Chicago doesn't get the Olympics!

Maybe it is just further proof that I’m a shallow individual, but I’ve got to admit that it made me laugh when I heard that Chicago wasn’t going to get the Olympics.  In your FACE, Daly! 

Okay, I think part of my issue was that our president, the Big O himself, Franklin Delano X, Barack Obama has attended something like 30 meetings for this, while he hasn’t had time to talk to the general in charge of Afghanistan for three months.  FDX flew to Europe, on the tax payer’s dime, to go to bat for the City of Teamsters, and he still didn’t get it.

Surely, it was only a coincidence that many of his buddies and political backers would make huge personal profits off of a Chicago Olympics, while the US would probably spend billions.  His shyster friend, Valerie Jarrett, would really have spiffed up her slums with all those new Olympic buildings.  It is hard out there for slumlords, and Barack feels their pain.

There are a bunch of people on Facebook defending the president trying to get the Olympics to his home town, and I’ve seen the following arguments this morning.  Allow me to play whack-a-mole with them.

The Olympics are a huge economic boost for the host city.    – Not really.  The host city may make some money, but the rest of the nation gets to foot the bill.   Just about all of the Olympics have been a net loser for the host country, and the more inefficient/corrupt the host city is, the bigger the bag the tax payers get stuck with.

The only recent Olympics that was in the black was in 2002 here in Salt Lake.  From everyone I spoke with who was involved, SLC was about the single most efficient operation they’d ever seen.  Say what you will about Mitt Romney, and I didn’t vote for him in the primaries either, he’s an efficient businessman.  If there is one thing that Utahns do, it is get stuff done.  We run a tight ship out here. And even then we still ended up prosecuting the original people in charge for corruption and bribery.

So… for the Chicago Olympics to be profitable, we’ve got to assume that a city run by the unions and the mafia will be more upstanding that a city run by Mormons. 

The Olympics are good for America!  –  Why?  They’ll cost us billions of dollars that we don’t have.  Let somebody else spend giant buckets of money building condos for once.

Personally, I live about a mile from a former Olympic venue.  If I ever feel the need to take up ice skating, this would be really awesome, but I don’t think it would be fair for me to ask the rest of the nation to foot the bill for it.

You’ve got to wonder though.  What if it was say, Dallas, or another red state city that wanted the Olympics?  Would the president have flown over for that? 

 Obama didn’t spend too much money on this. They only took two flights to Copenhagen.  –  Really?  So all those armored Suburbans for the motorcade were stashed on Air Force One? That’s a pretty amazing plane.  The president doesn’t travel anywhere without a giant group of retainers and security, especially for overseas visits.  From what I’ve heard, a presidential visit overseas is usually about a dozen flights worth of men and equipment.

Not that it matters, the government will just print more money anyway. Surely that will work forever, with no consequences.

Well, at least while he was there FDX managed to squeeze in a visit with General McChyrstal, so it wasn’t a total loss. (too bad the general had to leak information to Fox News to force the president to actually, you know, pay attention to the war we might be losing or something).

We get to highlight Chicago to the world!   – Really?  I thought we did that with all the recent videos of kids being beaten to death with railroad ties.  I thought we did that when their last governor got kicked out for selling a senate seat.  (oh, wait, haven’t 4 of the last 5 Illinois governors ended up serving time or something?).  This is the same city that is getting taken before the Supreme Court because they won’t let their residents own guns to protect themselves (go Gura!) but has one of the highest violent crime rates in the nation.  Chicago is one of the most corrupt cities in the nation.  It isn’t a beacon, it’s an embarrassment.  

Jeez. I don’t want to show Chicago to the world.  I want to put a big curtain around it so the rest of the world doesn’t see the place!  They’re probably going to hold the Olympics in Brazil.  Which is ironic, since a country that has Death Squads is actually safer for tourists than Chicago…  I have several friends that live in Illinois.  I think they’d be happier if Chicago just slid off into the lake. 

Not getting the Olympics will make Oprah sad.  – Well, crap. I can’t argue with that!   I really want to make a lady with a bazillion dollars even happier.  Well, actually, since my odds of ever getting a book onto Oprah’s Book Club is exactly null… she can suck it up with the rest of them.   

So in conclusion, I’m glad Chicago lost.  You feel that, Barack?  That feeling you’ve got right now?  That’s the feeling of losing.  You better get used to it.  It is similar to the feeling you got in the pit of your stomach when all those ACORN Big Pimpin’ videos popped up.  You’ll be feeling it again shortly when socialized medicine goes down the tubes.  You’ll really be feeling it hard in 2010 when your super majorities dry up and you actually get some opposition. 

Go Rio!

Sugerhouse Barnes & Noble author's event October 10th
Are you f'ing kidding me? Whoopi on Rape-Rape.

22 thoughts on “Chicago doesn't get the Olympics!”

  1. And even then we still ended up prosecuting the original people in charge for corruption and bribery.

    See, I think that’s really the key. Y’all actually prosecuted them, instead of just letting them go with a slap and tickle.

    We should give Chicago to Canada, except they’d probably start a war with us over the insult.

  2. Not only did Chicago lose, they lost in the first round. Obama’s star power has limits, but how strange is it that its some group of Europeans that has to show it to us Americans? I never thought we’d have something to learn from a group with the words “international” and “committee” in their name. And yet here we are.

  3. I can’t even imagine what would have happened if the Chicago Teamsters got their mitts on the Olympics. What is the best ratio of bodies to concrete for an arena I wonder?

  4. This whole thing with the big push to have the Olympics in Chicago just seemed off from the very beginning. When I saw Michelle Obama and Oprah hugging on the news my antenna went up immediately! I’m so glad this did not come to pass for a variety of reasons but the situation was crunchy from the get-go.

    Kate

  5. I think they should hold the Olympics in some less-obvious cities sometime.

    -Green Bay, Wisconsin.
    -Bangor, Maine
    -Rapid City, South Dakota
    -Minot, North Dakota
    -Cheyenne, Wyoming
    -Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada
    -Memphis, Tennessee
    -Duluth, Minnesota

    I, personally, think the Minot Winter Olympics would be a hilarious idea. 🙂

  6. Go Rio, home of one of the most bad-ass Police units in the world, the Batalhão de Operações Policiais Especiais, otherwise known as the BOPE.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bope

    I suggest for a possible movie review the excellent Brazilian film (winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin film Festival) Elite Squad (Tropa de Elite). It’s kind like the Untouchables, if the guy Sean Connery shot to intimidate the accountant was still alive.

  7. Oh yeah, ‘The Ego has landed”, face first.
    Pistol and skeet ?, how would Chicago handle Fencing and Archery ?
    Go, Rio !

  8. FWIW…one of the bits of trivia we were fed during CGSC was exactly what airlift assets are required whenever the Pres goes overseas. It is quite significant, a no-kidding Big Deal. If he goes to more than one place, thus requiring an advance team (with full set of armored motorcade SUVs and limos) at the next stop, the bill gets higher.

    Keep in mind that these are all USAF transport aircraft -C-5s and C-17s – except the AF1 747. It puts quite a kink in TRANSCOM’s global air movement plan. That’s the air movement plan moving troops, equipment, and supplies around the world, including places like Afghanistan.

    1. Heartless Libertarian:

      Oh, the Special Mission’s 747’s known as “Air Force One” and “the backup” are also USAF transport aircraft. They’re just much nicer VIP birds than the grey birds.

  9. ” I have several friends that live in Illinois. I think they’d be happier if Chicago just slid off into the lake. ”

    I live here.

    Try me. Lake Michigan is a convenient sea. I favor driving them into it.

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