But…but…we sent <em>Obama.</em>

I’m honestly shocked:

Chicago shocked early, then Rio wins ’16 Games

Lobbying by Obamas goes for naught as Windy City is first city eliminated

…Chicago was knocked out in the first round — in one of the most shocking defeats ever in International Olympic Committee voting. Even Tokyo, which had trailed throughout the race, did better — eliminated after Chicago in the second round.

But President Obama went himself! The first American president ever to do so!

Former IOC member Kai Holm said that the brevity of his appearance may have counted against him.

The short stopover was “too business-like,” Holm said. “It can be that some IOC members see it as a lack of respect.”

Yeah, and when Jesus returns, you’ll expect Him to stay for a long weekend, probably. Right? Otherwise: screw Him.

Right?

So. What’s this mean? On the one hand, you’d'a figured that President Obama – the savior of America’s reputation in the world – made this thing a slam dunk. I mean, come on. “The world’s verdict will be harsh if the US rejects the man it yearns for.” What the hell happened to that?

Were people lying when they said crap like that in 2008?

On the other hand, many of us – myself included – thought Obama’s trip meant Chicago already had won the Games. No way an American president would risk prestige like that if he didn’t already have it in the bag!

So, really, the lesson here is: we overestimated the Obama administration’s political savvy. Which, really, we shouldn’t have. They didn’t have much of it to begin with.

Via Memeorandum.

UPDATE - Glenn Reynolds: “Who knew that the International Olympic Committee was such a hotbed of racism?”