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What Really Killed Chicago’s Olympics Bid?
Oct 3rd, 2009 | 2 responses
Was the reason behind Chicago’s flop really anti-Americanism?
And will Obama now face political consequences due to his unsuccessful efforts?
The cartoon by Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner, is copyrighted and licensed to appear on TMV. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited. All rights reserved.
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2 Responses to “What Really Killed Chicago’s Olympics Bid?”
[Was the reason behind Chicago’s flop really anti-Americanism?]
More like pro naked dancing women Rio-ism.
[And will Obama now face political consequences due to his unsuccessful efforts?]
The question is; Will Opra recover?
There was some discussion in the linked article about the IOC not liking Bush and that may be a reason. Well I disagree with such a direct impact. I think the world is pretty much over Bush's “cowboy” image. However I think some of the policies that Bush and the conservatives put in place are concerning to the IOC. Under Bush the USA did become more hostile to foreigners. But generally speaking many countries do have concerns about the US and who we will and will not allow in the country, and all the hassles we put many foreigners through. So in that respect Bush's policies did play a role. But to be fair there is anti-Americanism out there not due to Bush, too.
At any rate I feel anti-Americanism did play a roll for some on the committee (but our policies, NOT people against Bush or Obama). But Rio is a great city to host the Olympics, and I don't think anyone on the committee choose Rio over the US strictly out of spite for the US. There are enough good reasons to choose Rio without the need for anti-Americanism. I think if the final choice was between Chicago and Rio, and the choice went to Rio, then that little anti-Americanism would have been the deciding factor. As it is, I think Chicago lost mostly because of its own weaknesses (and perhaps the corruption worries, which is a fair concern to have and influence votes).
Though another way to look at it… If America did have a really good standing in the world and was seen as a leader in many of the world's problems (rather than just as a country that contributed to those problems) then we might now be hosting the 2016 Olympics. To be clear, America needs to be seen as a really positive force in the world to have made this happen. If we were merely a good force in the world, Rio would still have won.
At any rate, I'm looking forward to going to Rio in 2016! Let's rock!