Our President was punked.

When I first heard that Chicago was vying for the Olympic games, I wasn't surprised given that President Obama was now in office. As the events unfolded and it came to light that the President and first lady were going to Copenhagen to give their "pitch" on Chicago's behalf, I'll admit I was less than convinced as to the genuine nature of the visit.

Politics is perception. One of the things I learned from watching then President Clinton was that image was the most valuable commodity any President can ever have. If one projects confidence, chooses their venues wisely and watches what they say - the ability to leverage the inherent power of the Presidency is almost assured. That being said, I looked at the Olympic committee's selection of Chicago for the 2016 Olympics as a forgone conclusion. After all - the idea that the President would go through the dog and pony show of trying to convince the committee to select Chicago without knowing ahead of time that it was "in the bag" wasn't plausible.

When I found out that Chicago was not only rejected in the first round, but was completely creamed in the vote count, I was shocked speechless.

Every President who has ever held office has had to deal with situations that cast him in a less than favorable light. However, the ramifications of this event are unheard of within the realm of Presidential politics. For a man who is holding what is arguably the most powerful political office in the entire world - the nature of how the events that unfolded today became known were undoubtedly among the most embarrassing, demoralizing and humiliating combination of circumstances ever.

There is no redeemable spin that can be placed on this disaster. Look at the following possibilities:

- If the President went through with his personal pitch for Chicago because he had been given personal assurances that it was a done deal, then this decision on the part of the Olympic committee was orchestrated - purely and deliberately fabricated for the express purpose of humiliating him. That means that he is perceived as weak and has earned no respect, which undermines the entire premise of his campaign which portrayed him as a world uniter who would bring respect to America..

- If the President did this not knowing whether or not his pitch was guaranteed to succeed, it means that he and his advisers are monumentally stupid - naive and incapable of appreciating the depth of damage that this fiasco would have on his image, credibility, stature and respect before the world.

- If the President was compelled to take this personal risk because he was under pressure from Mayor Daley, then it demonstrates that he does not appreciate the nature and importance of his office because he is willing to risk the credibility of both the office and himself in an effort to ensure political payback for favors he took during his tenure in the corrupt Chicago political machine.

- If the President volunteered himself of his own accord because he truly believed in the hype surrounding his mythical ability to persuade and charm people simply by the nature of his campaigns' fabricated image, then it demonstrates a level of naivete, hubris and megalomania that makes former President Clinton's ego look like a mere shadow in comparison.

People are already trying to spin this by the most imaginative means possible, such as suggesting that the entire Olympic bid was a ruse to give the President a chance to meet in secret with the war in Afghanistan's General McChrystal for a whopping 25 minutes. Newsweek asserted that losing the Olympic bid was good for the President because "...the Olympics are notorious for running massively over budget. The organizing committees are always rife with infighting and power games, as all manner of colorful cronies badger members to get their paws on some of those coveted Olympics dollars. Public support for the Olympics in Chicago itself was already lukewarm. Residents would have been facing seven years of disruptive construction and roadworks as their city raced to prepare itself. It’s a recipe for serious disgruntlement."

Let's not forget, of course - that racism was also a part in the IOC's decision. Hell, just ask Jimmy Carter!

People can shake, spin and try to finess this into a varitable cornacopia of theoretical positives, but the bottom line is this: Our President limped away from Copenhagen humiliated - a laughing stock and a joke. But it's not funny at all, because the joke's on us.