally […]
Chicago OUT for 2016 Olympics… IOC Reportedly Concerned about “Chicago Corruption” « Frugal Café Blog Zone (a66042) — 10/2/2009 @ 8:47 amOK, to be fair, most of us were wrong about Dear Leader only going to Copenhagen because the Chicago bid was a done deal. On the other hand, though, this really caps off a horrible foreign policy week for him, doesn’t it? Dare we say the Obama Magic has run out?
JVW (d1215a) — 10/2/2009 @ 8:58 amJVW – I would say that the Obama Magic never existed outside of Teh Narrative.
JD (cc3aa7) — 10/2/2009 @ 9:01 amThere was magic??
Scott Jacobs (d027b8) — 10/2/2009 @ 9:20 amMagic is how he stopped the oceans from rising, and how he claims that “healthcare reform” will be deficit neutral. So, yes, there is lots of magic.
JD (cc3aa7) — 10/2/2009 @ 9:23 amThey didn’t even give him the courtesy of keeping Chicago in the game until round two.
President Barack Hussein Obama has no game.
Matador (ad4464) — 10/2/2009 @ 9:33 amThere was magic??
Anyone who gets himself elected on that thin resume and espousing those empty platitudes — has to be magic.
JVW (d1215a) — 10/2/2009 @ 9:43 amOr better yet, in the Alister Crowley way, “magick.”
JVW (d1215a) — 10/2/2009 @ 9:44 amDo you think that this will be a wake up call for Obama? That he is not respected?
Because he was punked. The IOC bent him over, lubed him up, had its way with him, and then threw him out of the room.
Will he get it? Will he man up?
nk (df76d4) — 10/2/2009 @ 10:09 amObama could have won this if he just could have gotten three of the other cities excluded from the ballot. Too bad those cities did not have any embarassing divorce records sealed by court order.
Have Blue (854a6e) — 10/2/2009 @ 10:28 amRio, I’m really happy for ya, and I’ll let you continue in a moment.
But Chicago! Chicago had one of the best videos ever!
Have Blue (854a6e) — 10/2/2009 @ 11:54 am