Holy IOC, Batman! The Dynamic ‘Two Os’ of Chicago Fumble Olympic Bid

Not too long ago, the slight majority of America’s registered voters, gripped in a frenzy reminiscent of Charles Manson’s followers, voted into the presidency a community organizer from the most corrupt city in America. Barack Obama, our first half-white President, was treated as if he descended from Heaven, truly the answer to every woe and worry in the United States.

Funny thing is Obama didn’t descend on the White House alone, though. With him came a small mountain of Chicago Machine politicians and bureaucrats. Some media outlets have referred to the White House as the 51st ward, illustrating how Obama’s meteoric rise also meant the promotion of Chicago’s (and Daley’s) agenda to the national stage. Among the many objectives of the 51st ward was the acquisition of the 2016 Olympic Games.

All of Obama’s most powerful Chicago allies wanted these Games, including the mighty Oprah. To support Barack Obama in his bid for the White House Oprah backstabbed the Clintons, going great lengths to churn as much media support as she could to protect and promote Obama. This obviously meant Obama was in hock to Oprah (along with countless other Democrats in Chicago) and the guaranteed success of the 2016 Olympic bid would be the first of many markers to be called in.

Now that his man was in the White House, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, the de facto power broker in Chicago Machine politics, appeared overly confident about the prospect of getting the games, gallivanting around the world for the last two years with billionaire Pat Ryan. I won’t even mention all the sucking up to Oprah Winfrey, including the recent closing down of Michigan Avenue so she could do her show last month. This tight knit group of Chicagoans schemed to promote their ultimate vision of a Chicago Olympics (and the mountains of revenue and power it would supply them), while most of us sat blithely by as they did so. While the little guy would be regulated into oblivion in the name of the Olympics, these Monsters of the Midway would cash in big time on construction revenue, tax increases and increased international clout. The fix was in, success all but guaranteed.