The "A" Team is going Denmark to vie for the Olympics

President and Mrs. Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, and a host of other prominent Chicagoans are going to Copenhagen, Denmark this week to make a pitch to host the 2016 Olympics in Chicago, Illinois. They will compete against Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Madrid for the prestigious honor. Obama's trip marks the first time a sitting U.S. president has lobbied for the Olympics in person; leaders from the other three top contenders also plan to attend.

President Obama's trip has drawn sharp criticism from the right even though he plans to spend less than four hours on the ground in Denmark before returning home. "I think at a time of war, I think at a time of recession, at a time where Americans have expressed rather significantly their concerns and frustrations over the course of the spring and summer ... this trip, while nice, is not necessary for the president," Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. Similarly, a small group of dissenters have organized anti-Olympic protests in Obama's home city of Chicago and one has gone so far as to set up an anti-Olympic website that lobbies for Rio to win the hosting.

Personally, I think people will go to every length to oppose any and everything the President does. Hosting the Olympics is a great international honor and would go a long way towards revitializing the local and national economy. The Olympics always brings hundreds of millions of dollars to the host city in the form of tourism, new construction, law enforcement funding, infrastructure improvements, and increased government accountability to citizenry. Chicago will no doubt be vastly improved in anticipation of the international spotlight. There is no down side here.