First Drudge tried to make it seem like Obama is forcing a news station to not report a story about people who don’t want the Olympics to come to the Chicago…

…and now John Boehner jumps on the pile…

House Minority Leader John Boehner torched President Barack Obama Wednesday for his European trip to pitch the Chicago Olympics bid, criticizing the president for “going to go off to Copenhagen when we’ve got serious issues here at home that need to be debated.”

Yeah John, debate which serious issues?

How you’re not going to agree to any health care reforms?

Or any energy reforms?

Or education reforms?

Or market reforms?

This is getting ridiculous.

This guy won eight gold medals in nine days. How incredible is that?

Wow.

BEIJING — A journey that started four years ago after his six gold medals in Athens and included 17 swims over nine days here ended triumphantly for Michael Phelps on Sunday.

Phelps earned his unprecedented eighth Olympic gold medal of the 2008 Olympics as he swam the butterfly leg of the Americans’ world-record win in the 4×100m medley relay to close out the swimming competition at the Water Cube.

Jason Lezak held off Eamon Sullivan of Australia in the freestyle leg, with the Americans finishing in 3:29.34. Australia took the silver in 3:30.04 and Japan the bronze.

And I think it was pretty cool that the eighth came in a team event…

His quest was almost derailed in Day 2 of the meet in the 4×100m free relay, but Lezak’s unbelievable anchor leg kept the quest alive. he touched ahead of Alain Bernard of France by .08.

“It wouldn’t have been possible without the help of my teammates.” Phelps said. “For the three Olympics I’ve been a part of, this is by far the closest men’s team that we’ve ever had. I didn’t know everybody coming into this Olympics, but I feel going out I know every single person very well. The team that we had is the difference.”

Phelps set world records in seven of his eight swims, with only the 100m fly mark not broken. He also won the 400m IM, the 200m IM and the 200m fly, breaking his own world mark in each, and led off the 4×200m free relay.

He truly is the best ever.

Personally, I’m not that shocked, because if you’re working out 5 hours a day, 6 days a week, you’re need the energy.

Still, this isn’t exactly the healthiest regiment…

• 4,000 calories per meal…
• Breakfast: 3 fried-egg sandwiches w/ cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, fried onions and mayonnaise.

  

• Brunch: 3 slices of french toast w/ powered sugar, a 5 egg omelet, 3 chocolate chip pancakes, a heaping bowl of grits, and 2 cups of coffee to wash it all down.

  

• Lunch: 1 pound of pasta, 2 large ham and cheese sandwiches slathered (with mayo…of course!) and 1,000 calories of energy drinks to choke it down.

  

• Dinner: Another pound of pasta and a whole pizza!

  

• And of course he needs another 1,000 calories in energy drinks to hit the grand total of…drum roll please…12,000 CALORIES!!!

I mean, that’s impressive, no matter how you look at it. Just the cost alone of all that food is intimidating.

And yet, he’s gone gold 5 for 5 so far and has won more Olympic medals than any other American in history.

Keep eating Michael!

BEST COMMENT EVER:
From Jimmy the Dhimmi:

Never mind the calories, whats fascinating to me is how he can perform so well with all that poop inside him. I wonder if he times his meals so he can schedule a massive dump before he swims – hitting the pool before he hits the pool, so to speak.

Something tells me that Phelps has his pooping schedule timed down to a hundredth of a second. He’s THAT good! :-)

My cartoon was linked to post from the NYTimes

(Click on Bob McCarty) NYTIMES link

Yet another sign he would have a much more nuanced worldview of the world? Of course, it’s not saying that much when you compare it to somebody who characterizes the Olympics as just “a sporting event.” Bush has set the bar pretty low on expectations for the next Republican candidate’s decision making capabilities, but John still gets credit, and so here it is.

From NY Times:

Senator John McCain said today that he would not attend the opening ceremonies at the Olympics, barring significant changes in China’s behavior, if he were president.

During an appearance on ABC’s “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg asked the presumptive Republican nominee whether he would attend the ceremonies.

“Unless they change something pretty quickly, I would not go to the opening ceremonies,” Mr. McCain said.

Again, well done John.

I expected a carnival atmosphere and the kind of protest “circus” that only San Francisco can stage. I was not disappointed. The biggest surprise for me was the split within the San Francisco Chinese-American community. There was a lot of emotion on display with many arguments in the streets and we even witnessed a fist fight. I guess I assumed this was a one sided argument (Pro-Tibet), and had no idea about the depth of the division that exists in the community. It was almost as bad as between Obamites and Clintonistas. There were big crowds along the route lined with activists intent on stopping the run. There was a real potential for people to get hurt – including the torch bearers.

I think Mayor Gavin Newsom pulled this off brilliantly. The torch run in Paris was a wake-up call. In San Francisco, they got the message. No one was hurt, there were minimal arrests, the Chinese got a completed face saving ceremony and photo op, while much of the city was turned over to protesters. They, in turn, were permitted to vent their collective and variegated spleens with the media attention they craved for their respective causes. Entertainment was provided and fun was had by all.

The oppression of Tibet by China is a deadly serious issue. The San Francisco Olympic Torch Relay protest was not. I am glad it stayed that way.

Much like China’s treatment of dissidents and unwanteds, the Olympic torch relay is now being hidden behind a veil of secrecy. It’s a shame San Francisco felt the need to be a part of that. Maybe they felt they didn’t have a choice but I think cowardice played a big role here.

Large protests also met the flame in London on Sunday. While it would be nice if we could condemn China’s human rights record without dishonoring the symbols of the Olympic games, it’s a fine line. We can either ignore the games or we can use them as an opportunity to speak out against China’s continuing oppression of its people as well as its immoral foreign policy. I don’t think extinguishing the Olympic flame is helpful but lining the streets with protestors is important.

The torch is scheduled to pass through San Francisco, California on Wednesday. We’ll see if Americans react with similar defiance. The city, which is no stranger to activism, is preparing for large protests.

Update: The torch relay through Paris has now been canceled due to the protests.

And she’s not the only one…

The disclosure that Germany is to stay away from the games’ opening ceremonies in August could encourage President Nicolas Sarkozy of France to join in a gesture of defiance and complicate Gordon Brown’s determination to attend the Olympics.

Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, became the first EU head of government to announce a boycott on Thursday and he was promptly joined by President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, who had previously promised to travel to Beijing.

“The presence of politicians at the inauguration of the Olympics seems inappropriate,” Tusk said. “I do not intend to take part.”

Well done all around. China’s behavior is simply inexcusable.

But will Bush show up?