As a resident of the Chicago area for most of 1993 through 2004 (as an IT consultant, I loved being able to fly almost anywhere at the drop of a hat from O'Hare or Midway), I was naturally intrigued by Chicago's bid to host the summer games. Given the fact that the US has served as host twice over the past 25 years (Los Angeles and Atlanta), I felt it was unlikely that we would prevail, especially given the strong entry of the eventual winner, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Brazil has one of the strongest developing national economies, and South America has never hosted the games. (The remaining unrepresented continents are Africa and Antarctica.)
Obama's decision to put the prestige of the Office of the Presidency behind the Chicago sales pitch and personally intervene with the selection committee was a blunder (perhaps he didn't apologize enough for us winning all those medals over the years...) I listened with both amusement and annoyance as MSNBC progressive primetime host Rachel Maddow on this Sunday's "Meet the Press" tried to spin it by pointing out other chiefs of state have promoted their countries' entries and praising Obama for giving it the good old college try. With 9.8% unemployment and 16% underemployment, and analysis paralysis on what to do with Afghanistan, was personally intervening in an unlikely Olympic bid the best use of his time and the wisest course of action? Has Obama ever heard of familiar adages like learning to pick one's battles, less is more, leave them wanting more, or the lesson of the boy whom cried wolf all too often? Obama's other high-profile failures, such as an ability to win commensurate NATO surge troop support for the Afghanistan campaign despite Obama's best efforts to appease anti-American Europeans by scapegoating the Bush Administration, do not help his credibility, at home or abroad.
Personally, I never liked mixing sports with politics (the one exception being Nixon's remarkable ping pong diplomacy with China in the early 1970's). President Jimmy Carter responded to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan with an American boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympic games. Unfortunately, the ones who were really hurt by the typical Democratic obsession for symbolism were the athletes whom had trained at least 4 long years for the opportunity to win an Olympic medal--only to lose perhaps their only real shot to win a medal for circumstances beyond their control.
I congratulate Brazil on its winning bid. I spent a few months in 1995 in São Paulo, its largest city, working at a client site on an IT project. I have fond memories of the friendly, wonderful people and the country's distinctive cuisine (feijoada, churrascaria, and Antarctica guarana). Brazil has fielded world-class teams for decades in the world's most popular sport, soccer. This win reinforces Brazil's emergence on the international stage as a growing economic and sports power. It also highlights the need for the US government to build on the success of NAFTA and underscores the need for a Western Hemisphere free trade zone.
So far the Obama Administration has done little to liberalize trade with our southern neighbors, in particular Colombia, with which the Bush Administration negotiated a trade pact. The Democratic-controlled Congress has more pressing matters than opening up new markets for American goods and services. This is consistent with the progressive "distraction" theory of politics, after all, Iraq "distracted" us from Afghanistan (just like Hitler was a "distraction" from the "real" war with Japan...) Isn't it self-evident to everyone else how an unstable Iraq in the volatile Middle East is less important than a country which we didn't invade and isn't a threat to its neighbors?
It's too bad the progressives don't apply the "distraction" theory to domestic politics. A "trickle-down" theory to the $787B stimulus spending (roughly 21% of the amount exclusive of tax relief as of the end of September and roughly the same percentage of the tax relief funds disbursed through the end of August. While the Democrats are proud of boosting disposable income by $15 a paycheck, there is talk about an implicit energy tax hike through cap-and-trade legislation and possible penalties to individuals and small businesses not choosing to fund health care through mandatory health insurance. "Nero fiddled while Rome burned"; whatever happened to the Democrats like James Carville, whom famously said, "It's the economy, stupid"?
Sarah Palin Going Rogue?
The title refers to Palin's self-congratulatory deviations from last fall's McCain campaign strategy, e.g., publicly disagreeing with the campaign's decision to cede Michigan and its use of robo-calls, balking at and scapegoating campaign staffers attempting to prepare her for the disastrous national interviews, and ignoring the campaign's attempts to restrict her media access (her unfavorable ratings went downhill after the national interviews and hurt the campaign in swing states with independent and moderate voters holding the balance). Sarah Palin is a difficult person to deal with; I do not admire what she did in the Vice Presidential debate by explicitly disregarding questions she didn't want to answer; Sarah Palin was generally uncooperative, was not a team player and did not like subordinating her own ambitions for the sake of the campaign.
Things you won't find in the Palin autobiography:
- A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. - Napoleon Hill
- Believe him who speaks from experience. - Proverb
- Knowledge is power. - Aristotle
- Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. - Vince Lombardi
Saturday Night Live Parodies Obama List of Accomplishments
There was an amusing skit leading off SNL last Saturday, which was a rare bit of double-edged humor; the Obama character (Fred Armisen) scoffs at Glenn Beck partisans, for his allegedly leading the country down the line to socialism, because in addition to not delivering the Olympics to Chicago, he hasn't managed to do anything he set out to do while in office. In fact, he points out that it took him 4 months to come to a decision over the family dog and has not delivered on scores of campaign promises. He does point out the success of his "Cash for Clunkers" program in boosting the Japanese economy and thinks that he can help boost domestic car sales by throwing in a free "Chicago 2016" tee-shirt with each car sold over the next few months. [I'll bet if he personally signs them, he could sell them for a buck each on the Glenn Beck program... We need a good rag to clean up the mess the Democrats are making in DC.]
Screen Capture, SNL, Opening Skit, 10/3/09, Courtesy of NBC-TV
The full skit appears below:
