Michelle Obama says kids are fat ....
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| Fri, 10-02-2009 - 10:11am |
so give Chicago the Olympic Games.
"We need all of our children to be exposed to the Olympic ideals that athletes from around the world represent, particularly this time in our nation’s history, where athletics is becoming more of a fleeting opportunity. Funds dry up so it becomes harder for kids to engage in sports, to learn how to swim, to even ride a bike. When we’re seeing rates of childhood obesity increase, it is so important for us to raise up the platform of fitness and competition and fair play; to teach kids to cheer on the victors and empathize with those in defeat, but most importantly, to recognize that all the hard work that is required to do something special."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/We_Need_All_of_Our_Children_to_be_Exposed_to
_the_Olympic_Ideals/

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Glass partially empty vs glass mostly full. Most people see the glory and hardwork of the athletes when they bring them up as role models, despite the few that do use illegal drugs. Until I find a anything from Michelle Obama that steroid use is something American children should emulate, I'll go with what she says, that the hard work and dedication is something to strive for, in terms of Olympic athletes.
Yay, cheering against America--that's the sad level that Michelle Malkin and her followers have been brought down to. The ones who cheer when America doesn't do well.
Thanks.
"When we’re seeing rates of childhood obesity increase, it is so important for us to raise up the platform of fitness and competition and fair play; to teach kids to cheer on the victors and empathize with those in defeat, but most importantly, to recognize that all the hard work that is required to do something special."
When a statement as innocuous as that is taken so negatively, you wonder about the mental state of those who do. She never equated the rate of growing obesity to the need to have the Olympics in Chicago. This is further proof of the lack of reading comprehension shown by some. If you can't understand what you read, you can't formulate an intelligent argument.
When a statement as innocuous as that is taken so negatively, you wonder about the mental state of those who do. She never equated the rate of growing obesity to the need to have the Olympics in Chicago. This is further proof of the lack of reading comprehension shown by some. If you can't understand what you read, you can't formulate an intelligent argument.
AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!
((I confess to having trouble with someone saying we should be awarded the games because of our fat kids (especially with a chronically obese celebrity in tow.) ))
LOL! Thanks for the chuckle.
Thank heavens the Europeans saw through this nonsense. Not always a big fan of the IOC, but this time they did it right.
Did you hear about MSNBC's Ed Schultz? He had a major tantrum, invoking none other than Jane Fonda.
MSNBC’s Schultz Blames 'Right-Wing Talkers' for Obama Olympic Defeat; Compares GOP to Hanoi Jane
By Jeff Poor (Bio | Archive)
October 2, 2009 - 19:42 ET
It was bound to happen.
Although some in the liberal media were all too eager to point out instances where some are celebrating President Barack Obama's "epic fail" in the media, it was just a matter of time before conservatives and Republicans got the blame for the President's inability to secure the 2016 Olympics for Chicago.
Enter MSNBC's Ed Schultz. During his Oct. 2 MSNBC show, the liberal host launched into a rant blaming the Republican Party and went as far as comparing the party to the anti-American antics put on by Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War.
"Now, the same crowd that says they support the troops didn't support the United States getting the Olympics," Schultz said. "They only support the troops when it's good for them. They only support America when it's good for them. They only support America when it's good for their political agenda. What the Republicans did, I think, rivals Jane Fonda sitting on a gun in North Vietnam."
Schultz insisted this would have been a good opportunity for the American economy. Had Chicago won in Copenhagen, this would have likely resulted in a Keynesian boondoggle for the city, which Schultz fails to differentiate from free market and capitalist economics in his rant.
"This was a great chance to revitalize an economy that definitely is dragging," Schultz ranted. "The irony is that the party that claims to be for the free market, capitalism, and competition, the party that just loves to get out there and go one-on-one did, absolutely nothing to compete for this. Their negativity in the 11th hour cost this country billions of dollars in economic development and hundreds of thousands in jobs. I might add union jobs that are greatly needed. The Olympics have always been good for the economy."
The culprit: Right-wing talkers according to Schultz. The MSNBC host insisted this was a failure not only for Obama, but society as a whole.
"This is not a failure of President Obama," Schultz continued. "This is a failure of the Republican Party. The right-wing talkers in this country that openly, openly campaigned against the Olympics by denigrating our president again. It's their stated goal to see Barack Obama fail. Well, congratulations boys, you did a heck of a job. Just remember, when Obama fails, America fails. And one thing that really bothers me about all of this is the youth of this country. What message does it send to young people when you have one political party rooting against America getting something like the Olympics? What message does it send to young people? Think about the young people in the region around Chicago that would have been able to go to the Olympics and inspired to compete. Well, that won't help at all now, of course, they got to get some cheap airfare to Rio de Janeiro."
And Schultz wasn't alone. Rep. Janet Schakowsky, D-Ill., went after conservative talkers as well - specifically Rush Limbaugh. She appeared on his show and even levied some of the blame on former President George W. Bush, without mentioning him by name.
"You're right, the Republicans are just naysayers," Schakowsky said. "How dare Rush Limbaugh. How dare he say that this president goes around talking about how bad our country is. He has finally been able to establish us as real participants in the world community and if anything would have stopped us from getting it is the last eight years where we have turned off the rest of the world.
You must have been raised in my neighborhood. Remember when "eating out" was for special occasions? I can count on one hand the number of times my parents ordered pizza when I was a kid.
Apparently, the IOC isn't as anti_american as Michelle Malkin is. Gloating when America fails--that's patriotism for you. Maybe we should look closely at HER record and prove how anti-American she really is, just as she supported in the past.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/02/AR2009100205214.html
First Lady's Olympian Effort Falls Short
But Her Impassioned Appeal Earns Plaudits
By Robin Givhan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 3, 2009
COPENHAGEN, Oct. 2 -- Before first lady Michelle Obama set off for this Danish capital to lead the charge for Chicago's valiant -- but ultimately unsuccessful -- bid for the 2016 Olympics, she joked that the last-minute lobbying effort would be "a battle." "We're going to win," Obama said. "Take no prisoners."
At a G-20 dinner in Pittsburgh, she teased Brazil's first lady, Marisa Leticia da Silva, that when the time came for the last-ditch arguments for the Olympic and Paralympic Games coming to Chicago -- over competitors Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Madrid -- the "gloves are off."
Back in September, that all was just good-natured exaggeration -- high-level, lighthearted trash talk. But when Obama took the microphone Friday morning in front of more than 100 members of the International Olympic Committee, at a convention center here, she went straight for the emotional jugular. She did not try to sell the city of her birth based on the location of its sports venues, the logistics of transportation, amenities available for the athletes or even the long list of designer boutiques on the Magnificent Mile. She left all that -- including a discussion of Chicago's excellent shopping opportunities -- to the other members of the delegation who came with her to sell the city to the IOC.
Instead, with her voice at times cracking, Obama told the IOC her personal story: She is a daughter who shared a love for the Games with her father, who has died.
But all the passion in her voice, and in her manner, wasn't enough to sway the members of the IOC, who awarded the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio -- a city that tugged at the heart in a different way. No country in South America has ever hosted the Olympics. And Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made sure the IOC didn't forget the omission.
"This bid is not just ours," he said during his late-morning presentation. "It's South America's bid."
The final death-match competition for the 2016 Olympics came down to emotional one-upmanship. Who could share the most moving story? Which country could strike at the core of the Olympic ideal about one big, happy world in friendly and uplifting sportsmanship? The first lady did not bring home a victory, but she was her team's most valuable player.
"I had the privilege of being with Mrs. Obama for a day and a half and she was incredibly effective," says USOC International Vice President Bob Ctvrtlik, a former Olympian. "She was truly elegant, articulate and persuasive. The emotions I saw in those meetings were not conjured up."
Obama has often talked about how close she was to her father, Fraser Robinson, but her speech before the IOC was perhaps the most public and intimate description of that relationship. She reminisced about his passion for sports and how it served as their bond. "Sports were a gift I shared with my dad -- especially the Olympic Games. Some of my best memories are sitting on my dad's lap, cheering on Olga and Nadia, Carl Lewis and others for their brilliance and perfection."
Obama described Robinson's unwillingness to give in to the effects of multiple sclerosis, of which he received a diagnosis in his 30s, never allowing the debilitating disease to dampen his enthusiasm for athletics or lessen his desire to pass on his love for it to his two children.
"He taught me how to throw a ball and a mean right hook better than any boy in my neighborhood," Obama said. "But more importantly, my dad taught us the fundamental rules of the game, rules that continue to guide our lives today: to engage with honor, with dignity and fair play."
"My dad was my hero," Obama said, her voice breaking slightly.
"If he could have witnessed athletes who compete and excel and prove that nothing is more powerful than the human spirit," she said, "I know it would have restored in him the same sense of unbridled possibility that he instilled in me."
Obama's pitch before the IOC was an extension of the message that she has sought to send in Washington -- the idea of breaking down barriers and encouraging children, especially disadvantaged ones, to set their sights high. She emphasized the lasting effect the Games would have on kids, particularly those who are growing up as she did, on the South Side of Chicago, feeling alienated from the rarified world of the powerful and influential.
Obama addressed the IOC members wearing a shimmering chartreuse dress with an oversize bow at the waist and a matching short-sleeve cardigan. The rest of the delegation, including the women, was dressed in the group's team uniform: dark suits with powder blue shirts. The first lady stood out like a star in front of a backup chorus.
President Obama, who initially was not expected to travel here, spoke last. He, too, made his pitch personal, talking about the aspects of Chicago that attracted him more than 25 years ago -- the city's diverse cultures, the Midwestern welcoming spirit. But the first lady launched the most powerful emotional strikes.
"I found Michelle Obama brilliant. She was emotional, her story really hit home -- the openness about her father and the strength of the Paralympic Games," said Erwin Roth, who has been involved with the Olympics since Lake Placid in 1980 and has written a history of the Games.
The first lady arrived here Wednesday afternoon and after a brief stop at the U.S. Embassy began meeting with members of the IOC to press the flesh and lobby for her home town. She brought a tremendous amount of Chicago star power with her, including former Olympians Michael Johnson and Nadia Comaneci, as well as her White House confidantes -- and fellow Chicagoans -- Valerie Jarrett and Susan Sher. The delegation also included a host of the city's formidable business leaders, one tireless mayor and a talk-show host known around the world.
The first lady gave the bid her all, attending the full roster of IOC programming, including Thursday evening's Opening Ceremony. She arrived in a pumpkin-colored cocktail dress with a full skirt and open back and sat alongside Oprah Winfrey and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and watched as the Danish did their best to dazzle an audience of dignitaries with ballet, opera, modern dance and a celebration of youth.
Afterward, there were more opportunities to air kiss and backslap over cocktails and a strolling supper with a Frank Sinatra tune in the background. The first lady didn't pull an all-nighter, but it was more than a 12-hour day.
For a time, it seemed as though Winfrey might steal the first lady's thunder. Local residents witnessed crowds keeping vigil wherever there might be an opportunity to catch sight of the famous talker. Just as many guests at the Opening Ceremony in the Opera House paused to pay their respects to Winfrey as stopped to greet Obama.
In the end, the failed bid notwithstanding, not even the leader of the free world managed to outshine the first lady. Officials who met with her were impressed, particularly with her ability to quickly shift gears as she chatted with everyone from up-and-coming athletes to heads of state.
Daley, who was the first lady's boss during her days in Chicago, said he hadn't been briefed on precisely what she would say, nor did he have any idea that she would speak at length about her father. "It all came from the heart," he said. "I think Chicago is always about family and immigrants and people coming to Chicago for a better way of life. To tell that story, it's not just about words. You have to identify with people and that's why it's very emotional."
The IOC meetings here have been an unpredictable blend of emotion wrapped in bureaucracy, protocol and eccentricity. Of the 106 IOC members, 97 are eligible to vote. They convene in a large auditorium evoking a miniature United Nations, with headsets offering simultaneous translation. The difference is that they spend their time asking questions about doping and whether the Olympic marksmen will have overnight accommodations at their venue. They are also fond of 40-minute coffee breaks.
The delegations are shameless, too. One member of the Rio de Janeiro team observed that having the 2016 Olympics in Brazil would be a lovely way to celebrate his 100th birthday. Madrid's Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the IOC, let it be known that he is 89 years old and this could be the last opportunity for him to see the Olympics in his country.
After each presentation, IOC President Jacques Rogge gave the delegation a "diploma," which would seem to be proof that each city -- after spending three years or longer learning the ins and outs of Olympic politics to get to the finals -- has at last graduated. The certificate was approximately the size of a large traffic sign and came framed. The only word legible from a distance was "THANKS." President Obama accepted the diploma on behalf of Chicago2016.
The first lady could just as easily have received a gold star.
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