Obama '08?

the thing about Obama making the trip which is most troubling is that he said and seemed to believe that 1) him going would make a difference...ie it was worth the time and 2) that chicago had a chance of success. He was wrong on both counts, his intelligence contacts did not yield the facts. So then the question becomes why not? The only answer can be that Obama was listening to the wrong people. Obama's judgment is yet again questionable.

Collins (NYT) had a good point, if we are going to have a president traipsing off on a lark, better for it be to lobby the IOC than to invade a country, but this is not a very satisfactory state of affairs

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@maporsche,

mysteryman:

Well, it didnt take long.
It seems that Chicago politicians are blaming Bush for Chicago not getting the olympics.

http://www.suntimes.com/sports/olympics/1804170,CST-NWS-olyresent03.article

1 Reply

@Lightwizard,

He can handle that Wiz.

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@Diest TKO,

Diest TKO wrote:

Can we just kill the Obama-Chicago-Olympics discussion now? I fear if we don't it will be a 5 page ramble if we don't kill it early.

It seems like nobody here is suprized at the spin, nor would have been surprised by the spin in any outcome. Doesn't sound like there is anything to be discussed.

T
K
O

No such luck.

Is it really so hard to accept that there is serious pull for the Olympics to go to a continent it has never been before? They were just here 3 games ago. And why, even with that understanding, should our president NOT go and represent us when one of our cities is in the final four? I don't understand why this is even worth talking about.

Hurray Rio!

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@FreeDuck,

I just don't get it.

Group A says that failure means Obama dropped the ball. Group B says that's just spin. Group A says that if this had been a success, someone would have spun it so that Obama was why it succeeded. Group B agrees.

Group B agrees with Group A, but Group A still wants to fight it out... There isn't anything here to debate.

T
K
O

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@FreeDuck,

FreeDuck wrote:

And why, even with that understanding, should our president NOT go and represent us when one of our cities is in the final four?

Because it isn't part of his job, and because he has much more pertinent things to mind, such as national security and the economy. Thats why. And also because he doesn't need to be spending time trying to feather the nest of the corrupt Chicago political machine.

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@okie,

Reading to school children is also not in the president's job description. I believe it is appropriate for a head of state to represent his country in a bid to host the Olympics. There's no rule that says he can't or shouldn't.

1 Reply

@okie,

okie wrote:

FreeDuck wrote:
And why, even with that understanding, should our president NOT go and represent us when one of our cities is in the final four?

Because it isn't part of his job,

Sez who? You? You don't get to define the president's job.

Quote:

and because he has much more pertinent things to mind, such as national security and the economy

The Olympic games bring billions of dollars to the country that hosts them, that's part of our economy bro.

Quote:

Thats why. And also because he doesn't need to be spending time trying to feather the nest of the corrupt Chicago political machine.

Weak and boring.

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@FreeDuck,

It probably didn't require a fleet of airliners and huge budget to read to children, as it did to take Obama and all of his staff and wife to Denmark for several days. I don't recall what took Bush to Florida before 9/11, but I doubt it was solely for the purpose of reading to the children. I am speaking on recollection here, I hope I am correct in remembering Bush was reading to a classroom when he got word of the attacks in New York. What he was doing in reading to the children could have been or I am guessing was only a sidelight to the purpose of why he was in Florida, I don't remember. Don't get me wrong, I am not singing praises of Bush reading to the children, but I am pointing out a possible basic difference in the scale of the two scenarios.

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@okie,

okie wrote:

It probably didn't require a fleet of airliners and huge budget to read to children, as it did to take Obama and all of his staff and wife to Denmark for several days.

Obama was there for 14 hours.

Weak.

Cycloptichorn

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@Cycloptichorn,

Cyclops, I know, and you would know, that if Bush had gone to some country on the other side of the globe with a fleet of jets full of staff, to lobby for the Olympics come to Dallas or whatever city is closest to Crawford, I know good and well that you would be here criticizing Bush and accusing him of feathering the nests of his friends in Texas. But he probably would not have done that either, not with soldiers dying in Afghanistan, that is the difference between the two men. It is a very big difference, if you could open your eyes and see it.

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@okie,

okie wrote:

It probably didn't require a fleet of airliners and huge budget to read to children, as it did to take Obama and all of his staff and wife to Denmark for several days.

Well, it's hard to compare without facts. How much did it cost and how many air liners did it take to get Obama to Denmark and how long did he stay?

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@okie,

okie wrote:

Cyclops, I know, and you would know, that if Bush had gone to some country on the other side of the globe with a fleet of jets full of staff, to lobby for the Olympics come to Dallas or whatever city is closest to Crawford, I know good and well that you would be here criticizing Bush and accusing him of feathering the nests of his friends in Texas. But he probably would not have done that either, not with soldiers dying in Afghanistan, that is the difference between the two men. It is a very big difference, if you could open your eyes and see it.

It's easy for you to make fantasy scenarios in your head, and assign certain emotions of phrases to me; but not accurate.

I would remind you that GWB spent 1/3 of his days in office on vacation. Now, you can argue that they aren't like 'regular' vacations, b/c he was still getting briefed and such. But he certainly wasn't at 'work.'

Yet, I never once heard you complain about that, not once. The idea that Bush wouldn't have taken time off while soldiers were dying is a ******* joke, he took 1/3rd of his time in office off, doing exactly that.

Cycloptichorn

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@FreeDuck,

Additionally, the President met - and had talks with - the Danish Queen, the Prince Consort, Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen, the Spanish King, the Brazilian president, the ...

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@okie,

okie wrote:

Cyclops, I know, and you would know, that if Bush had gone to some country on the other side of the globe with a fleet of jets full of staff, to lobby for the Olympics come to Dallas or whatever city is closest to Crawford, I know good and well that you would be here criticizing Bush and accusing him of feathering the nests of his friends in Texas. But he probably would not have done that either, not with soldiers dying in Afghanistan, that is the difference between the two men. It is a very big difference, if you could open your eyes and see it.

I would not be bothered had Bush flown somewhere to lure the games to TX. What did bother me was that he continued for 7.5 minutes to read a kid's story after being told that the country was under attack. Obama would not have done something so utterly stupid.

1 Reply

Bush is no longer president. So not everything can be blamed on him now. Also, when Bush was in Crawford, he worked on presidential matters every day. I am not here to justify everything Bush did, I am also critical of some of his decisions, but I do believe completely that he cared about the security of the country, and we did not have another attack here after 9/11. I am not as confident with Obama, I don't think he cares that much about us, its about him. Sorry to criticize our president, and I am not here to be dishonest, that is my honest opinion, and it is exactly how alot of other people that I know, thats how they feel as well. I care about the country, and that is why I am here to say what I honestly believe about the direction of things. I am concerned in a more serious way than at any time in my entire life.

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@okie,

okie wrote:

Bush is no longer president. So not everything can be blamed on him now. Also, when Bush was in Crawford, he worked on presidential matters every day. I am not here to justify everything Bush did, I am also critical of some of his decisions, but I do believe completely that he cared about the security of the country, and we did not have another attack here after 9/11. I am not as confident with Obama, I don't think he cares that much about us, its about him. Sorry to criticize our president, and I am not here to be dishonest, that is my honest opinion, and it is exactly how alot of other people that I know, thats how they feel as well. I care about the country, and that is why I am here to say what I honestly believe about the direction of things. I am concerned in a more serious way than at any time in my entire life.

We just don't believe these feelings reflect anything about Obama whatsoever, but about you and your inability to handle the other team being in charge, Okie.

Obama hasn't done anything which would lead anyone to believe he doesn't care much about America or our safety. He has made many, many statements which would lead one to believe the opposite, and he has taken actions that indicate the opposite. But, when you believe everything the man says and does is a lie, nothing would ever convince you the opposite is true, because you don't wish to believe anything different.

If you could point out specific things Obama has said or done that make us any less safe, that would be worth discussing, but you generally don't do that. It's a lot easier just to assassinate someone's character, isn't it?

Cycloptichorn

1 Reply

@Advocate,

Quote:

What did bother me was that he continued for 7.5 minutes to read a kid's story after being told that the country was under attack.

That's not my interpretation of what happened.

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@Cycloptichorn,

Quote:

If you could point out specific things Obama has said or done that make us any less safe,

He has cancelled the missile defense system in E. Europe.

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@okie,

Bullshit. ost of this recovery is because of his "dereg mentality" and his support of Grahams "everybody gets a house " bill.

The right was burning Clinton for 7 years after he left office and the Goddam Starr Commission didnt actually fold its tent until 2003. SO quit trying to minimize todays problems with yesteryears president.

He may be gone home to his coloring books but his spoor is still visible.

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