it was usoc, not obama
Predictably the right-wing is ecstatic, reveling in the defeat of an American city by a bunch of foreigners. They're spinning Chicago's failure to win the 2016 Olympics as a repudiation of President Obama.
Wrong. Washington Post sports columnist Tracee Hamilton nails it: this was a repudiation of the US Olympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee and USOC have been fighting over TV money, and surprise that ended up being reflected in the vote.
Plus there were other factors. Brazil's president was there too, as were the Japanese and Spanish prime ministers. There has never been an Olympics in South America, and Rio is certainly a world-class city - it's not like Chicago lost to Podunkopolis, Nowhereistan. And the US has already hosted more Olympics than any country, most recently Atlanta 1996. We don't have any natural right to host every fourth or fifth Olympics.
But the right-wingers won't let reality get in the way of a good story. No reason to expect this to be different.
Wrong. Washington Post sports columnist Tracee Hamilton nails it: this was a repudiation of the US Olympic Committee. The International Olympic Committee and USOC have been fighting over TV money, and surprise that ended up being reflected in the vote.
Plus there were other factors. Brazil's president was there too, as were the Japanese and Spanish prime ministers. There has never been an Olympics in South America, and Rio is certainly a world-class city - it's not like Chicago lost to Podunkopolis, Nowhereistan. And the US has already hosted more Olympics than any country, most recently Atlanta 1996. We don't have any natural right to host every fourth or fifth Olympics.
But the right-wingers won't let reality get in the way of a good story. No reason to expect this to be different.
posted by Don Q Blogger at 10:42 AM
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