Olympian partisans: Some Republicans cheer bad news for America

To understand why Republicans keep losing elections, don’t miss the post by Republican pundit Cheri Jacobus that seems almost gleeful, cheerful and ecstatic that America lost our Olympic bid.

Jacobus is bidding for a prime leadership role in the "hope America fails" faction of the GOP. Her near-ecstasy that Chicago did not win the Olympics is offensive to a good patriotic American like myself who always roots for the USA. I did my first year of law school in Chicago before finishing here. I love the city, I love the people, I love the town. Even as a New Yorker used to winning championships with the Yankees, I will be thrilled when Chicago's beloved Cubs have their miracle year.

To Cheri Jacobus, you say there are questions and ask for answers. Here is mine: This is a sad day for Chicago, and it’s not great politics for you to be so cheerful and joyous about it. You write, "Rio won. Obama lost.” No, Cheri, you are wrong again. Rio won. Chicago lost. Brazil won. America lost. You are happy about this. I am not. You view this as a chance to take a cheap at the president. I view this as a sad day for Chicago and a lost opportunity for America that I, unlike you, wish we had won.

As for Obama, this is another example of very bad preparation and staff work. No doubt about it. There were plenty of ways that Team Obama should have known how weak our vote count was, and then decided not to make the trip. There is no doubt about this. There is no excuse for this. The situation is incredible and another example of overconfidence in personal appeal and under-preparation for showtime. To understand why the Obama administration is not meeting its full potential, we should ask why the president did not get information from his staff that the Chicago vote count was not stellar.

Let’s congratulate Rio and Brazil. A great city in a great country with a great people and my second choice behind the wonderful people of Chicago in the land of the free and the home the brave that was, as always, my first choice.

Let’s not congratulate Jacobus for her apparent joy that the USA did not come in first this time, and let’s not congratulate the "hope America fails" wing of the Republican Party that does no service to its party or our country.

If Republicans keep this up, they will have another election like 2006 and 2008.

Let’s all root for America, all the time, and put the aside the cheap shots from the "hope America fails" wing of the Republican Party.