Chicago gets doesn't get Olympics...

I imagine that there will be a lot of these going around, but this set, from Rich Lowry, is good:

Top 10 Reasons Chicago Didn't Get the Olympics

10. Dead people can't vote at IOC meetings

9. Obama distracted by 25 min meeting with Gen. McChrystal

8. Who cares if Obama couldn't talk the IOC into Chicago? He'll be able to talk Iran out of nukes.

7. The impediment is Israel still building settlements.

6. Obviously no president would have been able to acomplish it.

5. We've been quite clear and said all along that we didn't want the Olympics.

4. This isn't about the number of Olympics "lost", it's about the number of Olympics "saved" or "created".

3. Clearly not enough wise Latina judges on the committee

2. Because the IOC is racist.

1. It's George Bush's fault.

I had little interest in the story, though I am, on the whole, happy for the people of Chicago that didn't want them. But I will confess to being very surprised, more surprised than I should be, that this happened. I assumed, as many did, that when Obama dropped all of his important stuff to fly off to Copenhagen, he did it knowing that Chicago had won. I assumed that the fix was in. And I assumed that Obama, neophyte that he is, would know better than to allow himself to look this foolish. The competence issue has been a real one with this administration (big surprise there, huh? He's never managed a lemonade stand, never mind anything bigger) but I am very surprised that he made this trip without knowing that Chicago would win. More US prestige on the line, and flushed.

It's really been an amazing nine months. We've got the Carter administration re-run ("second verse, same as the first - a little bit louder and a little bit worse") and condensed into about 1/5 the time...