So now President Obama is abandoning Health Care for the Olympics

[liberal N proud]

Olympics trip a political gamble for Obama
The president plans to dash to Copenhagen to help Chicago's bid, leaving healthcare and foreign issues unresolved.

LA Times

Reporting from Washington - Putting his political prestige on the line, President Obama has decided to fly to Denmark this week to appeal to the International Olympic Committee to choose Chicago, his adopted hometown, as host of the 2016 Games.

The White House announced Monday that Obama would arrive in Copenhagen on Friday, just before Chicago makes its formal presentation to Olympics officials who are also considering Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro. A decision is expected later that day, within hours of Obama's appearance.

No previous U.S. president has made such a trip on behalf of a city vying to host the Olympics.

The visit is a gamble for Obama. He will be leaving Washington with thorny foreign and domestic issues unresolved, and risks looking diminished if Chicago's bid falls short.

The converse is also true: a Chicago victory would be a feel-good moment for both a nation and a president wrestling with crises in Iran and Afghanistan and partisan wrangling at home.

As his proposed healthcare overhaul struggled to gain traction in Congress, Obama had talked about skipping the trip and relying instead on First Lady Michelle Obama as Chicago's A-list advocate. "I would make the case in Copenhagen personally if I weren't so firmly committed to making real the promise of quality, affordable healthcare for every American," the president said on Sept. 16.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-olympics29-2009sep29,0,1155645,full.story






No matter what Obama does, he will be attacked for it. I think Bill Clinton was right, it is a conspiracy

[jaxx]

1. As I told a pub yesterday, we have a multi-tasker in the oval office today.

The pubs don't understand walking and chewing gum at the same time. They're stodgy and rooted to the idea that if you aren't sitting there pulling your hair out, you aren't doing the job. Fools.

[rockymountaindem]

2. Seriously, it's like they've never heard of phones or e-mail n/t

[liberal N proud]

3. Or that he is flying on a very technologically advanced aircraft

with full communication capability.

[tanyev]

9. Ever think about how odd it was that Bush & Co set up a little command post

at the elementary school on the morning of 9/11 when they could have just hauled their butts back to AF1? What did they have in that schoolroom, one television set and a 5 line phone system?

[midnight]

23. I think President Obama can chew gum and walk too. Now let's

provide Americans with access to health care-Now. Let's show the world how to play chess.

[old mark]

4. He will be at the meeting for a few hours, then back on AF1 -

It's to guarantee that the 2016 games will be in Chicago, something the GOP does not want because it will give Obama and the Dems MORE GOOD PUBLICITY!!!
All they have is Tom DeLay, Dance Master! ( and future felon.)

mark

[Clio the Leo]

12. Yep, the trip wont even last 24 hours.....

.... and Congress wraps up at noon on Fridays anyway.

Plus, I've heard they have phones in Denmark ..... AND on AF1.

[DCKit]

5. If he's going to Copenhagen, it's not just for the Olympics bid.

Just because some hack from the LATimes can't keep up with our President doesn't mean squat.

Maybe he's negotiating conditions with the Hague?

[liberal N proud]

6. Wouldn't that be great

Negotiating when to charge bu$h, Cheney and crew.

I won't hold my breath on that though.

BTW: LA Times isn't the only one I heard this talking point. The M$M is going to go negative on anything Obama does.

[Warren Stupidity]

7. Under some peculiar new arrangement, was Obama sitting in on the markup of the finance bill?

I didn't know that. How unusual. Well then certainly he should not be flying off to Copenhagen.

[fasttense]

8. Interesting cover story.

I think President Obama is up to something more. Perhaps he wants to learn a few things about this very wonderful city and bring them back to the US.

"Copenhagen has repeatedly been recognized as one of the cities with the best quality of life and in 2008 it was singled out as the Most Livable City in the World by international lifestyle magazine Monocle on their Top 25 Most Livable Cities 2008 list. It is also considered one of the world's most environmentally friendly cities with the water in the inner harbor being so clean that it can be used for swimming and 36% of all citizens commuting to work by bicycle, every day bicycling a total of 1.1 million km. Since the turn of the millennium Copenhagen has seen a strong urban and cultural development and has been described as a boom town. This is partly due to massive investments in cultural facilities as well as infrastructure and a new wave of successful designers, chefs and architects. Travelers have voted Copenhagen the cleanest city in Europe."

From wikipedia

[Vinca]

10. Somebody tell the MSM there's an office on Air Force One and

he can do everything at 35,000 feet that he does at sea level.

[Dappleganger]

11. Wow, I'm shocked he can walk and chew gum at the same time!

</s>

This country needs J O B S. That's what the Olympics helps to bring.

[Jennicut]

13. Well, Georgie could not handle two things at once

(or one thing at once). Maybe they are still in shock someone can. LOL!

[Ineeda]

14. Also can't get used to a President actually

traveling somewhere other than Crawford. How many times did * leave the country?

[rvablue]

15. Whatev. Having the Olympics in Chicago would create thousands of jobs

and just when they're actually happening. It'll be years beforehand with construction, etc.

I can see why some might perceive it this way -- potentially unnecessary -- but there are huge benefits to having the Olympics in an American city.

[CTyankee]

16. Even Pat Buchanen and Mike Barnicle were talking about all the jobs on MJ today.

LOTS of jobs.

It is SO shortsighted to just see this trip as a flimsy thing. And it's not just jobs, it's prestige in the world which is not to be taken lightly...

[Nancy Waterman]

22. Exactly. It is a huge econoomic stimulus!

Not just in Illinois, but in all the places that create the building materials, etc.

[lunatica]

17. If Chicago snags the Olympics it means JOBS!

Lots of jobs for quite a while.

I think it's a very good effort on his part. Hosting the Olymics is a huge moneymaker.

[AspenRose]

18. Maybe he's going to call Danish health officials about their health care setup

while he's there....it could happen

:shrug:

[dionysus]

19. o ffs *facepalm*

[BlooInBloo]

20. Yes, I was very upset when he abandoned health care to watch his daughter's soccer game, too.

[Tippy]

21. Stimulating the economy of Chicago...good thing

"leaving healthcare and foreign issues unresolved."...Good Lord now I've heard it all...Now tell me again what was Bush doing on 9/11...Where was Bush and what was he doing when Katrina hit? Now imagin what the LA Times would have said if ronnie boy had done the same for LA when he was president...It never ceases to amaze me how the media pushes this stuff....LA Times is definately "NOT Smarter than a Fifth Grader"