No, There's Been No Olympic Armageddon

This is going to come as a surprise to some but the world did not end Friday!

From what I heard all week, a lot of people thought it might if the President flew to Copenhagen and failed to bring home the Olympics.

Well, he went. He asked. He failed.

It was not even close.

So he came home. Washington spent most of the week, gnashing its teeth about whether he should have gone. Republicans accused him of dereliction of duty. Some in his own party shuddered at the possible humiliation of it all.

Frankly, it didn't seem all that big a deal to me. I said at one point that if a trip to Copenhagen took his presidency over the side, then it wasn't much of a presidency.

If he wanted to give his hometown a boost, why not? Chicago is part of America, last time I looked.

Anyway, he's back. Nothing happened.

When I drove in this morning, the Washington Monument was still standing. The problems that were here when he left are still here - no better, no worse but so bad, my guess is the great Copenhagen gambit will soon be forgotten.

Still, let us mark a moment of sympathy for the unfortunate White House staffer who told the President, "If you'll just fly all night to Copenhagen and then fly back, we're sure to get the Olympics for Chicago."

No, I wouldn't want to be that person.