Marathon Pundit: The summits united are now divided: G8 portion moved to Camp David

No G8 for you!

In a tersely-worded statement, the White House announced that the G8 half of the G8 NATO Summit will be held at the ulta-secure Camp David in Maryland, not Chicago. Occupy Chicago and Adbusters have been promising demonstrations that seemed likely to turn into riots, as has occurred at other G8 and G20 gatherings.

The NATO half will still be held in Chicago on May 20-21--after the Camp David economic summit ends.

This change--which I believe is a good idea--will hopefully bring down the costs of keeping an eye on the protesters.

But since Adbusters has been itching for a fight--I still expect trouble. They've called for 50,000 demonstrators--roughly the size of a Chicago ward--to come to the city by the lake. In their minds, confrontation--including arrests--begets legitimacy. And with a compliant elite media, the occupiers and their pals are probably right.

This playful leftist said of the change, "F*cking cowards."

UPDATE 4:30pm CST:

Crain's Chicago Business has more and its report includes comments from Chicago host committee chief Lori Healey.

Ms. Healy said she accepts the White House's explanation that given recent turbulence in world affairs, the leaders wanted to convene in the "more intimate setting" of Camp David before going under the media and protestors' microscope in Chicago.

Ms. Healey said she did not know why the White House would not have reached that conclusion earlier, and she conceded that there's no guarantee that the world leaders who are from NATO countries will go on to Chicago after meeting at Camp David.