Chicago: Not the IOC’s Kind of Town

There’s so much stupidity out there in the past couple of days that it is hard to know where to start, but let’s begin with the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to eliminate Chicago from consideration as a host for the 2016 summer Olympics. As everyone knows by now, President Obama joined his wife and Oprah Winfrey in Copenhagen to lobby the IOC to select Chicago.

Because this was something Obama elected to do, the right wing felt the need to respond with criticism. They criticized the president for cronyism and they criticized Chicago. Sean Hannity, from Fox “News,” pointed to recent violence in the city and asked if it was a place where “we want the Olympics” and Glenn Beck, adopting his artificial ‘coy’ personality, said “Chicago is good at … organized Mafi — oops, did I say that out loud?”

Obama’s personal plea to the IOC was not unprecedented; Tony Blair and his wife did the same in a successful bid to have a future Olympics hosted in London. Other heads of state appeared before the IOC along with Obama, such as Japan’s prime minister Yukio Hatoyama. Tokyo was eliminated in the second round, to the collective disappointment of the Japanese people.

The conservatives are spinning this as a slap in the face to Obama by the international community. Rush Limbaugh positively crowed about it on his show, repeating “Barack Hussein Obama” in a sing-songy voice and sounding like a cross between a spoiled child and a deranged lunatic:

LIMBAUGH: For those of you on the other side of the aisle listening in who are upset that I sound gleeful, I am. I don’t deny it. I’m happy. Anything that gets in the way of Barack Obama accomplishing his domestic agenda is fine with me.

According to Media Matters, ever the sexist boor, Limbaugh also suggested Oprah–who is significantly thinner than the rotund Limbaugh–”ate Norway” in her grief. He also claimed the president had been traveling the world telling everyone that “America sucks.” Glenn Beck called the elimination of Chicago “so sweet” and told listeners to “savor this moment.” The Weekly Standard reported that its office staff erupted in cheers (no pretense at objective journalism, there).

The republicans are apparently unaware that there are actually republicans that live in Chicago. For most countries, hosting the Olympics is a source of national pride, no matter what city they are in. Is there any evidence that the IOC made its decision to deflate Obama’s “ego” as Matt Drudge suggested? Or to “bitch slap” him, as Limbaugh claimed? In a word, no. As Think Progressindicates, a question from a Pakistani IOC judge may shed light on the IOC’s decision:

Michael Froomkin, Professor at the University of Miami School of Law, is convinced that the “the same stupid anti-visitor policy that is destroying American higher education” also sunk Chicago’s Olympic bid. Chicago was eliminated during the first round and received the fewest votes. A New York Times article points out:

In the official question-and-answer session following the Chicago presentation, Syed Shahid Ali, an I.O.C. member from Pakistan, asked the toughest question. He wondered how smooth it would be for foreigners to enter the United States for the Games because doing so can sometimes, he said, be “a rather harrowing experience.”

To take part in a US-based Olympics, amateur and professional athletes on an Olympic Team from any of the countries not included in the 35 that participate in a special VISA waiver program with the US must secure a P-1 Visa. Here is a list of fees that appear to be associated with obtaining a visitor’s VISA, including a P-1:

• Nonimmigrant visa application processing fee, Form DS-156 (non-refundable): $131.00
• Border crossing card – 10 year (age 15 and over) non-refundable: $131.00
• Border crossing card – (under age 15). For Mexican citizen if parent or guardian has or is applying for a border crossing card (non-refundable): $13.00
• L Visa- Fraud Prevention and Detection for visa applicant in the L blanket petition abroad only (principal applicant only): $500.00

According to MSNBC, the US delegation to the IOC assumed they had several more votes than they ended up getting and now believe many Africans shifted their votes to Rio De Janeiro. Could this be in part because no African countries are included in the VISA waiver program? An additional $800 per athlete, coach, and other Olympic staff in VISA application fees (plus whatever the VISA costs to issue) is not a small amount of change.

The Associated Press offers another compelling reason about why the US lost its Olympic bid that has nothing to do with President Obama–and perhaps is why Obama felt the need to go to Copenhagen and try to counter the writing already on the wall:

[There is] bad blood between the committee and its U.S. branch — they’ve had flare-ups over revenue sharing and lucrative broadcasting rights — proved to be a note of discord. IOC members said the slap to Chicago was more directed at the U.S. Olympic Committee than to the Windy City itself.

French IOC member Guy Drut said “an excess of security” for the Obamas unsettled some of his colleagues. He complained that he’d been barred from crossing the lobby of his hotel for security reasons, and he grumbled that “nothing has been done” to resolve the financial disputes between the IOC and the USOC.

The IOC’s last two experiences in the United States were bad: the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics were sullied by a bribery scandal and logistical problems and a bombing hit the 1996 Games in Atlanta.

According to one IOC member, it was not a problem that Obama made an appearance–only that the appearance was so short:

Former IOC member Kai Holm said the brevity of Obama’s appearance — he was in and out in five hours — may have hurt Chicago. “Too businesslike,” Holm said. “It can be that some IOC members see it as a lack of respect.”

In addition to the bad blood between the IOC and the US, the most likely reason Chicago lost its Olympic bid and Rio de Janeiro one is the country’s appeal to the IOC’s sense of fairness. No South American nation has ever hosted the Olympics. Now Rio de Janeiro will benefit from the jobs created in building the Olympic facilities and hosting the Olympians and the revenue that will be spent during the games. As a former Chicagoan, I do know Olympians are going to miss out on some great pizza and Italian beef.

It is a clear indication of the country’s divide and the conservatives’ hatred of this president that they are exultating in America’s failure to secure the Olympics for 2016 (so much for their unflagging ‘patriotism’). Had it not been Chicago or had it been Chicago but Bush was president, their reaction would likely have been far more circumspect. But what is Chicago to a conservative, other than the home of that “evil socialist Nazi” in the White House.

Every day, the conservative loud mouths who claim to speak for their party’s followers give the rest of the country increasing reason to distance themselves further from that party. I have never seen a bigger bunch of sore losers in my life.

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