Iran and nukes? Afghanistan? Nope, Coppenhagen and the Olympics
Written by Michael Vass
Chicago wants the 2016 Olympics. At least that’s what Oprah Winfrey, the mayor, and President Obama think. Which is the problem.
I really could care less if Chicago got the Olympics of not (and neither do many Chicago residents). I don’t like the city, as my personal expereince there was negative. But the issue isn’t the weather, the corrupt politics, or the very real likelyhood that money will be siphoned off for various private interests at public expense. No, my problem with the discussion in Coppenhagen is that President Obama will be there.
Never before, that I can recall, has a sitting President gone to lobby on the behalf of a city. To be honest, it’s an action that is beneath the Office of the President. And there is no limit to the number of functionaries the President could have employed to imply or state his desire for the 2016 games. Yet President Obama chose to go and do it in person.
At the same time he is in Coppenhagen, Iran is flaunting its formerly “secret” nuclear material development plant and firing missles as they prepare for a discussion with the U.S. on Oct 3rd. Unemployment is at 9.7% and likely to go to 10% this year according to the White House, while most expect a peak in 2011 of around 11.5%. And the General in charge of Afghanistan, who has requested 40,000 more troops for a war that President Obama campaigned was the most important issue for America to resolve, continues to sit and wait for an answer from a President that has spoken to him once on 70 days.
Perhaps it’s me, but I don’t find the Olympics in Chicago some 6 1/2 years from now an immediate, important, or Presidential issue. Somehow is see the nation as having far more urgent matters to deal with.
What about the Health Care Reform that continues to be unwanted by the public, undefined and unclear in the Congress, and advocated for by the President and Democrat leaders? How about the issues of the Cap & Trade Bill that will potentially double the cost of electricity and heating homes? How about the financial system that remains weak, as some 90+ banks have failed this year alone, and the record number of Americans in or facing foreclosure without sub-prime loans?
The Olympics are prestigious, and they sometimes even make money for a city or 2 every decade or so. But is that really the most important thing for our President to do?
It just reminds me that President Obama is more celebrity than politician. He is off with Oprah, jaunting through Europe, while his responsibilities are piling up in America. It’s the kind of reaction I’d expect more from Britney Spears than the most powerful elected official in the world. But don’t worry, once President Obama gets back he will flash a smile that will melt the major media like Brad Pitt does to many teens.
Because he’s not just the President, he’s a political rockstar. And the Olympics are just the venue he needs. Bet he gets a statue in Chicago just like Sylvester Stallone did for Rocky (and built long before the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. statue ever gets finished). How’s that for “Change you can believe in.”
