Games of the XXX Olympiad: July 27 - August 12, 2012

The Olympic Oath

"In the name of all competitors, I promise that we shall take part in these

Olympic Games, respecting and abiding by the rules that govern them, in the

true spirit of sportsmanship, for the glory of sport and the honour of our teams." 

Tonight Americans will be able to view the opening of the XXX Olympiad on NBC.  Throughout the games you can log onto NBC to get the schedule events and watch them live on line.

A special "Good Luck" to our men's gymnastics team where we have five Oklahoma Sooners as part of the eight man team along with the coach of the Sooner Men's Gymnastics and to all the other Sooner athletes competing in track and field, wrestling and other sports not only for the USA but for other countries.  The Olympics rowing team is now headquartered her at the Devon Boat House in the Bricktown area of Oklahoma City so will be following their events as well.  USA basketball along with swimming events are always a favorite.  Going to be a fun couple of weeks with plenty to watch on TV ending just in time for the Football season to begin.  

This is a chance for America to showcase their Olympic team with athletes who have been training for this event for years.  Let's get behind our team and put politics aside tonight as we watch the Opening Ceremonies viewing the athletes marching in representing their countries who are as proud of their athletes as we are of ours.

Good Luck to all participants and may the true spirit of athletic competition reign supreme!

London at night showcasing the Olympic Athletes

Out of Touch? “It has been a marvelous day for us,” Romney said

When Romney decided to stick his foot in mouth to start his overseas trip, he did it in a big way insulting our closest allies, the British, more than once.  When you have a Prime Minister take a swipe at a man who is running for President as a Republican, that candidate has a problem.

Prime Minister Cameron had this to say in a clear swipe at Mr. Romney:

“We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities in the world. Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.”

Romney is so far out of touch with reality that it seems like Romney and his advisers have their blinders on and cotton in their ears so they cannot read, see, or hear what is being said about the Romney gaffes where his semi-apologies made it worse.  Romney said last night at a fundraiser co-hosted by bankers involved in the rate fixing scandal in Britain:

 “It has been a marvelous day for us,” Romney said.

If yesterday was a 'marvelous day' for Romney, I would hate to see a bad one as he insulted the Brits on their own soil but he also did in his book, No Apology where he writes:

England [sic] is just a small island. Its roads and houses are small. With few exceptions, it doesn't make things that people in the rest of the world want to buy. And if it hadn't been separated from the continent by water, it almost certainly would have been lost to Hitler's ambitions. Yet only two lifetimes ago, Britain ruled the largest and wealthiest empire in the history of humankind. Britain controlled a quarter of the earth's land and a quarter of the earth's population  

How can Romney be so dumb to first write those words and second to publish them in his book.  That alone would not endear him to the Brits who BTW don't consider themselves Anglo Saxons as we learn from The Pink Flamingo blog:

"To those of us who are historians, and specialize in Post Roman Britain, and are basically Norman, DON’T call us Anglo-Saxon. Them’s fighin’ words. It’s an insult. We’re Brits. I’m basically a Brit. The Anglo-Saxons were invaders. They were the bad guys. Those of us who are students of the Arthurian consider it even a greater insult. They were the invaders King Arthur fought. Yes, I am well aware of the archaeological and historical mess here, but I am convinced there was an actual Arthur, perhaps several of them. I still think the first incarnation was Lucius Artorius Castus."

This man is not ready to be President or the GOP nominee.  In fact he is not ready for prime time because his interviews and remarks are arrogant, smug, and self-serving refusing to answer any question he doesn't like including refusing to call on the American media when holding a joint press meeting with Prime Minister Cameron.  It is standard in such situations that someone like the PM would call on someone from the British Media to ask Romney a question and then the person being hosted calls on their media to ask the Prime Minister a question.  Not in Romneyland as he called on the British Media to ask the Prime Minister a question and snubbed the American media.  Yet, Romney had a "marvelous day" which is an insult once again to the British.  


London Sun ran a headline "Mitt the twit"  That is going to leave a mark!  As I asked yesterday, Can we recall Romney as the GOP candidate before he is officially nominated?

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Mitt the twit  

Wannabe US President Romney in Games insult, but David Cameron insists: We’ll show you 

By GRAEME WILSON, Deputy Political Editor Published: Today at 00:12 

WANNABE president Mitt Romney infuriated Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday by making a string of embarrassing blunders. 

The US election hopeful, on a visit to London, questioned whether the Olympics will be a success. 

Mr Romney said in a TV interview: “It’s hard to know just how well it will turn out. There are a few things that were disconcerting.” 

The Republican candidate, who organised the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, also questioned whether the British people will “come together and celebrate” the Olympics.  

There was further embarrassment when Mr Romney said he had looked out of “the backside of Number 10” to see the beach volleyball court. 

He breached diplomatic protocol by revealing he had been briefed by MI6 chief Sir John Sawers, then appeared to forget Labour leader Ed Miliband’s name, calling him “Mr Leader” instead. 

Mr Cameron later slapped down the Massachusetts governor. Visiting the Olympic Park on the eve of the opening ceremony, the PM insisted the Games would be a huge success. 

He said: “We’ll show the world we’ve not only come together as a United Kingdom, but are extremely good at welcoming people from across the world. “You will see Britain can deliver.” In a clear swipe at Mr Romney, he added:

“We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities in the world. Of course it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere.” 

Where did the GOP get the idea that Romney was going to make a good candidate when over 60% of Republicans refused to vote for him in most states before Gingrich and Santorum dropped out?  He is not likable and the Brits recognize that he also is not friendly and extremely arrogant.  Shame on the Republican Party for putting money ahead of someone we would be proud to support by making sure Mitt Romney won the nomination.

Romney Brought Bain Capital With Him To The Olympics

Looks like Romney's penchant for not telling the truth continues when you discover his role at the Olympics and his description don't exactly match:

Fonnesbeck quibbled with that description. 

"I have no complaints except for his attitude that he had come to save us," she said. "My problem came when he just insisted on taking all the credit, and his attitude towards us in Salt Lake was 'Oh you poor people, here I am.'" 

Indeed, of the half-dozen Olympic officials interviewed for this article, none said that the games would have been a failure if not for Romney's intervention. David Wallechinsky, a commentator for NBC's Olympic coverage and the author of several Olympic reference books, said that Romney played an important role in budget and PR matters. But beyond that, "his involvement is greatly exaggerated." 

Then you have the fact that Bain companies were involved in the Olympics.  Did Romney use Bain to stiff arm donors so that they would donate to the Olympics?

Jon M. Huntsman, who had criticized the Olympics and was quoted in a Salt Lake Tribune article dinging Romney for bringing "one of his cronies to be the COO" -- Romney hired former Bain executive Fraser Bullock for the role -- ended up giving a $1 million donation to the games in January 2000. Roughly one year later, Bain announced it would buy a $600 million stake in the Huntsman Corporation. The deal, which Huntsman Corp. officials said was done without Romney's involvement, fell apart.

Wonder what the senior Huntsman has to say today about Romney and Bain after Romney took out his son in the primary this year just like he did others.  The Huntsman family knows probably knows more than they are saying since the senior Huntsman is still an active member of the Mormon Church.

All these connections to Bain Capital during the Olympics plus all the documents he signed flies in the face of his interview on five networks saying he had absolutely nothing to do with Bain after he left for the Olympics. The funny thing is that no one would have thought much about his use of Bain during the Olympics but he said he had no contact with Bain -- that was a dumb move and opened him up to more scrutiny.  Seems the Olympics was all about a stepping stone to eventually be President.  Why would we want another President like Nixon who was not transparent and lied?  If he is this bad in the primary, why give him a chance.

Unbelievable that the Republican Party is set to nominate someone who lies when they don't have to but I thought the most telling remark about him came from Fonnesbeck with this quote:

"his attitude towards us in Salt Lake was 'Oh you poor people, here I am.'" 

Romney and his wife seem to have a problem with ordinary middle class people and it shows a lot.  As a member of 'you people' I don't understand why the GOP doesn't wake up and ask him to step aside because it is going to get worse.  The ops research that was done on Romney in 2008 and added on to plus what the Democrats have is going to make sure he never gets near the White House and that $55M he has stashed aside for his Victory is going to just sit there. 

Mitt Romney Brought Bain Capital With Him To The Olympics
Sam Stein and Jason Cherkis
Posted: 07/19/2012 2:46 pm Updated: 07/19/2012 5:11 pm

WASHINGTON -- When Mitt Romney transitioned from working full-time at Bain Capital to running the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, he did not fully leave the private equity firm. That's not just because he continued to sign documents and take a salary, or because he described himself as Bain's CEO on the Olympics' website, but because he brought with him Bain's personnel, ethos and, most importantly, its clients.  

Romney leaned heavily on Bain to turn the 2002 Olympic committee into a success. Several officials who worked with him said his extensive business network proved critical. But the continued Bain ties came with a price, as Romney opened himself up to criticism that he used the Olympics to assist colleagues and build a foundation for a future political career.

In his book on the Olympics, "Turnaround," Romney portrayed himself as a reluctant savior of the games. He initially thought the idea of taking over the SLOC was "preposterous." He had no background in sports administration, had a family in Massachusetts and was enjoying a lucrative business career. 

"How could I walk away from the golden goose?" he asked. 

He brought the golden goose with him. Camping in Utah, and confiding to colleagues that his future political career was on the line, Romney opened his Bain rolodex. 

Sealy Mattress, a company in which Bain had majority ownership -- earning $2 million in yearly management fees -- signed on as a supplier of 5,000 mattresses for Olympic athletes.
Marriott Corp., the hotel franchise where Romney served as a board member, became a sponsor of the games as well, ponying up $4 million to be the official lodging supplier.  

Sometimes Romney cleared hurdles to get Bain-affiliated companies involved. He promised Tom Stremberg, the CEO of Staples, that the company's sponsorship would cost as much as the sales it made in the Salt Lake City market during the Olympics -- guaranteeing it wouldn't lose a cent. He then said he'd lobby "SLOC board members and other corporate contacts to switch their office supply contracts to Staples." 

Staples, on whose board Romney served, ended up agreeing to spend $1 million more than the other potential supplier, Office Depot. But by then, Office Depot had already signed on the dotted line. Romney tried once more, offering Office Depot $1 million to back out of the deal. 

The company declined.

Perhaps one of the most oft-told examples of Romney's belt tightening involved him canceling the organizers' budget busting free lunches. Instead, he brought in Domino's Pizza and made board members pay $1 a slice. Domino's was a Bain company. 

Andrea Saul, a spokesperson for Romney's presidential campaign, said that he showed "exceptional skills at leadership." 

"Mitt Romney took over the Olympics at a time of scandal and red ink," she emailed. "He restored public confidence, balanced the budget and staged one of the most successful games ever held on U.S. soil." 

Romney himself addressed charges that he engaged in favoritism in a 2007 Boston Globe profile. 

"It is not a conflict of interest for the Olympics for its chief executive to be soliciting sponsorships from anyone I could find," Romney said. "That was my job -- to use every personal association I had to raise money." 

Members of the 2002 Olympics' board confirmed that the games largely benefited because of Romney's contacts. "Oh sure" they helped, said Robert Garff, former chairman of the board of the SLOC. "It's obvious that he has connections in all kinds of ways. That was a very, very important ingredient." 

(snip)

Sydney Fonnesbeck, a former Salt Lake City councilmember who served on several Olympic organizing committees, including one with budget oversight, told HuffPost that the SLOC became less transparent under Romney. "He closed ranks," she said. "I certainly didn't see a budget after Mitt came in." 

For McCormack, Romney's tenure remains a major improvement over the prior SLOC administration, which was bedeviled by accounts of bribery. But several reporters who've covered Romney's Olympics record -- David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix chief among them -- have noted that companies that agreed to help with the Olympics did, on occasion, enjoy beneficial relationships with either Bain or Romney after the fact. 

Bombardier, an aerospace and transportation company that worked on prior Olympics, became the 2002 games' official supplier of snowmobiles and other winter recreational vehicles. A year after the games, it sold off its recreational vehicle division to a group of buyers that included Bain. 

(snip)

By then, Romney's attention had expanded beyond the Olympics. He had confided to David D'Alessandro, president of John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance, his concerns that he wouldn't "be anything anymore in public life" if the games flopped. John Hancock, which had threatened to leave the games as a sponsor over the bribery scandal, was eventually persuaded to stay involved. 

"Mitt went back to visit them the minute he came in and restored their sponsorship," recalled Garff. 

In the fall of 1999, Romney signed the Provo-based nutritional supplements company Nu Skin to be a sponsor of the games. A Nu Skin subsidiary, Pharmanex, also inked a deal to dispense dietary supplements to the athletes and carry the Olympic rings on its products. The International Olympic Committee raised red flags -- Nu Skin had settled several lawsuits and a Federal Trade Commission case over false advertising and claims that the company operated a pyramid scheme -- and advised athletes not to take the supplements "because of concerns that they may be adulterated with steroids," Mother Jones reported in 2011. 

Romney insisted Nu Skin's pills were clean. The company's employees and bigwigs later returned the favor, donating tens of thousands of dollars to his campaigns. Two shell corporations with ties to Nu Skin gave $1 million each to the Romney-backing super PAC Restore Our Future.  

Several Olympic executives who worked with Romney supported his run for governor of Massachusetts in 2002. Those contributing the maximum donation of $500 included Garff, Finance Director Gordon Crabtree, and Head of Marketing Donald Stirling. But no connection to the Olympics proved more fruitful than the one Romney forged with Spencer Zwick, who went on to become known as Romney's "sixth son" and currently serves as national finance chairman for his presidential campaign. Zwick was Romney's driver during the Olympics.

Officials who worked alongside Romney argue that there was nothing unusual or untoward about the oversized role that his business network played at the Olympics and in his campaigns. Romney, after all, was brought to Salt Lake to infuse the games with the so-called "Bain way." Boardrooms were part of his DNA, and many of the companies he secured as sponsors were mainstream. 

"Certainly I had the sense that he had a lot of great contacts in his fundraising efforts and then in terms of his operational mode," said Rocky Anderson, the Democratic mayor of Salt Lake City at the time of the Olympics and a member of the SLOC board. "It was pretty clear to me he was a very efficient manager and knew how to build an extremely competent and loyal team." 

Still, an "efficient manager" is several notches below how Romney would describe his role. In a 2012 campaign video titled "Leader," Romney declared that he "worked at one company, Bain, for 25 years" before leaving "to go off and help save the Olympic games." 

(snip)

Excerpt:  Read More at Huffington Post

Republican Candidate Mitt Romney to Fundraise in London during the Olympics

Olympic athletes have been training years to take center stage in London for the Olympics.  That same Olympics where politics is checked at the door for two weeks or so I thought.  I was wrong -- the anointed one of the Republican wealthy donors, Mitt Romney, has decided to fundraise in London during the Olympics. Must admit the words I would like to use are not words I would put on a website.

This is beyond tacky but is also an affront to the Olympic movement which is about the athletes not some politician who wants to raise money on the backs of the athletes by taking advantage of the Olympics to fundraise for his campaign.  Already thought he was an arrogant jerk who is all about himself -- this shows that to be true.  Have never been so sick and tired of a candidate and his campaign as I am with Romney.

Didn't help with all the campaign commercials for Romney in Colorado when I was there for over a week returning last night.  The number was way over the top funded by the Americans for Prosperity (Koch Brothers) and frankly in poor taste.  Colorado has had the worst wildfires in their history and then the storms brought flooding along with some mud/rock slides where the mountainsides have lost their vegetation due to the fires.  Who wants to watch the same negative Romney ad which seems to be the only thing he can do?  Rain was coming down in torrents at my daughter's with flooding on the street almost up to my bumper and the ad before the news was the negative Romney ad that had been running all day. Must admit I thought the Obama ads were much better but maybe it was because there were less.  At least not all his ads were negative like Romney's.  I am so happy that I do not live in a Battleground state.  If I NEVER see another Romney ad, it will be too soon.

How did Romney take over the Republican Party which seems to be a hostile takeover from people I have talked with who are furious at the powers at be in the GOP and especially Karl Rove who is rumored to be the mastermind?  This is the perfect example of why Romney should never have been the nominee.  The people from Great Britain and the Olympic Committee are not going to be happy that he is now fundraising during the Olympics and bringing politics right into the Olympics.

Read his list of people hosting this and ask yourself why is anyone supporting Romney?  If I hear one more Republican tell me that he is better than Obama, then they are refusing to see just how bad a President he would be as he was so secretive as the MA Governor shutting himself off from the legislature.  Do they honestly think that he would be different and that anyone but the Mormon Church and huge donors could control him?  Not happening -- he is bought and paid for by the Mormon Church and the huge donors who are going to want payback.  Look what happened when Obama went after Wall Street bigwigs -- they turned on him and went to the vulture capitalist Romney.

The people who are turning into pretzels to support Romney must be cringing about now when they find this out and look at the sponsors.

Romney to fundraise in London during Olympics 

By EMILY SCHULTHEIS |
7/10/12 9:53 PM EDT 

Via the Boston Globe, Mitt Romney will take advantage of his time across the pond for the Olympics with a pair of London fundraisers:

On the eve of the Olympic Games, Mitt Romney is planning two separate fundraising events in central London hosted by a variety of banking industry officials, according to copies of the invitations obtained by the Globe. 

The events involve a reception – at a cost of $2,500 per person – and a high-dollar “private dinner with Governor Mitt Romney” that will cost from $25,000 to $75,000 per person. Both events will be held at a location in “central London” that has not yet been named. 

The Globe reported last week that Bob Diamond, who resigned as chief executive of Barclays bank, was no longer co-hosting one of the fundraisers. 

But still among those hosting the events is Patrick Durkin, a registered lobbyist for Barclays, which has been at the heart of a rate-fixing scandal. Durkin, who has been a top Romney bundler, is one of seven chairs for the reception and among the 13 co-chairs for the dinner.  (my bold)

Others involved in hosting the events are Dwight Poler, managing director at the European branch of Bain Capital, the firm Romney founded; Raj Bhattacharyya, managing director at Deutsche Bank; and Dan Bricken, a managing director at Wells Fargo Securities. 

Among the others involved are Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets; Eric Varvel, the chief executive officer of Bank of Credit Suisse; and Gregg Lemkau, who is the Goldman Sachs head of mergers and acquisitions for Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific.

Source:  Politico 

White House will keep Olympic office open -- Tax dollars at work

Why was the American taxpayer paying Valerie Jarrett and eight staffers to work the Chicago bid for the Olympics and now we find the office is going to be permament? Never before in history has the taxpayers been on the hook for a city's bid. Once again the Obama Administration has wasted our tax dollars while wanting everyone to conserve except him and his Administration. By what authority did the President expend taxpayer funds on an Olympic staff for Chicago? Chicago managed to spend approximately $57M on a failed bid, and now we discovered taxpayers were paying a staff as well.

Will someone please explain to us how Chicago could spend $57M on a bid for the Olympics? How many apartment complexes were bought with the plan of making millions by selling them to the Olympic Committee. This shows the Chicago corruption is alive and well not only in Chicago but has it also moved into the White House? Has anyone in Chicago asked for an accounting how a city can spend $57M on an Olympic bid? This should make everyone realize why most conservatives did not want Chicago to get the Olympics because frankly, as taxpayers, we didn't want to bail out Chicago corruption.

There does not need to be an office in the White House on the Olympics. We have a United States Olympic Committee to represent us and the President has no business butting into their business. We have serious matters at hand including Afghanistan and he has an Olympic Office and CZARs coming out his ears.

White House will keep Olympic office open

Politico
Oct 6, 2009
KENNETH P. VOGEL

Despite the embarrassing rejection of his effort to lure the 2016 Olympic Games to his hometown of Chicago, President Barack Obama will keep the first-ever White House Olympic Office, POLITICO has learned.

The White House stressed that the office, officially called the White House Office of Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport, is permanent and has purposes other than helping U.S. cities bid on and host the Olympics.

“It was always our intention that this office would continue to exist regardless of the outcome of the 2016 bid,” said a White House official, explaining that the office will work to boost youth sports and will coordinate with the State Department and other agencies to facilitate U.S. athletes’ participation in the Olympics and Paralympics in other countries.

“We are currently working to support the participation in the London and Vancouver Games,” said the official, referring to the 2012 summer and 2010 winter games, respectively. The official, who did not want to be identified discussing the internal organization of the White House, said the office has no independent budget, and is instead housed in the White House Office of Public Engagement, headed by Valerie Jarrett, a close Obama friend and senior White House adviser. Obama tapped Jarrett to head the Olympics office and lead the administration’s unprecedented effort to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago.

Jarrett and eight White House staffers worked part-time on the Chicago bid out of the White House Olympics office, said the official, who ignored questions about whether the staffing would be scaled back in light of the demise of Chicago’s bid, or whether there were any new U.S. Olympic bids in the works. When Obama unveiled the office in June, the White House specified in a release it would work with the United States Olympic Committee, as well as state and local governments to “coordinate federal resources and act as liaison to, any organizing committee for an Olympic and Paralympic Games hosted in the United States.”

Source: Politico

Obama’s Olympic failure will only add to doubts about his presidency

How much did this boondoggle cost the American taxpayers when our Government is running such a huge deficit in part due to the failed stimulus package of Obama? Why didn't Chicago pick up the tab? The amount of people the Obama's flew on AF planes is disgusting. We want to know when the Treasury gets paid back from Chicago because this was not the business of the US President. We are still waiting to hear about reimbursement to the Air Force for his political trips. How much did this boondoggle really cost? We have seen estimates of over $1M which wouldn't be a shock with all the planes, manpower, and equipment that was transported.

Would bet his meeting with General McCrystal was nothing more then a photo op so they could say that was part of the trip. Lecturing the General for 25 minutes while spending four+ hours with the IOC shows his lack of caring about the soldiers in Afghanistan that need more troops for support.

This is one of many disgusting moments since the uniformed electorate (hear that MSM) and ACORN voter fraud made Obama President, but this one may be the worst. First his wife's speech about sitting on her Dad's lap -- give us a break as we can count. We don't see many 20 year olds sitting on their Dad's lap. Then the teleprompter speech of Obama to the IOC. The man cannot even speak for five minutes without a teleprompter? That I, I, I speech was certainly not from the heart. It was an insult to the IOC to have him read his speech. He could have faxed it in and saved the taxpayer's money.

What was Obama doing making an office in the White House for the Chicago Olympics and getting Valerie Jarrett an exemption from the rules on hiring? More and more we are seeing the Chicago corruption creep into the WH but then look how many of his key advisors come from the Chicago Daley machine -- Axelrod, Emmanuel, Jarrett for starters.

Best thing that happened to Americans in our opionion was Rio getting the Olympics because the Chicago corruption would have bankrupted the Olympic Committee and the US Taxpayers would have been on the hook to save the games.

Obama’s Olympic failure will only add to doubts about his presidency
Tim Reid in Washington

Barack Obama fails to make the case for Chicago to the IOC in Copenhagen

There has been a growing narrative taking hold about Barack Obama’s presidency in recent weeks: that he is loved by many, but feared by none; that he is full of lofty vision, but is actually achieving nothing with his grandiloquence.

Chicago’s dismal showing yesterday, after Mr Obama’s personal, impassioned last-minute pitch, is a stunning humiliation for this President. It cannot be emphasised enough how this will feed the perception that on the world stage he looks good — but carries no heft.

It was only the Olympic Games, the White House will argue — not a high-stakes diplomatic gamble with North Korea. It is always worthwhile when Mr Obama sells America to the rest of the world, David Axelrod, his chief political adviser, said today. But that argument will fall on deaf ears in the US. Americans want their presidents to be winners.

Mr Obama was greeted — as usual — like a rock star by the IOC delegates in Copenhagen — then humiliated by them. Perception is reality. A narrow defeat for Chicago would have been acceptable — but the sheer scale of the defeat was a bombshell, and is a major blow for Mr Obama at a time when questions are being asked about his style of governance.

At home, it is difficult to turn on a television and not see Mr Obama giving a press conference, or an interview, or at a town hall rally, in his all-out effort to sell his troubled reform the US health insurance system. After three months of enormous exposure, Mr Obama has achieved this: the growing likelihood of ramming a Bill through Congress with — at most — just one Republican vote.

Abroad, Mr Obama promised in his Inauguration address to engage America’s enemies, and he has done just that. He has very little to show for it. Yes, Iran took part in bilateral talks with the US this week over its nuclear weapons programme — but that is something Tehran has wanted for years. There is still a very good chance that the meetings will prove to be an exercise in futility and a time-wasting ploy by Tehran.

Mr Obama also scrapped a plan for a missile defence shield in the Czech Republic and Poland, hoping to get in return Russian co-operation behind new sanctions against Tehran. There was optimism when President Medvedev said “sanctions are seldom productive, but they are sometimes inevitable”. Yet Vladimir Putin, and the Chinese, remain fiercely opposed to sanctions.

Meanwhile, America and its allies are being forced to witness a very public agonising by Mr Obama and his advisers over his Afghan strategy — six months after he announced that strategy.

This has all added to the perception that Mr Obama’s soaring rhetoric — which captured the imagination during last year’s election — is simply not enough when it comes to confronting the myriad challenges of the presidency. His spectacular Olympic failure will only add to that

Source: See UK Times

Michelle Obama: It's a 'sacrifice' to travel to Europe to pitch for the Olympics. But I'm doing it for the kids. (BARF)

What is with Democrats and their continual mantra that it is "for the children" -- getting old. Olympics in Chicago are to make Obama friends wealthy from all the graft that will happen in the Daley machine and unions. Then they will run out of money and expect the US Taxpayer to bail them out. The Taxpayers spent $68,000 a hour to fly her separately to Europe for Chicago and it is all me, me, me by Michelle.

Michelle Obama: It's a 'sacrifice' to travel to Europe to pitch for the Olympics. But I'm doing it for the kids.

By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
09/30/09 5:12 PM EDT

First lady Michelle Obama(AP Photo/ Richmond Times-Dispatch, Dean Hoffmeyer, Pool)
In her speech in Copenhagen today, First Lady Michelle Obama said her trip to Denmark, along with the travel of her "dear friend" and "chit-chat buddy" Oprah Winfrey, as well as tomorrow's visit by President Obama, is a "sacrifice" on behalf of the children of Chicago and the United States. "As much of a sacrifice as people say this is for me or Oprah or the president to come for these few days," the first lady told a crowd of people involved in the Chicago project, "so many of you in this room have been working for years to bring this bid home."

"As first lady, as many of you know, I’ve made it a priority to bridge the gap between the White House and communities across D.C. and across the country," Mrs. Obama continued. "I’ve spent much of my first nine months trying to open the doors to the White House to kids who might not otherwise see themselves having access to these institutions, because that’s where I came from – communities like that where kids never dreamed that they could set foot in the White House, let alone live there…And Barack and I made a point of doing the same thing when we lived in Chicago – making the concerns of kids in all sorts of communities our own."

Excerpt: See Washington Examiner for Full Article

President and First Lady Travel 4,000 Miles -- on Separate Planes -- to Lobby for Olympics

In the article, the White House Military Office gives a much lower cost for the air portion of the trip then the United States Air Force who actually flies and maintains the planes. As someone who has been around the Air Force for years, we believe the Air Force has credibility.

Since a President has never lobbied in person for a city in the United States to get the Olympics in the past, may we be so bold as to ask why we are sending Obama and his wife on separate planes at US Taxpayer expense to lobby for Chicago. If Chicago wanted them to lobby for Chicago, then the City of Chicago and Mayor Daley should be picking up the tab not the US Taxpayer.

Another interesting detail is that over 50% of people in Chicago don't want the Olympics but City Government does. Tells us that US Taxpayers are about to see a huge waste of money spent in the City of Chicago that is known for graft and lining pockets of politicians.

Once again the US Taxpayer being fleeced by Obama and the Chicago machine. How many US Taxdollars are going to go to Chicago for the Olympics with Obama as President?

We recommend Rio de Janeiro get the Olympics and save the US Taxpayer money while cutting down on more millionaires in Chicago.

President and First Lady Travel 4,000 Miles -- on Separate Planes -- to Lobby for Olympics
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
By Penny Starr, Senior Staff Writer

CNSNews.com) – President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are both traveling to Copenhagen this week to promote Chicago's bid to host to the 2016 Olympic Games--and they will be making the 3,979-mile trip on separate airplanes.

The first lady left on Tuesday night, while the president will leave for Denmark on Thursday night.

Taxpayers will pick up the tab for both jets ferrying the president and first lady separately to Europe.

“Everything they do, whether it’s signing pieces of legislation or flying around the world, everything is costing the taxpayer,” David Williams, vice president of policy for Citizens Against Government Waste, told CNSNews.com. “The taxpayer is picking up the tab for everything.”

The White House announced on Monday that the president would be joining his wife on this European trip, despite indicating earlier this month that the first lady would head up the U.S. Olympic Committee delegation to Copenhagen while Obama remained in the United States to continue pushing for his health care reform plan.

(snip)

Using the CRS cost estimates and the inflation adjuster from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost for the one-way 7.5-hour trip from Washington, D.C. to Copenhagen on the first lady's plane would range from $29,532 (White House Military Office) to $107,717 (U.S. Air Force).

The cost for the president to fly Air Force One on the one-way 7.5-hour trip from Washington, D.C. to Copenhagen ranges from $343,448 (White House Military Office) to $567,089 (U.S. Air Force).

Excerpt: See CNS for Full Article

Does Obama have time to lobby for Chicago’s Olympic bid?

What's the deal? Obama has only talked to our Afghanistan Commander, General McChyrstal one time in 70 days but he doesn't think twice about flying to Europe to push for Chicago for the Olympics. Chicago, the home of the polical corruption, is getting how much out of Obama for the Olympics that the US Taxpayer is going to be paying?

If Gates thinks healthcare is in better shape, he doesn't have a clue. What does Daley have on Obama that would make him make this trip costing US taxpayers $68,000 an hour to fly AF1 and then find out his wife is traveling separately and costing us even more money? A US President has never gotten involved before so why now? Could it be Obama doesn't want to be in the US when the new figures come out for unemployment?

This should not be an expense of the US Taxpayer but the City of Chicago if they want the Olympics. Would bet the US Taxpayer is going to be bailing out Chicago even more if they get the Olympics while Chicago awards patronage contracts.

Does Obama have time to lobby for Chicago’s Olympic bid?
Chicago is delighted that Obama will go to the 2016 Summer Olympics host-city selection vote in Copenhagen Oct. 2. But can healthcare reform manage without him – even for a day?
By Linda Feldmann

Washington

Two weeks ago, President Obama said he was too busy with healthcare reform to go to Copenhagen on Oct. 2 personally to pitch Chicago for the 2016 Summer Games.

First lady Michelle Obama would do just fine as head of the delegation.

On second thought….

Now Mr. Obama himself is going – flying out Thursday night, back on Friday – and the White House is on the defensive.

“I think the president believes healthcare is in better shape,” press secretary Robert Gibbs said at a Monday briefing. “I believe he felt strongly and personally that he should go and make the case for the United States.”

The press corps seemed a tad incredulous that healthcare was faring that much better than two weeks ago and returned to the topic repeatedly. Twenty-three times, to be exact. Mr. Gibbs insisted that Obama would have made the same move for any US city, and not just because it’s Chicago.

(Excerpt) Click for Full Article