Happy Reading.

GUY A SAYS: For those people compaining about President Obama going to Denmark for one day on the tax-payers' dime--please explain President Bush's 5-day trip to China for the Olympics last year. I'm fine with both, but some people are REALLY trying to justify their (mostly irrational) hatred.


GUY B SAYS : A lot to do with timing! Bush, China vs. North Korea, good for Bush to be there. Obama, Olympics vs. Economy, Health Care, War, I don't know if Olympics is a priority.




GUY C SAYS: I can't say that I am a fan of Obama but if you look at his visit to bring the Olympics to the US as not a priority because of the Economy then you should think about this. The Olympics bring a lot of money to the host City.


GUY B SAYS: Yes it does, but most of the games wouldn't even be in Chicago, they would be spread out all over the region. And again, a short window of money while a good thing only last for that short period.


GUY D SAYS: Atlanta's the only US city to ever break even on the Olympics. Probably something to do with our wage and labor laws and standards. China being China, they can put on an Olympics for relatively next to nothing and then draw a huge profit. We're not China, though. Not yet...


GUY E SAYS: Disagree, cities lose money. Obama's pal J.L. would have made money cuz she could have sold her slums to the Olympic housing dudes. Now she has to pay out her wazoo to fix them up.


GUY E SAYS: And I forgot.. I agree , don't compare Bush to Obama. Instead lets look at how much money it took to send Michelle to Denmark since she just had to get over there earlier and couldn't wait on her hubby. Where is the global warming outrage for all those extra tons of pollutants her jet put out?


GUY B SAYS: Ah ha! The Obama Carbon Footprint!!


GUY E SAYS: And did you hear their pitch? Obama: Chicago should get the Olympics becasue I had a rough life. Michelle: Chicago should get the Olympics because my dad had M.S. How could the Olympic Committee say no after such a moving case? Who knew, the OIC must be rascist!


GUY F SAYS: I guess it doesn't matter that the leaders of the other countries with cities under consideration were also present in Denmark for the presentations.


GUY A SAYS: I swore I read that China took a huge loss on the Olympics...cheap labor and all. When you don't have the facilities, and you suddenly have to build 10 major sporting arenas for TWO weeks of revenue, you most likely aren't breaking even on that one.


GUY A SAYS: "let's look at how much money" argument is completely non sequitur. How many people were outraged that Bush traveled to China when "soldiers were dying in Afghanistan"?

Or if you want to drum up the faux-worry over the cost to the tax payer, then surely it is more expensive to send a Presidential entourage to China for 5 days than it is to send it to Denmark for one day. Mike has a point about timing, but still, this is more about peoples' inability to hide their biases.


GUY G SAYS: this whole "Oh my god, look at what Obama is doing!" thing is getting so old. I'm still holding out hope that the nation can move on to some reasonable critique (which there's plenty of room for), and stop this extended game of Simon Says where people are waiting with bated breath for him to move the wrong muscle.


GUY G SAYS: Not to mention the compulsion to see everything as a Bush/Obama comparison, which is also a rational discourse suppressant.


GUY H SAYS: I didn't look at it as political. I wanted Chicago to get it, and was happy to have the big names support it. I hate that they didn't get it.



GUY E SAYS: Anytime someone says something bad about Obama, the defense is "well look at Bush" . So whatever Bush did that was questionable or wrong clears the way for Obama to do same without question or criticism. Okay, now i got it.


GUY A SAYS: Ok, I have to credit the source of my comment. Dan Patrick of sports talk fame is the person who called out this faux-outrage. It is seriously this simple--why get upset that Obama went to Denmark when fill-in-the-blank-President went to the fill-in-the-year Olympics?