President Missed Olympian Teachable Moment

The big news of course has been Chicago losing out on its Olympic bid in the first round even after the president pitched for the city. And yes, he and his team of cheap politicos look like a bunch of clueless amateurs. In the buildup to that, a small item in the exchanges between the President and some IOC folk got little coverage. I think it's worth looking at.

The NY Times reported:

In the official question-and-answer session following the Chicago presentation, Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, asked the toughest question. He wondered how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the United States for the Games because doing so can sometimes, he said, be “a rather harrowing experience.”

Mrs. Obama tapped the bid leader Patrick G. Ryan, so Mr. Obama could field that question.

“One of the legacies I want to see is a reminder that America at its best is open to the world,” he said, before adding that the White House and State Department would make sure that all visitors would feel welcome.

Rather than speak of a nebulous legacy of, well, himself that he wants to see, as it is always about him, it would have been a welcome change I could applaud had the President replied to the IOC member from Pakistan with something in the order of:

“Yes, international travel to our country and many others has become more burdensome in recent years, but let us recall the reasons for that. Terrorism around the world, including cross border terrorism, has killed and maimed many thousands. The nations that have suffered attacks by those who have crossed borders to do so include both your country and mine. Al Qaeda has crossed into Pakistan from Afghanistan to kill Pakistanis and it has sent its members into my country to kill thousands on September 11, 2001. It should be remembered by all as it is by Americans that the attacks of 911 in our country killed the innocent citizens of over one hundred nations other than the United States! Terrorism has also struck two of the other four cities vying here for the honor of hosting the 2016 Olympics, Tokyo and Madrid. It will always be regrettable that innocents bear burdens of what terrorism has wrought and that actions taken in good faith and honorable duty to protect innocents can at times burden the innocent and seem in doing so to be unfair and mistaken. In our country, we will remain open to visitors, guest workers and immigrants as is our history, but we will also take seriously the need to vigilantly defend our citizens and those of other countries who are in our country for whatever reasons, including those who may attending the 2016 Olympics in our country!”

This President cannot and will not stand against any criticism, straightforward or just implied and no matter how blatantly false, against our country. Remember when Ortega delivered an anti-American rant for fifty minutes with our President present and what Obama summoned in reply was gratitude that he, Obama, was not personally criticized:

I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old.

The man is a disgrace to the office he holds! He is not representing the United States of America, its people and principles. He is only representing Barack Obama!