The Olympics flub is of no real consequence, but unfortunately the Bamster is headed for similar flubs with respect to Iran, Israel/palestine, Russia, Honduras, North Korea, and pretty much anything else he touches. The man has the reverse Midas touch in foreign affairs.

The Olympic bid isn't the first time in 9 months that Obama's charasmatic rhetoric didn't work.  Let's see, the Europeans refused to spend billions to go into debt as he was doing in the US.  The Israeli's refused to stop building.  The Iranians are still running their centrifuges to enrich uranium.  The Russians aren't halting their support of the Iranians.  The Chinese aren't agreeing to sanctions on Iran if they won't stop enriching uranium.  The Dear Leader of the DPRK is still building nuclear bombs and has shown no sign of stopping.  The UN is not stepping up to the plate on the DPRK as Obama asked.  Then Domestically, the average person is not buying into the Public Option despite 24/7 MSM coverage.  The Senate won't be passing Cap & Trade so he had the EPA do it for them.

Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.

The incompetence.

98% of this administrations efforts at anything seems to reflect amateur status. How they could not have anaylized the possible outcomes here and not clearly seen the downside is mind boggling. The simple fact that South America has never hosted tipped the scales heavily. And to believe the IOC comitee members were unaware of the seemer aspects of Chicago politics is naive folly. The only smart move would have been to send a diplomat or let it ride altogether. But noooo.

Disputes are natural and inevitable. When people of different points of view meet together, it's normal that their different perspectives lead them to have differences over how the group should proceed. How does a group, then, make a collective decision? There are two basic methods:

• Negotiate to produce a consensus.  This method depends on a shaky assumption: namely, that different perspectives can be dismissed in favor of a single perspective, which the negotiator considers the "right" point of view. All he has to do, therefore, is to explain to the others why he's right and they're wrong.

Now, if you're mature, you don't treat others as wrong. You work with people in mutual respect. You can believe that your perspective is the best for everyone, but you treat others' concerns as legitimate. When you negotiate, you address their concerns fairly, and if nothing else, you compensate others for their agreement to back your proposal.

• Vote.  This method makes no judgments about the quality of everyone's point of view. It's strictly a functional way to resolve differences.

On just about every issue, the Obama approach is to try to explain why opponents are wrong. The Obama Gang clams they're evil, or stooges of special interests, or they're being manipulated by lies, etc. But the Obama Gang refuses to grasp that other perspectives are legitimate. They've portrayed all opposition as villains to their heroic efforts. They feel that once they've explained their position, others should V8-slap their foreheads and get in line. 

Obama's a one-trick pony. His only trick it to cast aspersions on opponents' point of view. He shows little sign of addressing their legitimate concerns. (OK, in his speech before Congress, he offered to consider tort reform. Gee, thanks.) He offers nothing in return. He expects others to drop their own perspective for his, with nothing in return.

Usually, young people think they're right, and that all they have to do is explain it to others. What teaches you to respect other points of view as legitimate? Experience. But that's what Obama lacks. And he's showing his immaturity constantly.

That's why he loses votes.

The story in the MSM before Friday was that Chicago was in a close race with Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games.  After the Big O gave his pitch, it dropped to fourth place.   Chicago might have won if he had stayed home and kept his mouth shut.  He may have a devoted following of Kool-aid drinkers here in the US of A, but overseas, he's just another two-bit politician.

To h**l with change, I want improvement.

this may be Obama derangment syndrome at its absolute most extreme.  You blithering idiots seem convinved that giving Rio the olympics was somehow the comittiee making a political statement on Obama and his politics.  The man took a shoot, and it didn't work out.  Its too bad, but its far far far from shameful.  Sometimes i read on this website about false equivocy.  nothing could be a more prime examble then say one president is a putz becuase he made a strong bid for the olypics and didnt get it, while the previouse president sleep walked into the dumbest war of the 20th or 21st cetnruy. 

 BY THE WAY, A HISTORY LESSON:  Far left agenda is communism, or socialism, socialism of course being when the state controls means of production, and communism being when the prolatariot controls the means of production.  Far Right politics in this case, would be complete free market, no taxes (which if you are smart enough, you realize borders on stateless anarchy).  Someone who says why don't we have a free market, but tax to have a strong state (ie bridges, armies, public schools so are kids can compete) and also provides for a saftey net so the poor in the country have a place to sleep and a breakfast bar to eat THIS IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TWO, ERGO, I USE THE WORD CENTRIST WHICH REFLECTS SOMETHING IN THE CENTER OF TWO POLLS.

learn about it

With a virtually nonexistent vetting process, highly questionable choices for "czars", an incomplete cabinet, a series of public relations debacles, etc, Obama would be wise to 'replace' his Chief of Staff - Rahm Emanuel.

Look for Rahm Emanuel to keep his job.

You're doing a heckuva job, Rahmmy...

Thanks for your sharing your insight.  I've spilled blood for this country and lost friends in battle.  You have every right, and I've fought for that right, to say whatever you want.  However, you and your ilk have no right to foist a communist state upon this great country.  You may claim we are not yet a purely socialist or communist country, but it is quite clear it is the direction Duh One is leading us.

Glad you had fun in Spain.  I was thinking of something more long-term than a one-year visit.

Obama was just walking the walk in his bid for the Olympics.  He didn't really want a victory in Copenhagen. 

Here's why in his own words: 

"I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur," Obama told ABC News.

Wouldn't want to make those other cities feel inferior.

"Reason and persuasion are the only practical instruments against error.  To make way for these, free inquiry must be indulged" - Thomas Jefferson

Why bother?  The Obamaheads will continue to think he's great and conveniently ignore this entire embarrassing narcissistic episode.

Press a Lib on this and they'll start lashing out about Bush and Katrina or something like that.

Now, if Chicago had gotten the Games, then there'd be a little spring in every Libtards step for a week or so, and they wouldn't spare you their glee at how happy they are The One pulled it off, how great it is for America, how He brought pride back to America...blah blah blah friggin' BLAH

One of the 34% who thinks George W. Bush was a great President. One of the 86% who wants to bring back the stock and pillory.