On Thursday, we wrote of the outrage from conservatives and the right-wing media over President Obama’s 18 hour trip to Copenhagen, Denmark…so that he could lobby for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Chicago, Illinois…

On Friday, we mentioned in our regular “Chaos Theory” edition that Chicago lost out in the first round of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) voting, and that the Olympics would instead be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  We also wrote that conservative commentators and bloggers were rejoicing that Obama had failed in his attempt to bring the event to America…

And then…this clip was released on the internet:

First reaction to seeing this…disgust.  This is a gathering of the so-called “Americans For Prosperity,” cheering at the announcement that the Olympic games would not be held in America.  They obviously believe that they are cheering because “Obama failed“…but without realizing it, they are also cheering that:

-  America…during a time of financial crisis…will NOT receive the projected $22 billion dollars in revenue.

-  The 300,000 new jobs the Olympics would have created over the next seven years, starting immediately…gone.

-  The $11 billion dollars in new income the jobs would have injected into our system…gone.

For them, as long as Obama “fails“…it is acceptable that people stay unemployed…it is acceptable that those hundreds of thousands of people continue to struggle and suffer, it is acceptable that the economy still struggles…it is acceptable that another country’s prestige and economy benefits, instead of OUR country.

Now expand this deeply calloused, and fundamentally flawed thinking to other items on the national agenda…why is it that they are hoping that Obama fails to reform health care…why is it that they are praying that he fails in addressing problems in the Middle East…why is it that some of them seem to hope for a terrorist attack, in order to somehow prove Obama has made us “less safe“…why is it that they openly admit that they hope Obama stumbles in attempting to resurrect the economy?  It’s simple: as long as Obama fails, for these people, they are indifferent to the loss of American life, American jobs, and American safety and security.

And then, as if to say “we are not all like that,” morning show host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough wrote the following in his column on The Huffington Post titled “Thank You, Mr. President,” which I offer here in its entirety:

“Count me as one conservative who is disappointed that President Obama’s hometown will not be hosting the 2016 Olympic Games.

Chicago is a beautiful city that would have made a perfect backdrop for the Olympics. The President was right to fly to Copenhagen to try to land the games, not for the sake of his city, but for the good of his country. The fact President Obama failed makes me respect him more for taking the chance, and the fact many right-wing figures opposed the President’s mission shows just how narrow-minded partisanship makes us all.

For the better part of 20 years, a bitterness has infected our politics that has weakened our country.

We Republicans spent eight years trying to delegitimize Bill Clinton.

Democrats spent the next eight years doing the same to George W. Bush.

Now that a Democrat is in the Oval Office again, it is the GOP who is trying to delegitimize a sitting president.

When I try to talk to Republicans about the need to break this cycle of viciousness, some cite the chapter and verse of every hateful left wing attack against George W. Bush.

Whenever I attempt to have a conversation with some Democrats about the need for us respect our president– whether he be an Obama or a Bush– I am told that Bush deserved whatever he got because he was a lying war criminal who hated the Constitution and loved torturing people.

Fortunately, there are a growing number of Americans who believe we cannot continue going on this way.

You and I may disagree on how the CIA handled terror suspects. But that does not mean that you are soft on terrorism anymore than it means that I hate the Constitution.

You and I may have a different approach to Afghanistan. But just because you want to stay there another five years doesn’t mean you are an imperialist. And if I believe a decade in that forsaken land is more than enough, that doesn’t mean I’m soft on al Qaeda or the Taliban.

It just means that we view the world differently.

That creative tension–that intense give and take–has been what has kept America strong since Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton fought like hell in George Washington’s White House.

Hamilton wanted a strong centralized government while Jefferson believed that the government that governed least governed best.

Both men were frustrated by the checks and balances that stood in the way of their agendas, but that debate shaped America for years to come.

But something has gone terribly wrong.

Today on Morning Joe, NBC News Legend Tom Brokaw remarked to Pat Buchanan about how the level of partisanship is even more intense today than during the depths of the Watergate crisis. Brokaw was commenting on Congressman Grayson’s comments, but he could have easily been talking about Joe Wilson or death panels or the bizarre claim that the President “hates all white people.”

Some of the rhetoric is dangerous. But what we saw from some conservative corners regarding the President’s failed Olympics bid was just plain stupid.

I’m happy for Rio and think it is past time that South America got a chance to host the Olympic Games. But put me down as one conservative who is glad my president flew across the ocean to try to bring the 2016 Games to America.

Nice try, President Obama. And thanks for taking time away from your young girls for the sake of your hometown and your country, Michelle. I know that’s never an easy thing to do.“

Good for you, Joe.  And he’s right:  I, myself, am at times guilty of ascribing the most depraved qualities to those I disagree with…when really all that exists is a difference of opinion and/or perspective.  But Joe…when people cheer for America’s loss, simply because it is also Obama’s loss…what attributes am I supposed to ascribe to them?

And now, just another example that the right will literally grasp at ANY subject to serve as a platform for their contempt:  The Olympics.

Plans had already been in the works for First Lady Michelle Obama to attend the meeting of the International Olympic Committee in  Denmark, in hopes of swaying IOC voters towards selecting Chicago, Illinois as the home for the 2016 Summer Olympics.  As the voting date drew closer, it became apparent that Chicago was in a tight race with Rio de Janeiro, Brazil…Madrid, Spain…and Tokyo, Japan.  At present, the IOC seems to be leaning towards Chicago, since it takes a lot of money to host the Olympics, and the committee feels a bit more secure (given the worldwide recession) in picking a location in the United States.  However, due to the complicated and political voting process, it is still (literally) anybody’s game.  The decision was made: President Obama would also fly in to Copenhagen on Friday, the day of the vote, when he and the other countries’ representatives would each be given 45 minutes to speak before the voting process begins.

And THAT’S when the latest faux conspiracy was born…

Fox News‘ talking heads (Hannity/O’Reilly/Beck) went into immediate overdrive. They asked: With two wars, a recession, and a health care debate going on…does the President really have time to be jetting to Denmark to try to lobby for the Olympics to be held in America?  On Sean Hannity’s show, guest Michelle Malkin went one step further in suggesting that the entire effort was merely a ploy by Obama to line the pockets of corrupt Chicago “cronies:”

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYkOyLuXdXQ

The White House’s response was simple and elegant:  they posted an item-by-item “Reality Check” responding to each ridiculous claim, and in each response they identified the claim’s source (whether a Fox personality, or a guest on a Fox show) by name.  Here is that blog…

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele also tried to level criticism at the decision for the President to make the trip:  perhaps not realizing that construction and planning for the 2016 Olympics would have to start IMMEDIATELY, Steele made the statement, “If the priority is the Olympics in seven years, okay, then tell the nation that’s the priority and that’s what we should be focused on because we’ll create jobs then and we won’t worry about it between now and 2016.“  White House Press Secretary Gibbs provided a response to Steele’s noticeably snarky attack:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfmx7eEJKGw

Of course, there are some obvious FACTS that reveal just how petty and wrong-headed these attacks are:

1 - The entire trip is going to take 18 hours…during most of which, Obama will be on Air Force One and able to conduct other presidential business.  I think he can spare the time.

2 - This is not unusual.  In the past, whenever countries are in a close race to obtain the vote, Presidents and Prime Ministers of these countries would OFTEN attend the IOC meeting.  These appeals can be very VERY influential in terms of garnering last-minute IOC voter support.

3 - Anybody who still thinks the Olympics are only about sports…has not been paying attention.  Hosting the Olympics is extremely prestigious and DOES have an impact on a country’s standing in the world and foreign affairs.  For one thing…it could help a country that has lost some “good will” in the eyes of the international community (hint hint) gain some of it back.

4 - If done properly…it can generate a TON of revenue.  China, was a bad example…they built huge, expensive, temporary structures, and as a result cut into profits.  Athens, also a bad example…had huge cost overruns, most notably to overhaul their subway system, roads, trains, and other infrastructure.  Atlanta did a much much better job…in fact, they even had the wisdom AFTER the Olympics to repurpose the Olympic housing as dorms for the Georgia Institute of Technology and Georgia State University.  As it stands, Chicago already has strong infrastructure, an huge international airport, and plenty of stadiums and venues ALREADY BUILT.  BEST CASE:  The Chicago 2016 group estimates that $22.5 billion dollars could be generated.  MIDDLE OF THE ROAD:  Other experts suggest that the $3.8 billion (with a $500 million “buffer”) will likely not be enough…but that the likely benefits STILL outweigh the risks.  WORST CASE:  A study by the Anderson Economic Group says the Chicago 2016 projections that the Olympics would generate the equivalent of 12 Super Bowls, and that the increased tourism would net the equivalent of 70 Super Bowls…are too optimistic.  The group sites that potential cost overruns and smaller revenues could put the Chicago taxpayers at risk…but that the long-term benefits are still substantial.

5 - Regardless of how much the Olympics cost, or produced in revenues…one thing is for sure:  it would create JOBS.  Yes JOBS, glorious JOBS.  This point is certainly not lost on Mayor Daley, who says that the new jobs should be seen as the true benefit of hosting the games. Estimates say that 315,000 new jobs would be created, 172,000 of them in Chicago…and those jobs would generate new income equaling $11.2 BILLION.

6 - Lastly, contrary to commentators on Fox and Michael Steele, who rather naively seem to think that jobs for the 2016 Olympics wouldn’t be created until 2016…many jobs would be immediately created, with more jobs created each year leading up to 2016.  File this little fact under “D” for “Duh.”

But as always, the people attempting to create controversy and outrage…have little use for these obvious facts, studies, and elements of common sense.  The outrage itself is a yet another blind, unreasoning response to a president that these people simply despise.  To think that these critics really care about Obama supposedly “shortchanging” other issues and crises…is to be misled. The Olympics is a wonderful, inspiring, national pride-generating event…and the real reason the right-wing protests, is that they can’t bear the thought of Barack Obama bringing it home.