IT WAS EASY CHOOSING RIO OVER CHICAGO

The President, the First Lady, and the Obama Administration did not lose anything by making a direct personal appeal to the International Olympic Committee on behalf of Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. The President of Brazil and the top leaders of Japan and Spain were also there making the same promotional efforts. At best each city had only a 25% chance of winning.

The President did not suffer any political defeat that will hamper his domestic and international initiatives. The 30% of Americans who loathe him will cheer against their fellow Americans for any pointless reason because they are so shallow, hateful, ignorant and delusional. Some of our right-wing 24/7 info-entertainment pundits look for any signs of weakness and failure to celebrate because they simply cannot think or write about anything else due to their remarkably limited intellectual abilities.

Life goes on and the Olympics play at best a minor role in the world. Most people cannot even list the host cities for summer and winter games going back more than 10 years. Hosting the Olympics is a very expensive proposition and the decision to award any city is based upon a myriad of factors. However, this IOC decision was a foregone conclusion long before the President tried to pick up Chicago’s banner.

I have lived in Chicago and liked many aspects of the city. I also understand many of its faults. High levels of crime are a scourge for both Rio and Chicago, but the recent publicized brutal slaying of a top black high school student who got caught in a gang war did not help the world’s perception of Chicago and many other major American cities. The very low overall crime rates in Spain and particularly Japan ensure their people live long lives and simply die of boredom.

Chicago is composed of many ethnic, religious and racial groups, but they remain predominately segregated in their neighborhoods with slightly more intermarriage and blending than most other Midwestern American cities. Spain and Japan are notoriously single-ethnic countries that have extended only minimal welcomes to outsiders.

Contrarily, Rio de Janiero and the country of Brazil, along with other South American countries such as Colombia and Venezuela, are true melting pots of ethnic and racial mixing. Therein, the number of people with mixed Native Indian, White, Black and many other backgrounds are the majority of their populations. These are places where it is very common for many people to have racial backgrounds akin to President Obama.

Both cities have beaches, but sand and tall buildings are only tenuous similarities between Rio and Chicago. The climates, quality of the water, and the overall natural beauty are completely different.

A number of other cities in the United States have hosted Olympics Games. Most IOC members have noticed that the U.S. is a waning superpower. Contrarily Brazil has finally arrived as a major global economic player, and possibly politically and culturally as well.

However, the IOC decision was made simply on Rio’s overriding emotional and visual appeal. Given the choice of spending more than a month in any one of these four locations, most people would decide upon Rio de Janiero – hands down. The other 3 choices simply couldn’t compare.

Rio is new, vibrant, intoxicating, young, sexy, and wholly captivating to anyone with the love of life in their bones. The other places are just so old, tired, and predictably staid.

If offered, I would be ready in an hour to hop a plane to Rio anytime. Contrarily I wouldn’t be very excited about flying to Chicago even though I know where to have fun and I appreciate all the great cultural amenities of the city.

President Obama tried to make the best of the very limited hand he was dealt. Since Rio already held a Royal Flush, inevitably Chicago just couldn’t draw anything to win.

Submitted 10/3/09 by Marc Pascal in Phoenix, AZ.