Maybe Obama's star is dimming
Found out?
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Yesterday's announcement that the upcoming Olympic Summer Games will go to Rio and not to Chicago gives me hope for the world if not the universe that "once was lost" (to quote a famous old tune).
It turns out that not even the potent combination of BOTH Obamas plus Oprah Winfrey to boot cannot sway public opinion as they might wish.
Not that this is some form of evil triad or anything like that -but I had begun to wonder if they are unbeatable -and now -patently - I have conclusive proof that they are not!
I was concerned because recently Obama has had time to appear on Letterman and a host of other talk shows -but lacked the time to talk with his commanding general in Afghanistan. While I am not anti Letterman despite his recently-revealed sexual antics, and not anti Oprah despite her support for the kiddie-rapist Roman Polanski (who apparently gets a reprieve because he is an artist as well as a confessed rapist) -I want the president (whose wife persists in calling him the "leader of the free world -whilst I, a Canadian of long standing wonder when we got to vote on THAT proposition!) to devote himself to trying to get the US economy back on the rails and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan finished.
This has impact in Canada way beyond the Rio Olympics. I have sent both my sons to Afghanistan and there they have put their lives on the line. Thousands of other Canadian parents have done so too. I trust that I offend none of them when I say "We couldn't give a damn who gets the Olympics but we want that war concluded".
I am glad to see someone finally over-ruling Obama. I hope he learns a number of things from the experience -not the least of which is that he has a job to do -and he is not doing it!
I wish him well -as do a lot of Canadians -but our expectations are high and his results are underwhelming at best.
Back to work Sir! Nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel!
Its the economy and its the wars! I would NEVER call you stupid -but please remember that that WAS the remainder of the oft-used quotation!
Jock Williams Yogi 13
It turns out that not even the potent combination of BOTH Obamas plus Oprah Winfrey to boot cannot sway public opinion as they might wish.
Not that this is some form of evil triad or anything like that -but I had begun to wonder if they are unbeatable -and now -patently - I have conclusive proof that they are not!
I was concerned because recently Obama has had time to appear on Letterman and a host of other talk shows -but lacked the time to talk with his commanding general in Afghanistan. While I am not anti Letterman despite his recently-revealed sexual antics, and not anti Oprah despite her support for the kiddie-rapist Roman Polanski (who apparently gets a reprieve because he is an artist as well as a confessed rapist) -I want the president (whose wife persists in calling him the "leader of the free world -whilst I, a Canadian of long standing wonder when we got to vote on THAT proposition!) to devote himself to trying to get the US economy back on the rails and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan finished.
This has impact in Canada way beyond the Rio Olympics. I have sent both my sons to Afghanistan and there they have put their lives on the line. Thousands of other Canadian parents have done so too. I trust that I offend none of them when I say "We couldn't give a damn who gets the Olympics but we want that war concluded".
I am glad to see someone finally over-ruling Obama. I hope he learns a number of things from the experience -not the least of which is that he has a job to do -and he is not doing it!
I wish him well -as do a lot of Canadians -but our expectations are high and his results are underwhelming at best.
Back to work Sir! Nose to the grindstone, shoulder to the wheel!
Its the economy and its the wars! I would NEVER call you stupid -but please remember that that WAS the remainder of the oft-used quotation!
Jock Williams Yogi 13
Comments
One would hope he can also “find the time” to do all such important stuff -and I agree that conferring with his armed forces personnel also qualifies also as “important stuff”.
I do not think Obamessiah or America should take the IOC decision personally nor see it as a measurement of their success. Apparently the shores of Lake Michigan just did not compare to Copacabana!
Given the past record-high debts and cost over-runs incurred by cities hosting the Olympics, a favour may have inadvertently been done for Chicago, BUT no one has ever – without tongue in cheek- suggested that the IOC does anything for the right reasons.
Awarding the Olympics to Rio merely indicates that neither the wealth nor the power of the USA is yet a match for the chicanery, manipulation and back-room dealings for which the IOC continues to hold the Gold Medal.
Setting an international event of the magnitude of the Olympics in a city which is one of the most violent cities in the world, (according to a ranking by the United Nations.) is at best risky. But then perhaps the credibility of such UN statistics has paled somewhat with the data “irregularities” associated with the UN- inspired Global Warming diatribe.
Brazil’s President claims that the IOC decision moves Brazil from a Second World Nation to a First World Nation. That would seem overly enthusiastic in that such designations involve far more than just a winning Olympic bid.
Given their failing infrastructure, the “broken” transportation system, the always fragile Brazilian economy and the pervasive crime in a city which actively promotes tourist walking- tours of their slums - this is hardly the stuff of a First World nation.
But then, for a nation which has had little positive on the world stage for decades, this is doubtless heady stuff.
And really, I guess, with that chilling image of the Olympic flag being “goose-stepped“into the stadium by the Chinese Army burned into our memory, how much worse can Rio be ?
In light of the recent folly perpetrated by the Nobel awards I am surprised that Obama did not emerge from the gathering wearing at least a few Olympic gold medals for sports yet-to-be-announced!
I wish the man well -but PLEASE! -first the work -and then the reward!
You are right in pointing out that "winning" the right to be Olympics host can indeed be the "kiss of death" for the economic well being of any city. As an example -how many DECADES did it take Montreal to crawl out from under its debt?
And also you are most certainly correct in stating that after its utterly fabricated Global Warming study the UN has credibility problems all its own.
We will just have to wait and see how the Rio Olympics pan out. I guess the same can be said for Obama.
As a highschool history student in the late 50s I remember being taught that Eisenhower was pretty low on the list of great presidents. It seems that he rates somewhat higher today.
I suspect that the same may happen with the ratings of George W. Bush -right after the world learns that Iran not only has the bomb -but has used it on Israel! Or maybe that North Korea has sent one to Japan. Obama is going to look a little weak then -and strength may come back into vogue.
That is the beauty of history -it evolves!
Remember -when Chamberlain first waved his papers above his head and cried "Peace in our time!" he was celebrated -the term became one of derision only later.
So too with negotiating with terrorists. If it works...great!
If it fails… Is there a mechanism for withdrawing the Nobel Prize?
Jock Williams Yogi 13