Victory: Chicago Loses the Olympics

I am absolutely reeling with shock that Chicago was knocked out in the first round and the 2016 Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro. Some quick thoughts about Victoria Brasilia and the Chicago/Daley/Obama humiliation.

1 - This is a victory for the people of Chicago. Pushing back against immense pressure from the Daley political machine, organizations like No Games Chicago went grass roots, corner to corner, and spoke out against the Olympic storm of gentrification, tax hikes, and police misconduct. Certainly one reason the U.S. got the high hat was the lingering bad taste of George W. Bush. The global community, after eight years of sneering contempt from Washington DC, isn't ready to rinse with the Obama mouthwash.

But it's the community activists of Chicago who should feel tremendously gratified. They -- along with the millions of Chicagoans who expressed their trepidation in polls -- saved their city. They have every right to say with pride, "THAT'S the Chicago way!"

2 - Barack Obama may not be feeling it, but he is the luckiest man alive right now. Yes, President Obama traveled all the way to Copenhagen and didn't even get a lousy t-shirt, but he is damn fortunate it went down like it did. Obama is the first U.S. President to ever appear before the International Olympic Committee and plea for the games. If they had come to the Windy City, it would have been an eight-year distraction and political gold for his opponents. Every time an Olympic project came in late and over budget, every time a scandal hit the tabloids, every time a crime was captured on a cell phone camera it would have been "Obama's Olympic Folly." Imagine Rush Limbaugh or Glen Beck oozing over to Chicago with every blip in the process. It would have all been at best a distraction and at worst, and endless spigot of champagne for his enemies. The person who really has egg on his face is Mayor Richard Daley. He wanted to show everyone he was a bigger man -- and mayor -- than his Daddy with an Olympic sized stadia to boot. Now expect all the Daley arm-twisting and all the dirty skulduggery in the lead up to both come to light and come home to roost.

3 - This is no time for NIMBY. NIMBY of course means not in my back yard. The No Games Chicago movement has a responsibility right now to do a helluva lot more than just cheer their triumph. Now is the time to stand with the people of Rio. It's no secret why the IOC licked their lips at the thought of Brazil. Like China, Brazil is an emerging market yet to be fully "branded" by global multinationals. They also have a police force that shoots first and asks questions never. Their President Lula, who comes from a radical union background, has clearly shown the decrepit, corrupt, IOC Mafiosi that he is willing to play ball. If history is any kind of a guide, the pain for Brazil's working people is now on the immediate horizon. It's our duty to do whatever we can to express solidarity with the favelas, the landless peasants, and the workers about to stare down the barrel of "Olympism." Our work has just begun.

 

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Comments

[mvonkroeker]

Obama didn't "Lose" the Olympics--- Rio won it!! Brazilian women???? Duh!!!!!

[uvymopka]

I never understood why Obama went to Copenhagen in the first place to lobby for the Olympics to come to America. I mean, we have 4% of the world's greatest athletes, and yet we win 25% of the world's gold medals. It's just not fair.

[MeanWorldSyndrome]

Let's not forget the very public apology by King-Mayor Daley regarding how the citizens of the city were hosed by the privatization of parking meters! "Sorry Chicago - we were too busy with our failed bid to care about the business dealings effecting everyone with a vehicle." As a life long Chicagoan - I'm disgusted on a 'Daley' basis.

[Roelof]

Thank you IOC. Thank you. No Olympics. No temporary stadium overwhelming and ruining a classic 19th century park. No Olympic village adding to the ten year supply of empty condos in the South Loop. No cost overruns. No bribes. No scandals. No wasted focus while our schools and roads continue to deteriorate. No higher sales taxes. No higher property taxes. No Montreal-, Athens- or London-sized debt. Thank you IOC from the bottom of my overtaxed, stressed out and thoroughly exhausted and disgusted by the crooks and thugs who are my city, county and state politicans heart. I love you. I love you all. Thank you.

[47th]

DITTO.

[stevendedalus3]

What's all the fuss? Be happy for our southern hemisphere.

[Emlyn]

I don't live in Chicago but I am sorry did not get the games. But if so many organizations were against the Olympics being there, wouldn't that have gotten back to the IOC Committee? I suspect that a lot of money changed hands and that was why Rio got it.

[Scent]

Obama yet has to back his great speeches with even infinitesimal action to make the world believe that anything HAS changed. Neither the people here nor the world has forgotten how words and actions have oh so little to do with each other when an american president says them.

Are we truely so arrogant as to believe that a few well said words will make the world forget 2 MILLION massacred Iraqis to get rid of a man WE PUT THERE? Are we so keen on being #1 that we forget that democracy is leadership among equals?

We changes nothing.
- Iraqis are stoll massacred by us.
- People are still kidnapped - FOR FRAUD of all things when we showed the world that the world most damaging frauds will be able to hold on to power after their crimes.
- We still support IMF and World Bank in destroying economies to make our billionaires richer through death and suffering of litterally billions around the globe
- We still claim to be the oney who should lead the world.

All the time
- The liers who started a war still have power
- The banks that damaged so many lives here still rule economies raound the planet
- The soldiers still kill innocents
- We still support, finance, train, and use terrorists

What exactly is it that makes us believe the world will see a light we never ignited?

[unionave]

If you want to know what kind of city Chicago is just read the news papers .

[BobDin]

I never thought Chicago had a chance to start with. When ever I have been to Chicago I get my business done and can't wait to leave. Given the choices of Madrid and Rio, where would you rather go. Thinking Chicago had a chance was folly.

[C65]

Let me give Unionave,Bobdin,his Fans and all who blog here,an SOS!
Unless you've been living in a bubble,blind or just lack the ability to comp-
rehend what's going on around you,you would know that there is no place
that has," Carte Blanche" on crime and undesireable behavior. Just as there
are no perfect people,to say,"read the papers" is nieve and sintical,antone
who trust their safety and news worthy education to any MEDIA OUTLET is
stupid.They are in it for the ratings,their jobs and the financial benefits.
What now sells is BAD news,and it is running rampant,more than POSITIVE,
which proves why children are exhibiting the behavior they are because they
are allowed,to be entertained by these NEGATIVE influences without facts
and adults to decipher for them and some just as you are UNABLE to.Anyone
like YOU BOBDIN,employed as a business man and suggest you take
care of business in Chicago and hurry out,is not making sound judgement
nor statements and I would FIRE you so my company would improve.
A lil NOTE:If anyone out there is affraid of crime anywhere,just remember
2 things:THERE IS NO SAFE PLACE;YOU CAN RUN BUT NOT HIDE,SO
GET OFF YOUR SELF-RIGHTEOUS BUTTS AND HELP TO MAKE A CHANGE!

[BLPC]

I wanted Chicago to win. But, I think I was naive about the politics behind the process. On the other hand, I think that Spain or another South American country was good reason to grant them the Olympics 2016. But, I am really concerned about the history of crime 'seemingly legalized' in Rio. Remember the Hollywood movie 'Proof of Life' with Meg Ryan and that Irish hunk. Well, those images still remain with me years later. Kidnapping wealthy, prominent people and Americans is still prevalent in this world. If Rio can get a truce with the crime lords for the Olympics, Rio should do so. Also, I hope the abject poverty conditions will change, somewhat, as a result in the economic boost. Let's pray.

[Trittydi]

I don't get it. How did the "community activists save(ed) their city"?

Were they represented in Copenhagen?

I live in the Chicago area and I think it would have been a nightmare (not for me personally - I live too far north). And I think the fact that Brazil got is is great considering the games have never been held on the South American Continent. I agree that the underclasses will suffer. But that would also have been true in Chicago.

Glad Chicago lost.
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[S1m0n]

Toronto's "Bread Not Circuses" activist coalition is credited with scuppering Toronto's Olympic bids for the games that ended up in Beijing. They were even the subject of a bitter tirade from the moist and garrulous head of the bid committee.

The IOC hates controversy almost as much as it loves other people's money.

[jeffstuff]

This is an outstanding piece. Unfortunatly many of the right wingnuts are touting this as a loss for the President and are cheering the defeat. For all of the wrong reasons, of course. Chicagoans will be spared the aggrivation of the politics of the Olympics and the additional homeless people dislodged from their meager abodes to build structures that serve little purpose, except for the games. Thank you Olympic Site Selection Committee. One more thing, Rush, Glenn, Ann, and the rest of you tools: if you can't be civilized and tell the truth, then shut the hell up! Wait; that's impossible: you can't handle the truth!

[DenisElliott]

I don't think much of your first two points, but the third? Perhaps without realizing it you hit on the crucial element!

With the First Lady & then the President taking an active role in the bid, Chicago wasn't able to offer all the "swag" to the IOC delegates they've become accustomed to. No bribes, no votes. It really is that simple!

As for the costs of the Games, not all Olympics lose money, and in the U.S., both in LA and Atlanta we ran games that produced a surplus. Americans have always been the biggest financial contributors to the Games, both in ticket sales and in tv revenue. Perhaps Americans, except of course for our athletes should stay home for a change, and more importantly, watch SOMETHING ELSE on tv when the games are actually happening.

[Trittydi]

Just turn the damned thing off. We did that about 16 years ago and have never regretted it.
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[DRaymond]

Every four years I get the same deja-vu. 'Concerned local citizens' whine about expense and traffic and how terrible it was going to be. And I remember the mid 70's when I heard all of it even louder because I was living in the middle of it in Los Angeles. Oh the pollution! Oh the gridlocked freeways'! Oh the crime! Oh the chaos of all those visitors! And you know what? Absolutely none of it happened. The games were competently run, fun, and all public expenses were covered by revenue from the games.

Well, you can say, the games are more complicated than they were in 1984. Well in fact they were more complicated before it too. LA ran essentailly unopposed for the right to run the games because of the problems prior cities had. LA found excellent ways of utilizing existing facilities

Or you could say that Chicago can't do what LA did. Well I guess that statement is the first argument in proving that you can't. Sorry about the self-esteem issues Chicagoans.

[weatherwaxx]

Your comment is based on the notion that everyone WANTS the Olympic games in their backyard.

Personally, I'd rather have root canal work.

Choosing NOT to take on the upheaval and mess isn't a "self-esteem" issue... except in the sense that Chicago has enough self-esteem NOT to need the Olympics to know it's a great city.

Yeah, I'm a former Chicagoan...

[MalteseTiger]

Alot of us in Chicago didn't want the games due to the hassle and knowing damn well our crappy public transportation system couldn't handle it..

LA and California are virtually bankrupt.. you have unemployment levels to rival Detroit.. Your state government is paying with IOU's and auctioning off everything it can for cash... and you got a governor with approval ratings so low.. even Bush would be happy to have them..

How's that self-esteem of yours now, champ?

[S1m0n]

When it comes to the Olympics, the appropriate response isn't MIMBY, but NOMD - Not On My Dime! Most cities in the world have way better things to do with a few billion dollars than to throw a two week party for a coterie of unelected, international fat-cat freeloaders.

[Truthosaurus]

Right on target. The old boy IOC has a history of corruption, much of it documented over the years by several key Chicago newspaper columnists. This was one of several reasons many of us Chicagoans did not want to pay for their overblown party. I also read quotes from an x-IOC member who mentioned that Obama's short trip may have been seen as too "business like" and not long enough, a perceived slight to some of the smug egotistical IOC members. Rio will now have to pay for the IOC party, good riddance.

[Trittydi]

Agreed. I really did not like the idea of Chicago Olympics. With Daley involved you know there's going to be sleaze. And the land grabs had already started. I'm happy so many fat cats had the rug pulled right out from under them.
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