Right-Wingers Root Against U.S., Then Celebrate Olympic Bid Failure

Posted by Amanda Terkel, Think Progress at 10:44 AM on October 2, 2009.

Although the United States sent a high-powered delegation to make a last-ditch effort to bring the 2016 Olympics to Chicago, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) ruled out the Windy City today. Of the final four cities — which also included Madrid, Toyko, and Rio — Chicago received the fewest votes. In his speech to the IOC in Copenhagen today, President Obama tied the American dream to the Olympic spirit in his pitch for the United States:

[Chicago is] a bustling metropolis with the warmth of a small town; where the world already comes together every day to live and work and reach for a dream — a dream that no matter who we are, where we come from; no matter what we look like or what hand life has dealt us; with hard work, and discipline, and dedication, we can make it if we try.

That’s not just the American Dream. That is the Olympic spirit. It’s the essence of the Olympic spirit. That’s why we see so much of ourselves in these Games. That’s why we want them in Chicago. That’s why we want them in America.

Always looking for a way to bring down Obama, conservatives not only criticized the President’s 15-hour trip, but also spent this week denegrating Chicago, downplaying the Olympics, and rooting against America.

The criticisms have included mocking “fat people” in Chicago, gushing that Rio is just plain “awesome,” and saying that Chicago is too violent and doesn’t deserve the event. Watch a compilation[ Ed: in the window to your right]:

So how will all these conservatives who have been rooting against the United States react now that their rhetoric has become reality? On Twitter, former Bush spokesman Scott Stanzel cautioned Republicans against gloating: “Note to GOP officials/consultants – resist the temptation to pile on about Chicago losing the Olympic bid just because Obama made the pitch.” His message didn’t reach RedState’s Erick Erickson, who immediately wrote:

Hahahahaha. I thought the world would love us more now that Bush was gone. I thought if we whored ourselves out to our enemies, great things would happen. Apparently not.

Bringing the Olympics wasn’t about cronyism. Besides U.S. pride, it was about an event that could have generated $22.5 billion in economic activity and the equivalent of 315,000 new full-time jobs in America.

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Tagged as: obama, right-wing, chicago, olympic

Amanda Terkel is Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Deputy Editor for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.