Gag on The Gaggle

Yes, there are many ways to interpret the title of Newsweek’s aptly named “The Gaggle” – an assortment of commentators who earn the moniker.

Gaggle n. – an often noisy or disorderly group or gathering: a politician followed by a gaggle of supporters.

In this case, the noisy and disorderly commentary follows – who else? – and offers up the nonsense that “Losing the Olympics Bid Is Good for Obama.”

Wow—I did not see that coming. The way I figured it, this White House is far too protective of the president’s strategically crafted image to allow him to travel thousands of miles only to fail on the world stage.

No, he can do that just a couple of hundred miles away at the U.N. Heck, he can do that without leaving the office! But I digress.

Here’s how the argument goes: Obama had no choice but to support the Olympics as he did. But because Olympics generally hit tough times and cost more than they bring in, the public would eventually become disenchanted and blame Obama for saddling them with this nightmare.

This is a tad humiliating for the president, but his embarrassment will be short-lived, especially if he demonstrates some good humor about it. Republicans will probably criticize him for skipping the country for a day instead of focusing on Iran or Afghanistan, but those attacks won’t stick. . . . This will be fodder for late-night comedians and talk-back radio for a day or two. But winning the Olympics could have bogged down his entire presidency. And this way, next time he goes to Tokyo, he’ll have something in common with Prime Minister Hatoyama.

Really? According to this logic, Obama would be better off losing on health care, too. Think of the cost overruns and disgruntled public if that were to take effect. In fact, Obama would be better off losing just about everything he’s taken on.

But don’t bet on these failures being a topic of discussion for only a day or two. Not everybody is as mesmerized by Obama’s strategically crafted image as his gaggle of supporters in the press.