After spending a week attacking Obama and shouting to the world that Chicago is a horrific place to hold an Olympics, Conservatives are now squealing with glee that America has lost its bid, seeing this as a way to paint Obama as an abject failure and possibly a prelude to greater failures to come. Glenn Beck crowed, “Oh, it’s so sweet! Enjoy this — savor this moment!” Rush Limbaugh said that he was “gleeful” and “happy.” Pretty much every conservative blogger and pundit took the opportunity to revel in America’s defeat.

What a pretty sight.

I can honestly say, without any reservations whatsoever, that had Bush tried to get the Olympics for Texas, liberals would have been behind him on it. We hated the man, we detested his policies, but we actually love America, and an Olympics would have been about that, and not about Bush. We criticized him for the economic bad news, we decried the numbers of soldiers killed, but we never expressed happiness for these things. The right-wingers accused us of that, of course, but it was never true. But here they are, admitting their joy at America’s failure for all to see. If there is anything about America that I find shameful, it is these people and this attitude.

We are supposed to be standing together when it’s America’s interests at stake. Remember how we all stood together on 9/11 and the days after, Democrats and Republicans united? How Bush had a 90% approval rating, showing that we had joined behind the presidency as a unified nation? Later on, we started to wonder: if the same thing had happened with Gore or some other Democrat as president, would the conservatives have rallied around the president and shown a country united?

I think we can guess what the answer to that would be. The right-wing exultation at losing the Olympics truly shows the real colors of the conservative movement today. “Country First”? Ha! What a sick joke. These people don’t give a rat’s ass about America. If Gore had been president on 9/11 and the attacks had not been prevented, they would not have stood by him and shown unity, they would have torn him to pieces. They would have gone to their soapboxes and smugly cheered about how the liberal was a failure. Their focus is not on love of country but rather on the love of party. Had Bush rallied for a Chicago Olympics, the conservatives would have said it was a great thing–and it would not have been for Chicago’s sake, or for America’s sake.

This is the poverty of conservative “patriotism”: it’s not love of country, it’s love of partisanship. They love America only when it is painted red. Any other color, and they despise it and wish for its downfall.

Addenda:

Joe Scarborough, of all people, is making a great deal of sense:

Chicago is a beautiful city that would have made a perfect backdrop for the Olympics. The President was right to fly to Copenhagen to try to land the games, not for the sake of his city, but for the good of his country. The fact President Obama failed makes me respect him more for taking the chance, and the fact many right-wing figures opposed the President’s mission shows just how narrow-minded partisanship makes us all. […]

And it just occurred to me: Republicans are now cheering the decision of foreigners snubbing the United States. How about that.

Also, I have found mention that Bush rallied to hold the 2012 Olympics in New York. No liberals campaigned against it, no left-wingers rejoiced when he failed. The only way I would criticize Bush on this would be if he failed to campaign enough.