October 3, 2009

Perhaps Obama would have won the Olympics for Chicago, if he had "had time for a personal lubricant."

Hans Bonde, professor of sport history at the University of Copenhagen, speaks the strange English:
"Here come the more favor Obama just before the deadline and made showoff. He clearly won the battle in the media, but it turned out indeed to be indifferent. IOC members did not feel important, and they were indeed reduced to spectators and not players. So if he had come, he would have had time for a personal lubricant."
Ouch!

ADDED: Obama went 9 minutes. Come on!



AND: Actually, it's an automatic translation, and — at the link — Don Surber speculates that Bonde meant something like "buttering up." Is that an improvement? I've seen "Last Tango in Paris."

58 comments:

Synova said...

LOL!

I think that was put through an automatic translator... google maybe.

Funny though. ;-)

Meade said...

[K-]Y 2016

Sprezzatura said...

Althouse hits one out of the park.

chuck said...

Our guy's a slippery sort of devil. No doubt he didn't see the need...

blake said...

Reminded of this scene from Evolution, 40 seconds in.

"You took it like a man!"

Jason (the commenter) said...

He doesn't speak the strange English, he's being filtered through Google translate.

It's fun to hear what the Danes are saying though, isn't it? Wont see this kind of reporting on TV.

Kirby Olson said...

Hey, great song! Wonderful teasing of the Big O, too.

blake said...

Though, we should be honest, he's not so much a 60-minute man, but a 15-minute man who dresses it up a lot.

rhhardin said...

Here come the more favor Obama just before the deadline and made showoff.

Here are the sons of Shem
for their clans, for their tongues,
in their lands, for their peoples.
Here are the clans of the sons of Noah for their exploits,
in their peoples:
from the latter divide the peoples on earth, after the flood.

Chouraqui

lucid said...

No wonder he reacted with "stunned bewilderment" according to the NY Times) when he lost Chicago in the first round--he didn't realize he wasn't using a lubricant.

Cedarford said...

I think the Dane clearly meant, "buttering up", and not in the Polanski sense of the word..

So when Tony Blair promoted London he was around three days to lobby and talk to people.

Blair was not giving speeches AT people, or trying to impress them by lectures by Cherie Blair on how tough it is to be a Brit but people will thrill to DIVERSITY if they go to Olympics in London. Nor did they think bringing Britains most famous talk show host would impress anyone but a few Brits in the room.

Lula did Blair and the Brits one better..he lobbied for about a year. Invited IOC to Carnival. Sought their advice on how to run a great FIFA. Had Brazil's most famous athletes schmoozing them..

The Obamas just talked down to their audience, spoke of how worthy they both were as people, how deserving Chicago was, and invited the delegates to show "they cared". And such was their arrogance and cluelessness that they didn't understand the delegates were looking for some sort of kinship, some enthusiasm, some commitment of money (that Obama was so tapped out by his massive spending that he wouldn't dare try in Congress to set a few billion aside to help out Chicago 7 years out..)

Since the Obamas and their fellow Chicagoans tried making it all about Chicago...there was little enthusiasm in the rest of America. Unlike Brasil, Spain, even Japan backing Tokyo's bid as a national thing.

Well, they didn't.

Ann Althouse said...

@blake Yeah, the 60-minute-man is not that impressive, is he?

Ann Althouse said...

" and not in the Polanski sense of the word.."

I thought of Marlon Brando, but I'm reminded that Roman Polanski used butter. I googed "Roman Polanski butter" to investigate/get a link and was amazed to see that the first hit was me! The internet is so bizarre.

Alex said...

We SO need Titus right now. I mean only he could deal with all the lubricant possibilities!

Shanna said...

Damn, I hate conflicting edits!!!

Since the Obamas and their fellow Chicagoans tried making it all about Chicago...there was little enthusiasm in the rest of America. Unlike Brasil, Spain, even Japan backing Tokyo's bid as a national thing.

I think it's usually all about the home city and not national enthusiasm. Maybe it was the first time we got it, but now? I don't remember being terribly enthused about Salt Lake City.

rhhardin said...

Greasing some palms, most likely.

miller said...

At some point can we be shocked that there's ineptitude going on in this Administration?

Alex said...

miller - the fun is only beginning. Less then 9 months in and already swimming in ineptitude! I can't wait to see this guy crash and burn!

phosphorious said...

"miller - the fun is only beginning. Less then 9 months in and already swimming in ineptitude! I can't wait to see this guy crash and burn!"

I had thought that he had crashed and burned so many times by now that Impeachment was a mere formality at this point.

How many "Worst Mistakes Ever" can a man make?

Unknown said...

Ann Althouse said...

I googed "Roman Polanski butter" to investigate/get a link and was amazed to see that the first hit was me!

Ann, sometimes I get the oddest feeling you use your chandelier for more than illumination.

WV "enatar" an unfriendly avatar

miller said...

a) Sad that when he crashes & burns he'll take a lot of good people with him.

b) NINE MINUTES? How can anyone listen to him for that length of time? He comes across as a pompous self-referential windbag. I mean, he is reading a teleprompter. How does that make him different than an actor who's simply reading lines?

Where's the "there" of the Presidency? Is he only an empty suit, a tabula rasa for the teleprompter to define?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

But Obama showed dumb diplomacy. He was ill-prepared and his staff failed to lay the foundation for his appearance. He came off as an ugly American who knew nothing about the territory and who felt the world somehow owed him something.

Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan..

"The last thing in your priority scale sets the tone for everything else" my baseball mentor told me.

Lesson learned? they were never there there.

miller said...

Truly his staff is incompetent not to have all these details ironed out ahead of time.

He comes across as the president of the PTA rather than as the president of the freakin' United States.

What will it take to get him to focus on his priorities?

Unless you argue that getting the Olympics for the U.S. outweighs his attention to prosecuting the war in Afghanistan - the one he said was so important during his campaign. In fact, I recall him saying he'd get Osama unlike GWBush.

Did that just drop away as a snowball in summer?

Alex said...

miller - isn't it chauvinistic to place such an importance on the POTUS position? I mean doesn't that make other nations feel insecure?

former law student said...

They should have sent another world-famous Chicagoan, like Michael Jordan or Liz Phair.

BJM said...

@Lem 6:36

Isn't that Obama's M.O.? He's done pretty much the same thing with Healthcare reform with a similar reaction.

Chip Ahoy said...

Enough time for "greasing the palms," as it were, in accordance with the Chicago Way and to IOC customary business method and expectations. See the value of a good translator?

miller said...

All I can say is I think Michael Jordan would have been a better spokesman - you know, an actual athlete.

And perhaps the committee should have thought this through a little more deeply.

It appeared to be the Hail Mary pass from the administration. And not for a catholic (small c) audience.

former law student said...

I'm going to say Obama's failing is that he didn't schmooze the committee members like Blair did. Apparently Blair memorized some personal detail about each and every committee member, and chatted one-on-one with each over three days.

I don't think anyone wanted Obama to be an oily salesman.

miller said...

btw, I failed to say "I agree with FLS."

In this one instance. Don't take this as a blanket endorsement.

former law student said...

Actually they should have sent Biden to schmooze the committee members -- he's good at that. Then Obama could have closed the deal.

former law student said...

miller -- I take nothing for granted.

As I see it, Richie Daley wanted to use every bullet in his gun. He should have known that an Obama visit would not send the committee's hearts a-swooning.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Isn't that Obama's M.O.?

At some point the people around him will, as a matter of the laws of nature, adjust to the light of his magnificence and then we will (hopefully) start to see a glimmer of a president and not waht we fear.

miller said...

FLS - I want you to keep on your toes.

And does it speak epic FAIL for an Adminstration to not know how a particular governmental body operates?

You negotiate different with the English than with the Germans or Russians, for example.

Somehow the Boy President (to use Maureen Dowd's artful phrase) imagines that since the MSM bows down to him here that EVERYONE ELSE LOVES HIM AS MUCH AS HIS MIRROR! and that merely giving a speech about HIMSELF AS SOMEONE WHO STOPPED THE SEAS FROM RISING! would be enough to convince those old foxes on the IOC to give the plum of 2016 to Chicago WHERE HE FOUND HIS TRUE HOME AND PLACE TO SHOW HIS GREAT SKILLS AS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER! PLUS KIDS WOULD SWOON AND SWEAR TO DO GREAT THINGS BECAUSE THE FIRST BLACK GUY (well, moite-moite, as they say in Rio) WAS PRESIDENT OF THE WORST, MOST RACIST COUNTRY IN ALL HISTORY EVER!

I imagine this did not impress the electors.

miller said...

So he spoke for 9 minutes?

And McChrystal got 25 minutes?

Let's see - that makes Afghanistan (where kids are dying) 2.5 times as important as the Olympics.

I'm glad The Boy President could fit in the general in his hectic schedule.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Not one year in (as a critic only interested in wahts good for the nation.. presidents come and go.. up to now.. still) I'm not ready to trash Obama for a mistake like this one.

Why? again, we, he, Obama have bigger fish to fry.. fishes that the longer they go un-fished the longer the world starves.

Obama is the agenda setter whether it accommodates him or not.

His learning curve might be steeper than we anticipated.

go ahead call me racist.

Automatic_Wing said...

As I see it, Richie Daley wanted to use every bullet in his gun. He should have known that an Obama visit would not send the committee's hearts a-swooning.

Well, yeah, but you're ignoring the real issue, which is that the President of the United States shouldn't be a bullet in Richie Daley's gun.

Talk about the tail wagging the dog.

john said...

What you all said (over the last 4-5 threads and 450+ comments).

To me, the remaining question had been whether a) Obama could continue to manipulate a fawning MSM and state/national Dem party to feed his needs and his ego, or b) the Dems and MSM could continue to control the boy president.

The answer is now apparent. Since neither the Dem party nor the MSM can allow this lad to fail, yet sending him on such a fools errand was such an embarassment, who will now take charge of discipline?

(Lem, are you a baseball player?)

XWL said...

Maybe he was referencing the old saying, "courtesy is the lubricant for social intercourse".

(if it's not an old saying, it ought to be)

The Obama administration did not show proper courtesy towards the IOC, not that the IOC deserves courtesy, or to be courted, but Mayor Daley felt that was the case, and Obama was willing to do the Mayor's bidding.

I guess all the Chicagoans trying to get the Olympics to their town were not prepared to deal with a group even more corrupt than themselves.

Shanna said...

Actually they should have sent Biden to schmooze the committee members -- he's good at that.

I can buy that. I like Biden, despite all the goofy things he says, or maybe because of them. I can definately see him being a better schmoozer.

Still, it may just not have been in the cards this year. And I'm happy for Rio.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Somebody should ask president Obama what (unlike a contestant for the presidency) as actual, in the flesh president makes him uncomfortable about the presidency..

My impression is that Obama's egalitarian equality (an earlier oath) might be in conflict with his oath of office of president.

The opportunity to highlight the conflict has not presented itself in any 9/11 like manner (thank God). But it is (I bet) in the back of the minds of the people whos job it is to make sure.

traditionalguy said...

Al Queda got another Gold Medal today for IED Road Bombs in Afghan Mountain Valleys at the expense of another (the 8th) good Georgia family man killed serving in the 48th Brigade Combat Team in just six weeks running around in a nowhere part of the Afghan/Pakistan border area for no reason except protecting Afghan Hillbillies from the only life they have ever known. No oil, no strategic value and no chance of a victory without 500,000 troops kept there for 40 more years. The Olympics is only a big TV program that gives the world a chance to worship athletes. Will somebody please elect the USA a Commander in Chief that has a clue what is going on outside of the world of Industrial Strength Chicago Graft negotiations.

Cedarford said...

Ann Althouse said...
" and not in the Polanski sense of the word.."
I thought of Marlon Brando, but I'm reminded that Roman Polanski used butter. I googed "Roman Polanski butter" to investigate/get a link and was amazed to see that the first hit was me! The internet is so bizarre.


As I wrote it, I did remember the movie "Last Tango in Paris" - but didn't mention it because it was before my time, saw it on video and was pretty bored.

I do remember the "buttered up girl" in the movie was "ridden hard about it" for years. And had a famous snit when she blew her top at an innocent patron in an LA restaurant. Who was unaware of the fact Schneider was a lesbian OR about the movie...smiled at her in his best "come on" smile and asked her to "pass the butter".

Reason #107 in why pickup lines sometimes fail spectacularly.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

it is (I bet) in the back of the minds of the people whos job it is to make sure.

an example.

I get curious when people quit.. specially early on.

Anonymous said...

Gay men use Crisco.

Peter

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Gay men use Crisco.

as the authority you are I ask you..

Did Obama carry the farm vote?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wince said...

Perhaps the greatest movie line of all time,

Floyd Gondolli:

Wait a minute, Jack. I'm not a complicated man.

I like cinema. In particular, I like to see fucking on film. I don't want to win an Oscar and I don't want to re-invent the wheel --

I enjoy simple pleasures like butter in my ass and lollipops in my mouth.

That's me -- call me crazy, call me a pervert, but this is something I enjoy. One other small thing I want to do in this life is make a dollar and a cent in this business -- I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm trying to help you stay one step ahead of the game.


wv-"reces" = a recession so bad you have to cut back even on the word recession

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

what is in the back of the minds of the people whos job it is to make sure.

a possible prosecution...

I might get prosecuted for making a call as i see it at the time it took place.

if only national security was like a baseball dispute. do we allow an instant replay and under what circumstances?

wv - everoth - the idea the because Peter Ueberroth did a good job once it mean anybody assigned by a president can do the same in perpetuity ie save our collective ass.

Nichevo said...

he may have meant something like 'grease the skids' or 'oil some palms' rather than 'butter up' but it's all fun. I do feel bad that 0 has reduced the office so. potus should not be a figure of fun.

as for the ioc, they don't deserve to be bribed. should be blackmailed or threatened instead. almost too wicked to be allowed to defeat 0. talk about red-on-red!

on intelligence of 0...part of iq is memory. you'd think the big black genius could deliver a 9 min speech without notes, whether extemp or memorized.

can't wish for him to be killed...blacks almost never suicide...choke on a pretzel maybe? wrapped in $100/lb iberico ham of course. I doubt that incompetence is grounds for impeachment but boy, I bet many voters wish for a mulligan. pity 0 never had a whole 9 mos real experience at a real job so people could've seen what he could really do. can we remember this for the future and know to vote against vox-et-praeterea-nihil candidates in future?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

if we cant rely on the people who's job it is to keep us safe..

i dont even know how to formulate a question thereon...

other than the expectation of an attack should be a normality.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

should the expectation of an attack be a normality?

or is even asking too considered sept 10?

for one thing Obama is all sept 10.. so i slip back its not my fault ;)

caplight said...

Wasn't it at about this time in the Clinton era that it became apparant that the Arkansas gang wasn't quite ready for prime time? Filegaate, Travelgate, Bruce Lindsey misusing the marine chopper for a round of golf, Mack McLarty leaving etc. Maybe the Chicago gang needs a little more prime time experience. The present bungle is on a continuum with giving the Queen of England an iPod of his speeches.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Wasn't it at about this time in the Clinton era that it became apparent that the Arkansas gang wasn't quite ready for prime time?

You are comparing the optimism that the end of the cold war spurred not to mention the relatively (compared to now) malfeasance free economy Clinton inherited?

go on..

kentuckyliz said...

The Olympics are a big sex party, maybe the IOC meetings are too.

BYO Asstroglide.

wv tromaxi
the giant condoms Obama thinks he needs

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Despite the politics we have, should as a matter of decency allow for the mess Obama has inherited.

"believe you me" i derive no pleasure is saying this.

we should give Obama more rope.

(as i said i'm not funny)

caplight said...

Lem

what I said is more about the first nine months being a test drive for the people who got you elected but who may not be able to help you govern--a much more complex process. Maybe Clinton had it easier but I still see similarity btwn two men who are impressed with themselves, from out of town relative to the national center of power. Making a splash in Chicago isn't the same as doing soon an international level. Maybe he needs to widen his circle of advisors. And forget the "wife-as-secret-weapon". It didn't work for Bill and it didn't work in this case with Michelle.

AllenS said...

Here's another perspective that didn't make the Obama's look good. Michelle used a jumbo jet to fly her jumbo black ass over there, and then Barack used a different jumbo jet to fly Oprah's jumbo black ass over there. They came on too strong.