So Chicago will not get the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. The President took a lot of time out of his busy schedule, personally lobbying the International Olympic Committee in Copenhagen.
Below is a portion of his pitch – the best, smoothest and most persuasive argument he can muster. Read the whole thing, but here are some key paragraphs:
You see, growing up, my family moved around a lot. I was born in Hawaii. I lived in Indonesia for a time. I never really had roots in any one place or culture or ethnic group. And then I came to Chicago. And on those Chicago streets, I worked alongside men and women who were black and white; Latino and Asian; people of every class and nationality and religion. I came to discover that Chicago is that most American of American cities, but one where citizens from more than 130 nations inhabit a rich tapestry of distinctive neighborhoods.
The arrogance of this thing is breathtaking.
This is supposed to be persuasive? This is a supposed to win people over? Basically, he told the IOC that they should choose Chicago because Obama did.
There is a term for this kind of pitch: a testimonial. In advertising they use it when the person “testifying” has some sort of qualification that the public finds compelling.
Some testimonials are just average folks saying “This worked great for me, you should buy it, too.” Others use celebrities who are presumably experts on whatever they are selling to reassure prospective buyers that the product there are pitching works and has value.
Examples? Think sports figures selling athlete’s foot powder or race car drivers pitching gasoline additives.
What standing is Obama supposed to have before the IOC? Did this clown really think that they would say “Oh, well The One likes it, so I guess we should, too!”?
No wonder they dumped Chicago first.
Tom Maguire has more on the First Lady’s similarly narcissistic sales pitch.
Major kudos to whoever came up with the headline: "THE EGO HAS LANDED"
Posted by: T-Mo | October 02, 2009 at 07:31 PM