Cheering against Obama

Why the president's critics reacted with glee when Obama's pitch for Chicago's Olympics bid failed

Pay attention, we have just experienced a "teachable moment," said Paul Krugman in The New York Times. Rush Limbaugh, The Drudge Report, and the editors of The Weekly Standard jumped for joy when the International Olympics Committee rejected Chicago's bid for the 2016 Summer Games, because they interpreted it as a loss for President Obama, who had personally backed Chicago's bid. The lesson here is that Republicans are against anything that might be good for Obama—"whether or not it’s good for America."

It WAS good for America that Obama "came home with his tail between his legs," said the New York Post in an editorial, after groveling on behalf of Chicago in Copenhagen. At some point, Obama has to learn that he can't get everything he wants by being charming and appeasing foreigners. "Whether it's the Olympics. Or health care. Or Iran's quest for nukes. At some point, substance matters more than style."

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