Blame it on Rio! And Some in the US are Loving This

SURE, I WAS pulling for Chicago, mainly because I love when the Olympics are held in the US. But I'm also pretty excited about an Olympic Games in Brazil -- indeed, in the South America period. You can bet they'll put on a great show.

You might be thinking that Americans are pretty disappointed by today's selection -- but you'd be wrong if you were talking about some of the leading members of the hard-Right. I'm talking about the right-wing Republicans who are already frothing at the mouth because they see Chicago's loss as a huge embarrassment -- even failure -- for Chicago's own Barack Obama. Yes, even something like trying to land the Olympic games has turned into a partisan party for those at the extreme end of the GOP. Don't believe me? Take a look at some of these quotes from some of American's leading Republican voices when they heard the today's news:

• "Hahahahaha," wrote Red State's Erick Erickson. " So much for improving America's standing in the world, Barry O."
• "Please, please let me break this news to you. It's so sweet," said Glenn Beck on his radio show.
• The Drudge Report announced the news like this: "WORLD REJECTS OBAMA: CHICAGO OUT IN FIRST ROUND. THE EGO HAS LANDED."
• "The worst day of Obama's presidency, folks," echoed Rush Limbaugh.
• "Chicago and Tokyo eliminated. No Obamalypics," Michelle Malkin tweeted,
• "Cheers erupt at Weekly Standard world headquarters," wrote editor John McCormack in a post titled "Chicago Loses! Chicago Loses!"
• The National Review Online called it an embarrassment for Obama, adding: "If he can't work his personal magic with the Olympians, why does he expect it to work with the Iranians?"
  

Now I know that both ends of the political spectrum have their share of mind-numbing blowhards (a Democratic congressman said something pretty stupid about Republicans just two days ago) and I have called-out both sides for engaging in this kind of boorish political point-grabbing, but these reactions were even more sophomoric than I would have thought. Cheering an American failure just to stick-it to Obama? Really? That's the strategy they're going with?

Boy, they're going to become downright giddy if unemployment keeps going up or the economic crisis gets worse. How will they contain themselves?

I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America. -- Alexis de Tocqueville.

Good luck Rio!!
CJS

Late Update: Here's a link from a political conference for a group called Americans for Prosperity -- a conservative political group . This is their reaction upon hearing that America lost it's bid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.