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.
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3 comments:
"When I first heard that Chicago was vying for the Olympic games, I wasn't surprised given that President Obama was now in office."
Uhm...Chicago had been working on this bid for years. Do you think they stumbled across an application on the Internet back in February and said, "hey...this looks like it could be good."
You do that same kind of trick that Rush Limbaugh does. You state your opinions as fact, then argue them, and then...lo and behold, they seem true. How in the world one lonely blogger can imagine that the President of the United States was assured that it was "in the bag," and that's why he got involved is really a mystery. How do you have such accurate inside knowledge? Look, I don't know how he got involved, but it is just as, if not more, likely that he got involved because they knew they were not going to do well in the balloting and were hoping for a last minute push. No?
The rest of your conclusions are just weird. After two or three days of crowing by conservatives such as yourself, I've not seen, or heard, one thing about it. It has had no impact. Nor has it had any impact on the other world leaders that campaigned on behalf of their nations. This process is simply how it has evolved. You can expect to see every national leader involved in this bid process going forward. Of course.
Why you, and conservatives dislike America so much is really a wonder to me. You're happy that the President didn't bring home the Olympics and you're happy that we didn't get the Olympics. Why?
You're suggesting that I'm glad the United States isn't hosting the Olympics? It's quite the contrary. I've been to Chicago, and it is obvious that from the looks of a significant portion of the city that they would have benefited greatly from hosting the Olympics. Any city would. Yes, the city put their bid in long ago, but that was not the point I was trying to convey. It was the decision on the part of the President to fly to Copenhagen with the express purpose to make a personal bid to sell his Senatorial hometown which did not surprise me, so if that was not expressed correctly it is entirely my fault.
The actual facts involved in this story are not in dispute. Chicago wanted the Olympics. The President made a personal trip with his wife to Copenhagen with a huge entourage to make a very public appeal on their behalf. Chicago in turn was the first eliminated. All of that happened, and I am giving an opinion on the ramifications of those events.
My opinions about this story are certainly not based on "inside" information in the Whitehouse, they don't need to be. Like most other citizens, we aren't privy to the private conversations that go on there. My opinion on the way this whole fiasco played out was strictly based on historical precedent, appearance and through reading and contemplating the opinions of others who also commented on the story. I am not alone in my assessment on how this hurt his image, or how sophomoric and ineptly this was handled by the President's staff. Even the New York Times, MSNBC and CNN were not inclined to give high marks on how this was handled, and that was charitable even by their lapdog standards of reporting.
Historically, Presidents have taken a hands off approach to making personal, vested and very pubic appearances and appeals pertaining to things that they are not capable of controlling. With good reason, I might add...because putting themselves out there into a position such as this is a double-edged sword. First, there is always the claim of a conflict of interest. The second is the risk of failure in a situation where the President has allowed himself to become a part of the story that really has nothing to do with him end up hurting his image when what he has publicly appealed for is denied. It is for this long standing historical reasoning that other Presidents did not get involved in situations that ultimately were beyond their control.
All of that reactions of disbelief seen and heard afterward were because of the past experiences and expectations people have. They didn't consider the idea of Chicago *not* getting the Olympics because the President inserted himself into the story. Who would risk such a thing? Very few people remember Houston's inability to secure their bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics bid back in 2002, and one of the reasons why the story ended up being a non-story afterward was because the President at the time refused to get involved. Consider if then President Bush had pushed for Houston in the same manner President Obama had pushed for Chicago, entourage and all - and failed...it would have been publicized as a huge embarrassment, and rightfully so. This situation absolutely hurt the President because it was a huge blow to the unearthly expectations and irrational exuberance attributed towards his mythical aura as a statesman, a closer and shrewd negotiator.
The conclusions I arrived at speak for themselves and are not at all out of the mainstream. If the President has surrounded himself with people that were so tone-deaf and narrow of vision that they could not fathom the downside to this negative outcome, then they are a danger to his Presidency and have no business counseling anyone. If the President did this of his own accord despite their possible warning(s), it does not speak well of he scope of his vision, either.
However...I do not think either the President or his advisers are so dumb as to have not considered all of this.
That is why I concluded that our President was "punked"...because it is my assertion that he was deliberately embarrassed on purpose despite behind the scenes assurances that Chicago was going to be picked. Certainly, I don't have proof of this - but it is the only scenario that is charitable enough to allow the President and his staff to not come off looking like complete dumb-asses.
As a conservative, I love America because of what it was, is and should continue to be. I love the nature of our founding, the principles of individual liberty and the recognition of the God-given rights that all human beings share. I love our rights to prosper and secure our liberty through peaceable means. I love our culture that was built on the principles of hard work, self reliance, ingenuity, liberty, capitalism, prosperity and a shared common belief that America as a country is a very special place - a place where opportunity is boundless. I love the goal of evolving towards a color-blind society where race, religion and creed are not permitted to be used for political or social perversion. I love that America is a compass that has always pointed towards and sided with liberty over the evils of Fascism, Socialism and Communism. I love the pride that comes from the solemn acknowledgment and gratitude of every patriot who took up arms against the enemies of humanity and gave their lives to defend this country's principals and defend those that could not defend themselves. I love America because it is the only one ever founded expressly for the purposes of limiting the power of the government over the people.
I often hear from liberals who mention how much they love America, and I always chuckle because if they loved America so much - they wouldn't keep trying to uproot, modify and pervert virtually every part of our society and laws towards a worldview 180 degrees out of phase with our country's history and founded goals. I long ago came to the conclusion that liberals do not love America for what it was, or even for whatever measure it still is. Liberals are in love with the idea of what America can become should they succeed in changing the very principals I mentioned above.
I stand behind what I wrote without doubt and with absolute sincerity. Disagreeing with the President's policies or commenting on the negative consequences of his disproportioned ego or lack of common sense does not mean I do not love my own country. It is nonsensical and without merit to assert the contrary.
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