These are the Olympics that were supposed to be in Chicago. At the time of the decision giving the Olympics to Rio, White House senior adviser David Axelrod said:
"The president made, I think, a very strong appeal, and it didn't work out. But it was well worth the effort..." Axelrod said Obama's appeal wasn't strong enough to overcome the "internal currents".... "I think there were other things that played there that we simply couldn't overcome, and that's life. Life goes on."
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Can't wait to see the athlete cell phone video of an anaconda crawling down a dorm hallway.
"Oh my God!"
"These are the Olympics that were supposed to be in Chicago"
Chicago was the first eliminated. The world likes Obama, but only because he has no problem allowing America to be kicked in the teeth.
So they kicked America in the teeth.
You have to wonder if Chicago would have gotten it if the Prez hadn't made a pitch. Frankly, the Olympics is a net drain on any city that gets it.
The Olympics have become too much of a spectacle, making absurd demands on the host. I can understand why a marginalized corruptocracy like Russia would be willing to spend the money for such a showcase, but why would anybody else?
The Olympics should be permanently set in Olympia.
Any comment would be interpreted as racist; therefore no comment.
I have to agree with Maguire.
and it tends to bankrupt it's locations.
Which city - Rio or Chi have the worse murder rate?
If the Olympics don't happen in Rio in 2016, why is that Earth-shatteringly bad?
I like watching the swimming competition, but that's about it.
"The Olympics should be permanently set in Olympia"
The Special Olympics already is.
(a painfully un-PC comment on the quality of Washington State government)
Weren't all the America-lovin conservatives rooting for Rio over the American city?
Brazil cannot provide even limited protection against gangs and other terrorists at such events.
There is a reason the Olympics had never been in South America before.
Chcago wouldn't have gotten it because it's time South America takes its place in the world. I thought Chicago might have had a chance until I heard Rio was a contender.
The bribe money wasn't there, plain and simple.
So, so glad that Chicago didn't win. For the foreseeable future, the Olympics will be pursued by countries willing to spend unreasonable amounts of money for the "prestige" of hosting the games, and proving their wealth to the world.
Countries that have nothing to prove should not be bidding. It's like trying to play the tallest skyscraper game, when too many players are building money-losing buildings.
Just what we would have needed in Killer Chicago. The most dangerous city in America with the toughest gun laws. How many people got shot just last weekend?? Over 40. http://www.wftv.com/news/news/national/chicago-sees-gun-violence-spike-april/nfjbg/?icmp=cmgcontent_internallink_relatedcontent_2014_partners1
The opening ceremonies to the 2012 London Olympics should be enough to prove that the whole thing is a sham.
The Olympics should be permanently set in Olympia.
This makes the most sense. Have the summer Olympics in Greece every year and the winter Olympics somewhere cold (not in cities that have palm trees).what a huge waste of money building these huge facilities for one time use.
I'm a Chicagoan living in Rio, and I appreciate the fact that Chicago and Rio are true sister cities when it comes to corruption, unionization, cost overruns, lousy public schools, great beaches and great skylines.
Everything will work out fine once the cutesy talking blue macaws show up. Then those tree-chopping scalawags will get what they deserve. I saw it in a movie.
Do they have a word for "manana" in Portuguese?
Don't they say that about pretty much each and every Olympics?
They do strike me as excessively bloated. If they can't fit in a reasonable major city's facilities without an insane building regimen, then maybe they ought to be stripped back a bit? In my lifetime, somehow hosting the Olympics has gone from an honor for the hosting country to a just punishment upon the populace for official hubris.
"These are the Olympics that were supposed to be in Chicago"
According to whom?
You have to wonder if Chicago would have gotten it if the Prez hadn't made a pitch. Frankly, the Olympics is a net drain on any city that gets it.
Well some cities have made a “profit” by hosting the Olympics but it appears that’s because (a) the cost was subsidized by other taxpayers and/or (b) major expenses such as renovations where not counted as part of the official costs.
The 2014 Brasil World Cup preparations are also disasterous.
In light of the recent Futurama comments around here, I'd offer this analysis of Rio's abilities:
Zoidberg: I've missed you terribly!
Hermes: You do everything terribly.
All joking aside, the World Cup is set for later this year in Brazil. Let's see how that goes before we declare them total fuckups.
The award of the Olympics has often been referred to as the International Bankruptcy Award.
I was living in London for the 2012 Olympics and live in Chicago now. I loved the games but must admit I would like not paying for a second one.
In any event, I prefer the US get the World Cup because we would need to do very little to get those games going and they are spread around the country
garage mahal said...
"Weren't all the America-lovin conservatives rooting for Rio over the American city?"
No. What gave you that idea?
It would have been amusing to see 'An ode to obamacare' dance like the Brits and their national healthcare skit. And by amusing I mean the barf pattern on the floor.
Rumpletweezer said...
You have to wonder if Chicago would have gotten it if the Prez hadn't made a pitch. Frankly, the Olympics is a net drain on any city that gets it.
But it's a wonderful opportunity for graft and corruption, which is why Chicago was so hot to host the games in the first place.
Brazil cannot provide even limited protection against gangs and other terrorists at such events.
Much the same was said about Sochi.
I endured a day of CNN breathlessly reporting on toothpaste bombers and how Sochi was doomed doomed doomed!
"worst ever seen"
not enough money going to the IOC members?
Tank can only discuss this issue during an unrecorded private conversation.
I'm a Chicagoan and a conservative and I'm glad Chicago lost the Olympics. The Olympics would have caused corruption in Chicago to rocket to world-historical, galactic levels even as the city, already deeply in arrears, would have descended into an inescapable netherworld of fiscal decrepitude. On top of that the struggle over who got what juicy construction contracts would precipitously elevated racial tensions and generally raised the polemic noise level to intolerable heights.
Patrick O @12:09,
Bingo!!!
Add to that, that this IOC parasite is commenting primarily because every dollar, pesada, whatever spent on the World Cup this year is one less for him and his buddies.
The saddest part of Obama putting the US presidency and the rest of us on hold so he could shill for Chicago is that he thought he could overawe the IOC without opening his checkbook. For a fundraiser like Obama It must have been a huge shock for him and his Daley machine minders that people expected them to open their checkbooks rather than the other way around. This should have been an early international clue for him, but he and those around him are incapable of learning. Better to go home where the cash flow is more predictable.
As a few have mentioned, this summers World Cup is Brazil's soft open. Expect a fiasco now, expect a lot less of one for the Olympics.
Completely agree about having permanent sites for these events as well. The Olympics currently are conspicuous consumption for the host country, a modern potlatch destroying money to exceed one another's nationalistic big-man displays.
What a better figure than shirtless Putin to jump the Olympic shark into the history books?
No. What gave you that idea?
Old Althouse threads. Conservatives were ecstatic over Chicago losing the Olympic bid. If you need links let me know.
“I can understand why a marginalized corruptocracy like Chicago would be willing to spend the money for such a showcase…”
Fixed that for ya!!!!
That's what they said about the Olympics in Russia. They hate Russians, but do they also hate Brazilians, or is this a fair assessment?
So, so glad that Chicago didn't win. For the foreseeable future, the Olympics will be pursued by countries willing to spend unreasonable amounts of money for the "prestige" of hosting the games, and proving their wealth to the world.
Kind of reminds me of the custom among the “nobility” in some pre-industrial cultures of having lavish parties whose object was to display the wealth of the hosts by wasting as much food and money as possible.
Sounds like a good time to bring in another made-up judged event with pretty costumes.
According to the people at the "appeal" Obama was his usual arrogant, patronizing, fatuous self. Seems to have worked mas usual.
"I have to agree with Maguire.
and it tends to bankrupt it's locations."
Then set it in Detroit. Do the math: negative time a negative produces a positive! It's SCIENCE!
"It would have been amusing to see 'An ode to obamacare' dance like the Brits and their national healthcare skit."
The Brits HAD to do their healthcare skit with children. They've killed off all the old patients.
"Can't wait to see the athlete cell phone video of an anaconda crawling down a dorm hallway.
"Oh my God!""
I look for Brazil to do particularly well in the capybara toss and the Capoeira competition.
The Olympics was not a net drain when Romney was in charge of it. It must have been magic or good luck or something.
Re: Chicago Olympic Campaign
I think the was the first, true, can't deny it evidence that President Obama is an abysmal ambassador for U.S. interests.
I did not read the article, but isn't pretty much the same thing said 2 years before every Olympics?
wendbar,
Chicago's always up there in the violent crime stats, but it's been quite a while since was number one, hasn't it?
The Olympics should be permanently set in Olympia.
Then how would IOC members make money through bribery if they didn't have the power to decide which cities get the honor of hosting an olympic event?
"Life goes on."
What difference, at this point, does it make?
Ambrose said...
I did not read the article, but isn't pretty much the same thing said 2 years before every Olympics?
It does seem that way, at least for the last several games. I remember when the IOC told Sydney (2000 host) to be ready in case Athens (2004) host wasn't ready.
richard mcenroe:
The children are aborted/murdered. The seniors are euthanized/murdered.
Either way, the problem set is reduced, and some kind of utopia is realized.
ken in sc:
Actually, Salt Lake City, and Utah generally, have grown by a factor of 4 or more since the Winter Olympics. While the native population has always been productive, there has been a massive influx of migrants from sea to shining sea. It may have been due to publicity while staging the Olympics. It may have been a strong marketing campaign to promote Utah's economy and culture. It was likely a combination of these efforts.
That said, correlation is not causation, and outcomes may and do vary.
On the bright side, the sun is finally shining, the temperatures are finally warming, and some of the flowering plants, especially the fruit-bearing ones, appear to have survived the prolonged cold weather.
Any Olympic competition where the winner is decided based upon some judge's opinion, e.g., gymnastics, figure skating or diving, is not worthy of my time nor attention.
They might as well include poetry or singing in the Olympics.
Your mileage may vary.
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