Let's Get Rid of the Olympics

There are times when there's something egregious going on and one must speak out, and this is one of those times. President Obama is going to debase himself and his office by going to Copenhagen and kissing the collective butt of a bunch of rich, corrupt slobs who call themselves the IOC Evaluation Commission. For shame!

The Olympics are more trouble than they're worth and the leader of the free world kowtowing to anyone, much less those jackasses at the IOC for the "honor" of hosting a sporting event, hurts both the Presidency in particular and America in general.

In case you don't remember, the last time we got an Olympics, Salt Lake City in 2002, we had to bribe them. There's plenty of evidence that the IOC is corrupt from head to toe and that most places who've hosted the games have regretted it. At least four cities (Beijing, Sydney, Montreal, Barcelona and Athens) are still paying off costs from the summer games, and most of the rest have just finished. Tens of billions of taxpayers' dollars have been spent on these useless spectacles, and the venues built at enormous expense generally go unused after the games are over -- what does anyone need that for?

Sure the Olympics make for good entertainment, but so what? Are any federal or state governments shelling out a cent for American Idol? No! Sure, a whole bunch of local governments have forced taxpayers to pay for useless sports arenas, and in general, these have made for bad investments (example: Rochester, New York's Raging Rhinos Soccer team's Marina Auto, formerly PAETEC Park) and generally make matters even worse for the fans. It ain't worth it!

But the Olympics are special, and the reason is that they're worse. The IOC goes in and starts acting like the bunch of bullies they always were (longtime IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch was good buddies with Francisco Franco) beating up on innocent athletes writing about the games on their personal sites; suing just about anybody that uses the word Olympics, even if the business has been operating for decades; preventing people from wearing clothes with the logos of sponsors' rivals to Olympic events and charging huge fees to sell tickets from official venues; and making it illegal to give them away or sell them at cost.

Many Olympics have been used as totalitarian propaganda exhibitions, from the Nazi extravaganza in Berlin back in 1936, to Moscow in 1980, to Beijing a year and a half ago, and the democracies haven't been much better. Vancouver/Whistler looks like it's going to be pretty bad for most of the residents, and while the Winter games are generally much smaller than the Summer ones, it's still going to be a logistical disaster for those who live there or have to be there on other business.

Chicago does not need this. We've already had too many Olympics in the United States already (1960, 1980, 1984, 1996 and 2002) and if there has to be another Olympics, let South America have it. Better yet, let's get rid of them! Nobody would miss it.

 

 

Follow Eric Lurio on Twitter: www.twitter.com/messy1

Comments

[lordjin]

Bad-A$$, Bro.

I'm in such agreement. Who cares about the freakin' Olympics? Not me, and I'm thinking neither do most regular people.

And this is a total frivolity in the face of the snow-balling Afghan debacle and the public option soon to be shot down.

I've been trying to reign in my criticism of Obama lately, but the guy clearly has his head up his... Okay, okay mods... He's not the grounded, politically tough pragmatist we so desperately need. He relies too much on showmanship, which has no substance and gets very little done.

But maybe he'll get this one thing done, considering the corrupt IOC may feel an affinity for Chicago.

[BobLablah]

Dude, I LOVE your photo! But come on, all politicians debase themselves by kissing the collective butt of a bunch of rich, corrupt slobs. They're called donors.