There's No "I" In "Team" But Michelle Delivers "I" And "Me"

Does Michelle Obama have any serious staff support in the White House, or is she just surrounded by fan boys and sychophants?  The LA Times presents her speech to the International Olympic Committee.  A writing Tip From Tom - if you have a speech where "I" and "me" appear an average of twice per sentence, take it back to rewrite; this might be the unlucky day when someone in the audience does not share your conviction that it is All About You.

I exhort the bold among my readers to steel themselves and bash through Michelle's effort.  But for those with good judgment or little time, here is the summary -

I would really like these games to come to Chicago.  My beautiful daughters would like the Games to come to Chicago.  My wonderful husband, who has brought hope and change to the world, would like the Games to come to Chicago.  But more important than all of that, bringing the Games to Chicago would be a wonderful way to honor my father, now deceased, who had Multiple Scelrosis.

I have no doubt he was a wonderful man who was very proud of his daughter and justly so, but, umm, so what?  A good sales pitch explains the benefits of saying "yes" and needs to get beyond "I'll be so happy if you give me the order".  I guess the delegates were expected to be thrilled to have a chance to put a smile on Michelle's face.  Didn't work. 

WE'RE NOT ROOTING AGAINST AMERICA, WE'RE ROOTING FOR RIO:

"We were teasing her this morning and we said, 'Well, it's time for the closer to come out again,'" Jarrett said with a laugh.

"We were all teasing her this morning and we said, 'Well, it's time for the loser to come out again,'" Sue said with a laugh.

CAN'T SPELL "OMG' WITHOUT OBAMA:  Posse Incitatus shortens the Huckster-in-Chief:

Basically, he told the IOC that they should choose Chicago because Obama did.

And because Michelle is hot.

ALTERED STATES:  Ann Althouse tackles that timeless query, how did you hate the speeches?  With video of Michelle and Barack, for the truly brave.  I endured nearly 1 minute 45 seconds of Michelle...

Comments

[bishop]

After what they've let her go out in, is that even a question?

[sam]

Doesn't anyone care about Michelle's children?

[ben]

If you read between the lines....

"Also please remember, my husband has been losing popularity like crazy, his initiatives are under attack, the deficit is exploding, unemployment is rising, the stimulus is not working, so it would be very nice if you would award the Olympics to Chicago and thus divert attention from his problems and at the same time he could claim credit for it.

Thank you very much."

[Porchlight]

It's obvious that neither Obama has smart (or at least courageous) advisors; if they did this whole Olympic project would never have been greenlighted.

[megapotamus]

The main problem with these rubes is not ideology, as poisonous as that is. It is their character. "For the first time in my life I am REALLY proud of my country.... " How can this be parsed so it doesn't mean what it obviously means? Michelle, ghetto though she claims to be, is a spoiled brat. Yet compared to Barack she is as centered and serene as Alan Alda. Did we not hear continuously how Bush's whole career came down to expiating some "daddy issues" of mysterious detail? Well, as usual the lie becomes truth and now we have a President driven by neurotic obsession with phantom grievences by whitey taking the place of the genuine neglect by his family. And nothing more. Not one damn thing more.

[Thomas Collins]

I read the quote before I read TM's post. My reaction to the quote was that it had come from Scrappleface, and that TM was going to do a post on a Scrappleface parody of Michelle Obama's speech. Upon reading TM's post, I now realize that the quote was from a verbatim transcript of Michelle Obama's speech.

I am stupefied. Doesn't Michelle Obama realize that the kind of rhetoric she used reeks of local yokelism? Her remarks about her father are sincere and heart rending, but I suspect that every competing city has officials and officials' spouses with just as heart rending stories about family members.

If the Obamas weren't doing so much damage to the country, I would feel bad for them. They just don't have it.

Could you imagine if Sarah Palin were pitching for the Olympics to come to, say, Anchorage, and she used that kind of language? The lefty blogs would be all over her.

[MayBee]

It's obvious Oprah didn't help her write it, cause Oprah would have told Michelle not to say so much about herself. Oprah would have suggested Michelle add in some words about Oprah.

[Captain Hate]

It's obvious that neither Obama has smart (or at least courageous) advisors; if they did this whole Olympic project would never have been greenlighted.

Why stop there? Nobody has ever told this idiot not to have styrofoam columns, not to have so many prime-time pressers when he's obviously not convincing anybody to do anything, not to address the joint session of Congress and completely ignore the protests heard during the town halls. Neither he nor Rolo are used to hearing the word "No" and I think we owe the IOC a debt (LOL; I can't believe I typed those words) for doing what everybody around him and the 52% can't bring themselves to do.

[Ignatz]

Posted this on the other thread but thought I'd make sure nobody misses it.

Don't know if it's been posted but here is some comedy gold from youtube on Barry's Olympic sized epic fail.
Short but hilarious. Take a look.

[clarice]

I was thinking as I did my laps today that the admissions officers at Princeton , Yale and Harvard law school who admitted these clowns should have their knuckles broken..Half the reason the elites swooned for them was their academic credentials, made more meaningless everytime they open their mouths. Two over achieving morons.

[Jane]

I tell ya, that "rolo" thing has staying power - except it makes me want chocolate.

[Jane]

Ignatz, even without sounds that was worth watching.

[Patrick R. Sullivan]

blockquote>...that will show every child that regardless of wealth, or gender, or race, or physical ability, there is a sport and a place for them, too.

Sports aren't about physical ability?

[PeterUK]

Absolutely Top Crass.

"You see, in my dad's early thirties, he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. And as he got sicker, it became harder for him to walk, let alone play his favorite sports. But my dad was determined that sports continue to be a vital lifeline -- not just to the rest of the world, but to me and my brother."

Just about sums up the priorities."not just to the rest of the world, but to me and my brother."

"Pretentious Moi?"

[PeterUK]

"that will show every child that regardless of wealth, or gender, or race, or physical ability,irrespective of sanity or sentience there is a sport and a place for them, too.
I am living proof that talent and ability are no prerequisites to success."

[clarice]

Let's help Michelle out.
Apparently she's overwhelmed with all the work for her first state dinner (with India):
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/washington-whispers/2009/09/30/michelle-obama-gears-up-for-indian-state-dinner.html>And it's a job that pays nothing!

Let's help her out, folks with hpotoshop skills--let's design her dress--because everything else revolves around that--the flowers, menu, etc.

It's India so you needn't be bound by her usual low voltage preferences.

[sylvia]

Since there is no open thread, I'd thought I'd point out here that Bill Ayers second son, born around 1980 is named Malik. Obama's older half brother, born around 1958, is named Malik. Hmmmm.

[clarice]

Newsweek provides another laugh today--arguing that losing the Olympics was a "good thing" for Obama.
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/thegaggle/archive/2009/10/02/losing-the-olympics-bid-is-good-for-obama.aspx>Send Newsweek to Cuba which is short on TP

[macphisto]

not that odd...Malcolm X's Muslim name was al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz. and Malcolm was a Che-like deity to the 60's/70s New Left.

[Thomas Collins]

See LUN for the argument that the Obamas' long on emotion, short on details approach didn't work with the IOC members.

I guess it is easier to fool Christopher Buckley, David Brooks et al than the IOC members.

It is amusing that block voting on the first ballot may have been another factor in derailing Chicago's bid (also discussed in the LUN). I guess the Chicago politicians got a taste of what world politics is like.

Unlike the miserable game Obama is playing with Russia, Iran, et al, this loss won't hurt the US in the long, medium or short runs (or high hurdles, either). It's the Power Politics Olympics with Val Putin, Khamenei et al in which Obama's deficiencies pose a danger to America.

The Fiasco in Copenhagen does indicate what Obama's supposed popularity in the world means. World leaders will mouth platitudes about how the US is viewed more favorably as a result of Obama's change in tone. When substantive decisions by world chess players are made, however (whether regarding which city gets the Olympics (trivial) or which US interest abroad or at home will be challenged (not so trivial), Obama's tic tac toe doesn't carry much weight.

[Janet]

((we have a President driven by neurotic obsession with phantom grievences by whitey taking the place of the genuine neglect by his family. And nothing more. Not one damn thing more.))

Well said megapotamus. It reminds me of the article by VDHanson LUN "The Lamentations of the Elite"

[Porchlight]

Why stop there?

I agree Cap'n.

The styrofoam columns and all the election BS were bad, but hey, he won. So his advisors can fairly take credit for that. But everything after Jan 20 is a different story. Rahm knows how to throw elbows in Congress, Axelrod is pretty okay on managing a campaign, and Jarrett knows how to grease palms in Chicago, but it appears that's all they've got and it isn't enough.

[Porchlight]

I guess it is easier to fool Christopher Buckley, David Brooks et al than the IOC members.

I think this is the most depressing thing out of all of this. The song and dance that couldn't fool the IOC still managed to fool 52% of Americans. That is really freaking sad.

[PeterUK]

Porchlight,
Obama won.Yes but look at the opposition. Even from 3,000 miles away it looked like McCain was trying to lose.Add a cataclysmic
financial upheaval and even a Chicago poodle faking front man could have won.

[sylvia]

"not that odd...Malcolm X's Muslim name was al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz. and Malcolm was a Che-like deity to the 60's/70s New Left."

Interesting. Yes I was looking that up to come up with some more conspiracy theories on O. I was still trying to figure out that IF Barack Sr. was just a stand in dad, why did they name the kid after him. Then I thought, well maybe Barack Sr. didn't have any sons and wanted a namesake. Well that didn't pan out because Barack Sr. already had a son named Malik.

But still I am wondering. Here's another crazy thought. Let's say for fun Obama Jr. is Malcom's kid. Then Barack Obama Sr. was tapped by some CIA friends of Malcom's people who had contacts in Africa to go to Hawaii and act as a stand in and then raise the kid back in Africa and get him out of the way. Senior gets a free Hawaii education out of it.

Senior is a fan of X and is proud of the fact that the kid is X's son and decides to name the kid after himself to catch some of the glory. Plus if he names the kid after himself, the kid has a better chance of being honored by his first wife and his family, whom they have assigned to raise him. Then Ann Dunham changes her mind after a while and gets the kid back.

But this starts a lifetime association and contacts between the mother and the CIA and Barack Obama Jr. and X's people, leading to Ayers eventually.

Well just some fun Friday afternoon theorizing.

[Carol]

"Two over achieving morons."

How can you even tell if they're over-achievers, in light of the affirmative action they no doubt enjoyed every step of the way? It looks like their aides' internal PC censor is preventing them from giving better advice, too.

This could end badly.

[hit and run]

From Michelle's IOC speech:

We’ve learned that we’re still living in a time and in a world where the bar is set, right? They tell you all you need to do is do these things and you’ll get the Olympic bid. So you go about the business of doing those things. You start working hard and sacrificing -- by the way did you see the private jet I had to fly on to come here or the hotel suite I'm staying in or the menu I had to choose from last night -- and you think you’re getting closer, you’re working and you’re struggling, you get close to the bid, you’re reaching out for the bid, and then what happens? Just like the high jump or pole vault, they raise the bar. Raise the bar. Keep it just out of reach. And that’s just what’s been happening in this process.

Oh, wait. That was (roughly speaking with a few edits) http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=OGQ1MzFkMWU4MmYxMjhkZmNiZGE5YWY3NWUzNGMyMmY=>Michelle during the campaign.

IOC member just aren't as easily fooled as US voters.

[Porchlight]

True, PUK. McCain never had a chance, though I thought otherwise for awhile there in early September.

[clarice]

sylvia, Is it too much to ask you to do your pondering silently and off line? Following your mental meanderings gives me such a headache.

[Thomas Collins]

Sylvia, to me, simple incompetence is a more likely explanation of Obama's missteps as POTUS than any conspiracy. Incompetence that our effete elite covered up, and which neither the IOC nor anyone else on the world stage will cover up or will tolerate.

All in all, we'd be better off if there were a conspiracy. It would probably be easier to deal with a conspiracy than an utter world politics amateur in the White House.

[Janet]

"The country has been serially lectured about race from some of the most privileged Americans in the country" from the VDH article

This is what essentially sickens me about the Obamas. The constant whining about America, and the bad mouthing of America, while they have both lived privileged lives.

[Elliott]

This looks to have been a very close defeat. If the Chicago delegation could have swung two to five more votes in the first round, it could have been an entirely different story. For that reason, I'd say the reaction of Gibbs misses the mark:

President Barack Obama is "disappointed" Chicago missed getting the 20016 Olympic Games but doesn't regret putting so much on the line to argue for it, his chief spokesman said Friday. [snip]

"Absolutely," Gibbs replied, when asked whether Obama was glad he'd made such a large commitment to lobbying for the Games. He said the president "would never shy away from traveling anywhere, talking to anyone about this country." [via Drudge]

Yet, looking back, the paucity of his contribution stands out. He didn't arrive in time to press any flesh and he didn't stick around for the announcement of any voting. Looks like "Respect" played a role. One would have expected the Friends of Italian Opera, South Side Chapter Chicago delegation to understand its importance.

[sylvia]

Well Clarice I apologize for the crazy sounding ponderings, but I have to say I think I am getting closer to making the theory work together as a whole. And it would explain the whole birther matter as well. Now whether it's a correct theory or not is another matter.

You might need to engage in speed reading or selective reading when you come across a post that you aren't interested in. Saves you the trouble.

[Sue]

2x in one day! I'm serious. I feel faint!

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Since there is no open thread, I'd thought I'd point out here that Bill Ayers second son, born around 1980 is named Malik. Obama's older half brother, born around 1958, is named Malik. Hmmmm.

Malik is a very common name. Some places, anyway.

[sylvia]

"It would probably be easier to deal with a conspiracy than an utter world politics amateur in the White House."

Good point Thomas.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

"It would probably be easier to deal with a conspiracy than an utter world politics amateur in the White House."

"The problem with making things foolproof is that fools are so ingenious."

[Captain Hate]

not that odd...Malcolm X's Muslim name was al-Hajj Malik al-Shabazz. and Malcolm was a Che-like deity to the 60's/70s New Left.

There was a guy in my dorm in the late 60s / early 70s when the Black Power stuff was chic that wanted to be called Malik. When he wasn't around his a-hole buddies he was a pretty nice guy so I thought wtf and went along. His father was a pretty distinguished old school kind of guy that would always refer to him when he'd call up as Robert and would bristle at the thought of the Malik posing.

[Gregory Koster]

Let's not forget who started the Rolo meme.

Clarice you have a point about Ivy League admissions officers, but why not look at it the other way? Use the First Couple's degrees as proof that the Ivy League is just an expensive diploma mill for those with the right amount of melanin. This will cause howls of raaaaacism, but what doesn't these days? It will also force such smug dolts as Stephen Carter to decide if they have the most important virtue evah or are just blowing hard that they are All Right.

Who's going to be the one to tell First Rolo Michelle that the Olympic Committee took her "mean country" speech seriously, especially when coupled with The Once's minatory thunder about the awfulness of America. Not even throwing in Bill Ayers to write the publicity for the 2012 Games under his pseudonym "Barack Hussein" was enough.

Porchlight, it wasn't so hard to fool the 52%. The Once won because he was the most not-Bush of the lot. Mencken's notion that "Democracy is the the theory that the common people know what they want and dserve to get it good and hard," still works. Add to that the liberal bigotry of the dying press, a GOP candidate who would have made a swell Prez so long as he handled foreign affairs only, leaving the Cabinet to run the country, and ACORN&Co busily reincarnating voters by the boxcar load, and you have the prospects of the gaudiest Administration in history

[Jim]

Not necessarily over achieving morons. How about products of affirmative action?

[clarice]

Just a more p/c/ way of saying the same thing.
Alongside these bozos were much smarter kids working a whole lot harder and those kids were not welcomed by Sidley Austin or given feather bed jobs when they graduated like Michelle $300k for moving poor patients to other hospitals.

[Janet]

good point though GK - We constantly hear how crappy America is - our businesses want to cheat, kill, and rob you - then we wonder why the Olympics choose not to be held here. Perhaps they were worried that injured athletes would be screwed by our insurance companies. Or our fast food industry would bloat them up. Or Haliburton would do whatever evil thing Haliburton does!

[RichatUF]

Sue got a post update;)

What were the President and the White House thinking when they cooked this up? Geez.

[DSy]

Who's editing comments again? Clarice?

[Sue]

Rich,

Yes I did. And I was just thinking I sure am glad I changed my moniker back to Sue and not Sue the Skinny Bastard from the last month or so. ::grin::

[willem]

Hawaii's DoH reverses; now cooperating with index records release requests. More to come at LUN.

Looks like the BHO records stonewall is failing rapidly.

[Porchlight]

Go, Sue!

[Dave (in the People's Banana Republic of MA)]

So the Chi-town rubes got rolled by the IOC.

Maybe there's still time to secure the 2016 Special Olympics for their city. I know Øbama has a personal connection with that particular organization. Yes we can!

[megapotamus]

On tube: Roland Burris just explicitly Blamed BushTM for this, sez we have to look at what has been happening for the last eight years.... yeah, let's forget what happened in the last eight months or eight hours.

AND......

Barack sez, "I don't regret making the trip. It is always worthwhile to boost and promote the United States."
Um except say, before the UN or from your Roxtar stage in Berlin or in your capacity as Senator, state legislator or "community organizer". Never, never ever has this boob promoted the United States even to this day. He promoted the city of Chicago and, according to their presentation, the foremost thing Chicago has to offer is it's historical claim to being home to Barack and Michelle Obama.

Can anyone not profiting from this madness support this moron for another moment? Possibly they have overcome this problem by getting so, so many of our citizens on the dole.

[Rick Ballard]

"What were the President and the White House thinking when they cooked this up?"

Thinking is not a product on offer by Buffoons R Us. You can write them at their world headquarters (1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500) if you don't believe me.

I vote for "hiding from bad economic news" as the primary reason, followed by "I know - let's put on a show!!"

[matt]

what I didn't know was that Axelrod's firm was at the heart of the PR effort.

[Thomas Collins]

Rick, wouldn't it be poetic justice if Obama's popularity was permanently affected by the Copenhagen Fiasco. I agree that one of the reasons for the big show about the Olympics was to step on anticipated (correctly so) bad employment numbers, and that it was thought that even a defeat for the O-Team in the Who Gets the Olympics Olympics would be better than focus on unemployment. I agreed with this line of reasoning, but now I wonder. Although losing the Olympics as a substantive matter pales in comparison with getting rolled by Putin on missile defense and in comparison with the damaging economic policies pursued by the POTUS, it may resonate in a way these issues won't. This was the arrogance and incompetence of the Obamas on full display.

[matt]

Having sat through interminable IOC and NOC sessions in the past, this speech as presented was a dagger. Maybe not the fatal one, but close enough. I is not in the Olympic vocabulary, except in IOC.

They expect and get the best from the bid delegations. When Tony Blair gave his speech, I am sure it was filled with brotherhood and fraternity and faster, higher, stronger blablitty blah blah.....There is a courtship ritual to this stuff that Michelle just blew right by. Who was the freaking idiot who wrote her speech?

I hate to say it, but from a middle class background, having gone to Princeton and inhabiting the halls of Chicago power, she comes off as an absolutely foolish rube. Someone call the Extreme Makeover police. This woman is a fashion and style 911.

[Porchlight]

TC,

The Olympics news eclipses unemployment numbers and other alarming items, but only for a short time. By next week the bad news will be on full display, with the Olympic FAIL as a backdrop. I'll be interested in the next round of approval rating polls - he *might* get a sympathy bump, probably mostly from the Oprah legions, but it won't last.

[Old Lurker]

So he DID read his history, Rick? Bread and Circuses worked in the past, right?

Porch about that 52%...never forget the video of that lady saying "Obama gonna pay my mortgage and put gas in my tank" and then think about 50+% of folks now paying basicall no income taxes. Simple rational cost benefit analysis for that 52%.

[Old Lurker]

Damn...is that really an ad for a porcelain doll of MO on this page???

[StrawmanCometh]

over achieving morons. How about products of affirmative action?

Gotta go with Jim and Carol here.

[PeterUK]

""Absolutely," Gibbs replied, when asked whether Obama was glad he'd made such a large commitment to lobbying for the Games. He said the president "would never shy away from traveling anywhere, talking to anyone about this country."

Terribly picky,but doesn't Obama have a rather pressing little fracas in Afghanistan to attend to? Biden probably left his spoon and pusher so Obama can at least eat.

[PaulL]

You know, this is the first time in my life I've been proud of the IOC.

[Fresh Air]

OL--

Damn...is that really an ad for a porcelain doll of MO on this page??? Unscrew the head and there's Rolo candies inside.

Everyone--

Did you happen to see the video of Jesse Owens used in the presentation? You know, the black track star? Plus he raced in Berlin, you know, at the time run by the Nazis? Subtle, very subtle.

Something tells me a clip of Bruce Jenner with an American flag would have worked just as well. Or hell, Mary Lou Retton.

[Rick Ballard]

TC,

I'll second Porchlight's observations and toss in the Afghan Two Step as well. This "intellectual" featherweight may actually believe that "gathering information" and "listening" constitute decision making.

I keep thinking about the utter weakness shown by his inability to write a simple memoire encompassing relatively few years and minimal accomplishments. He had to rent a commie terrorist to flesh out the utter void - and make a deadline. I have some sympathy towards McChrystal and Gates. Working for a vacillating, pusillanomous pile of Ivy indoctrinated no brain trash has to be inducing vomiting on a daily basis.

Perhaps that's the rationale behind the anonymous resignation flutter - just an attempt to get some sort of decision out of a coward lacking any faith in his own ability to do anything but charm a mirror.

[willem]

PaulL

That's brilliant.

[clarice]

"charm a mirror" is not half bad, either.

[clarice]

Not only do we get ads for the Michelle doll but as well for J Crew so we can copy her fashion forward look whilst buying arugula at the WH fruit and veggie stand.

[JM Hanes]

If you're looking for the annotated blow-by-blow, Elliott & I did the late night live blogging honors over on the Gates thread, of all places. Elliott summed up all you need to know about the Obama v Lula showdown when the Brazilians took the stage:

A President who likes his country. Also notable is that he hasn't made himself the main subject of his presentation.

Loved the twitter treats he picked up this morning. Apparently, the BBC is the only news outfit in Britain that didn't get the pantywaist memo:

"Difficulty for Rio emphasised by their President speaking in Portuguese. Hard to compete with the rhetoric of the Obamas."

BBC sports news correspondent James Pearce on Twitter: "Just been speaking to Lord Sebastian Coe. He reckons the IOC members loved Michelle Obama earlier."

That seems worth another chorus of Slip Sliding Away:

Obama's talent for positioning seem to have deserted him.

[Stephanie]

Retton was a winner at the 84 games (as was Jenner, but I believe he was in more than one). Weren't the 84 games boycotted by Russia etal? A bad time with bad mojo for the IOC what with their purity/peace/love games all polluted by that Carter boycott and favor repaid by the Soviets four years later.

So when will Jimmah errr Obama declare a boycott on the 2012 games?

[matt]

Air Force One: $1.5 Million
Security: $1.5 Million
Accomodations: $ 750,000
The look on their faces: priceless

These two needed a dose of humility. Maybe it will make them a bit more empathetic. maybe not.

[MDr]

Seems like Barry delivered a lot of "I"s too.

Barry looks at "America" and sees "me" and "I". With a like more effort (arranging letters) he also sees "race"

There can be only One!

[matt]

Steph;

After 12 years involvement I walked away 3 days before the Atlanta Games opened because of the incredible incompetence and corruption and never looked back. In Olympic circles they are considered a low point, believe it or not.

The irony was that the guys they indicted in Salt Lake were only following the Olympic protocol of gift giving when the FBI decided to get involved. By the standards of the IOC, the SLC bid committee were pikers.They were actually very decent and respectable men, especially when compared to the Atlanta leadership.

[PeterUK]

JMH.
The expressions on the faces of the POTUS and FLOTUS hardly embody the Olympic spirit.

"And now back to Afghanistan for the second half of the game".

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

I don't believe he's read any history that wasn't written by Zinn or a Zinn clone. I'm pretty sure he didn't understand what he did read even at that.

A malignant narcissist trapped by his own limitations is pretty dangerous to those in close - I'm betting on the axe starting to fall within the inner circle of sycophants fairly quickly. There may be some headchopping a little further out among his economic "advisors" as a prelude but narcissists are very hard on those closest.

I sure hope that whomever he mauls knows how to hold a grudge and has a keen desire to even the score - that's entertainment.

[clarice]

What does Axelrod care..His firm got the money for representing Chicago--$5 million, or was it $50 million, it's hard to be sure with Chicago accounting.

And then Jarrett was going to get her slums ripped down and her pocket fattened even more.

Let's have a little grifters background music , maestro*******

[megapotamus]

From the Reuters coverage: "If you do, if we walk this path together, then I promise you this: The city of Chicago and the United States of America will make the world proud."

[JM Hanes]

matt:

Don't forget they double teamed this too. There's Michelle's plane, and the planes for adavance teams, armored cars, communications, FLOTUS' dress rack... not to mention a plane to fly Gen. McChrystal from London to Copenhagen for a 25 minute sit-down with the jet-lagged Prez on the tarmac. It was just so hard to fit him into the schedule back in DC.

[clarice]

One story commented that not only didn't they get the gold, they didn't even bring back a silver or bronze..

Let's hope this is really the beginning of the end.

[PeterUK]

"What does Axelrod care..His firm got the money for representing Chicago--$5 million, or was it $50 million, it's hard to be sure with Chicago accounting."

Capone had to do some serious racketeering for that kind of money.

Music for the lady.

[Strawman Cometh]

Here ya go, Clarice

[ben]

"Let's hope this is really the beginning of the end."

Unfortunately these people can always blame someone else for their abject failures. Burris is blaming Bush for the debacle, saying even Obama cannot overcome the damage....

That's chutzpah...

[clarice]

Both songs are so good I can't decide..Oh, dear!

[clarice]

Burris? Now there's an authority on debacles, no?

[Stephanie]

Matt, I am well aware of the problems of the Atlanta games (reported and unreported). My dad's good friend was a councilman at the time and the only one (to my knowledge) who purposefully avoided the olympic's graft. He was the last honorable councilman to serve. The security horror stories he tells (of what was found and destroyed) would raise hackles. The graft was extreme and the poor folks who got the shaft in the vendor's honeypot by Maynard and company was breathtaking. Atlanta proper is a sess pool and resembles Mos Eisley (down to the airport reference and sleazy bars).

It was sad. I am a native Atlantan and had been talking for years before the bid started about how Atlanta would be ideal to host the games. I still enjoyed the games, but it was a joke of a fascade of what could have been if it had been done right.

I salute you for staying with them as long as you did.

[clarice]

http://www.wnd.com/images/cartoons/toon091002.jpg>
Here's a goody

[Janet]

Both songs are fitting! The Godfather for the "unseen handlers", and The Entertainer for Obama. The puppet masters, and the puppet.

[PeterUK]

Cheer up Obama you've made the front pages. The Times.

[Gregory Koster]

Clarice: Nope, stick with Churchill:

"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning"

That was on 10 November 1942. Took another two and half years to bring Adolf down, and four more months to finish Hirohito. So too with The Once. There are three years three months and eighteen days, no time off for good behavior and no such thing as a pardon. But we can keep fighting. Honestly now: last November, did you think that The Once would be in the shape he is in today with his huge Congressional majorities, and a lapdog(with rabies) press at his call? Time for some optimism. On to health care! Get that down, and we do battle for Congress. I think the Dems have a fair chance to lose the House, and certainly the filibuster proof Senate, next year.

Meanwhile, no matter what reverses we suffer, the First Rolo will always provide laughs, if sour ones. Think of The Once canned four years from now, trying to write his memoirs yet again, knowing dam well that Ayers will want all the royalties this time. Think of him having to stay married to the First Rolo for the rest of his life (he'll only be 51 when he's kicked out.) with only Billyboy and the Bumpkin to pal around with. There's a shining future to work for.

[JM Hanes]

PUK:

"The expressions on the faces of the POTUS and FLOTUS hardly embody the Olympic spirit."

I just love the halo manqué.

Fresh Air:

"Did you happen to see the video of Jesse Owens used in the presentation?"

That reminds me of something I meant to post the other day. Also lost in the U.N./G20/Olympiad, Obama's speech to the Congressional Black Caucus:

The president opened with a fiery civil rights talk, ticking off racial disparities, calling for greater enforcement of civil rights laws and saying that the new White House Office of Urban affairs is working to address inequality.



Obama said that the large contingent of black community leaders and elected officials was a fulfillment of a promise and generations of struggle in a country where it took nearly 100 years before the first black members of Congress were elected, and where just a century ago lynchings were part of the American experience. He mentioned “strange fruit growing on the poplar trees,” a reference to the song about lynching written by a Jewish high-school teacher from the Bronx and most famously performed by Billie Holiday. 



Obama segued from civil rights into health care, ticking off what his plan calls for and borrowing a line from Martin Luther King, saying that the push called for "the fierce urgency of now." 

I don't think you can call it "borrowing" from MLK anymore. Check out Adolpho Carrion, Obama's Urban Affairs Czar There seems to be almost as much burrowing in the boroughs of New York as there is in Chicago.

[Gregory Koster]

PeterUK, many thanks for that link to The TIMES. Loved this line:

"One IOC member said: “How can we give the symbol of peace to a country that is at war?”

Ouch. Actually it's alarming. If The Once had thought it would change votes, who can doubt that he would have dragged Stan McChrystal to Copenhagen, in chains, while televising the First Rolo's beating him with her shoe. He would then announce that America was surrendering immediately, and he was going to send special envoy Van Jones out to grovel on his belly for terms. Shucks, he might even have made Jarrett give up a chunk of her cut of the graft.

[Captain Hate]

Did you happen to see the video of Jesse Owens used in the presentation? You know, the black track star? Plus he raced in Berlin, you know, at the time run by the Nazis? Subtle, very subtle.

That bugged the hell out of me. I met Jesse Owens when he was hospitalized with lung problems related to smoking and he was a very gracious man who was screwed over by the American amateur athletic drones after representing the country in the 36 games. He was born in Alabama and lived in Cleveland and has absolutely no ties to Chicago that I know of. He was very critical of Carlos and Smith's raised fists in Mexico City and for the crew of idiots from Chicago to co-opt his memory is just the latest incident of horrid taste.

Btw I was truly not sure of how the IOC would rule today. I've made my feelings on the IOC well known but I was up in the air as to whether they'd be like the Nobel committee and try to stick it to the USA by rewarding somebody who passes up no opportunity to bash us, or if they would base the choice on other factors. And honestly, even though I like visiting Chicago I didn't think it's a viable site for the Olympics at all. For the average guy on the street they're much better off not getting them. Even though I agree with Rick that this was an evasive tactic to avoid owning the economic numbers (it just deferred the day of reckoning) his ego had to take a large shot on this one. This was the President of the world not even taking home the bronze. Plus it's a continuation of the downward spiral since at least saying the Cambridge police were stupid.

[PeterUK]

Clarice,Here's a tie breaker.Different town Different crew.

[Stephanie]

Maybe the IOC had a little cock a too whisper a reminder of this in their ear...

LUN

[Porchlight]

I sure hope that whomever he mauls knows how to hold a grudge and has a keen desire to even the score - that's entertainment.

Ain't that the truth. Once things really start falling apart there's going to be a rush on who can squawk first. People will only put up with bullies for so long and behind the scenes, these clowns aren't even as charming as their predecessors from Arkansas.

[JM Hanes]

Elliott:

"First round: Madrid 28 votes; Rio de Janeiro 26; Tokyo 22; Chicago 18 (Chicago eliminated)."

What really amazed me about the voting is that Madrid could possibly have been in the first round lead, after the Spanish exercise in lameness that finally put me to sleep. It made more sense when I looked at the last two rounds; all but one of the Tokyo/Chicago votes went to Brazil. I suspect Madrid had its initial 28 votes in the bag before they even showed up.

Chaco:

"And who was the first here to propose that Obama didn't have it nailed down?"

I'll give you that, if you'll give me nailing down the Theme Song!

[Jim Ryan]

What the hell?! NAMBLA now, is it? This has got to be incorrect.

[Captain Hate]

"One IOC member said: “How can we give the symbol of peace to a country that is at war?”

Reminds me of the great IOC humanitarian Avery Brundage who wouldn't let the murder of a few inconvenient Jews halt the Munich games. Why should this guy care about mass graves of Iraqis and a country that's willing to stick its neck out to help the people with purple fingers? The sad thing is that they got the good publicity of having the subsequent Iraqi teams perform without worry of being murdered by the dictator's sons on return if they didn't meet their standards. Symbol of peace my ass.

[Soylent Red]

Came home today and slipped on my Brasil World Cup Ronaldo jersey. Just to celebrate.

Oh and you should have hear the howls of delight where I work.

Whodathunk patriotic Americans could be induced to root for the other guys?

[Appalled Birfer]

"Came home today and slipped on my Brasil World Cup Ronaldo jersey. Just to celebrate."

Why do you hate America?

[Soylent Red]

The point is not that I hate America, Birfer.

It's that I hate Kenya. And crypto-Muslims.

[centralcal]

There are some days when I only want to read the comments and pour another dollop into my cocktail glass. Today is one of those days!

Wasn't this a wonderful day! The "O" fails not only at home, but abroad!

[Appalled Birfer]

"It's that I hate Kenya. And crypto-Muslims."

And to think Lindsey Graham calls 'birther's crazeee. Does that make you stoopid AND crazy?

[Elliott]

I suspect Madrid had its initial 28 votes in the bag before they even showed up.

Exactly, JMH. Wonantonio Duderanch called in all the favors that he could to get to 28.