Olympics Schmolympics

I already knew that most media was twisted, but until recently, I’ve held onto an apparently misguided belief that local news reported on things that were happening locally. Fox News and MSNBC are obviously mediums for the extreme right and left, respectively, and CNN has the frustrating habit of reporting for hours on events before they even know what’s going on; beware the term “developing story.” But, I figured my local generic stations here in Chicago had a pretty good handle on what was going on here in Chicago.

That was until they started leading up to the announcement from the International Olympic Committee’s decision on where to hold the 2016 games. Chicago had been pushing hard for this for a long time and it was widely known to be a pet project of Chicago’s mayor, Richard Daley. But as the day of reckoning neared, it became clear that a large chunk of the city was not behind him.

It seems a bit premature in retrospect

It seems as though the major rift between Daley and his people came last spring during the epic parking meter debacle that clearly illustrated the cronyism and corruption to which Chicagoans had become accustomed – except this effort failed so massively and so completely, that even members of the government who passed this stupid plan started publicly backpedaling. This got a lot of people wondering how this city would handle the demands of hosting the Olympics and the scrutiny of the international audience.

And yet, the morning news regularly talked up the Olympic dreams of Chicago, as if we were all crossing our fingers together. They briefly reported a protest held by a group called No Games Chicago, using pictures of the traditional hippies and ne’er-do-well-looking folks to imply the “otherness” of such riffraff. The website ChicagoansforRio got a short mention. But overall, they seemed to think that our big, happy city was pulling for this.

Maybe inviting Blagojevich was a mistake.

After the announcement, Chicago news stations reacted much like a girl unceremoniously dumped right before the senior prom. Tears, disbelief, near constant re-living the moment (only in the form of repeated footage of a foiled celebration in Daley Plaza), and of course the unanswerable question: “why?” Conspiracy theories swirled about anti-American sentiments in the IOC, unsportsmanlike conduct from our dear leader Daley, and I even heard (what I hope was a joke) that the IOC is racist because our biggest star power came from 3 black Chicagoans – Oprah and the Obamas.

He said he loved me…

What wasn’t mentioned was the inability of our city to cover the ever increasing budget deficit. Or the seemingly constant violence that has taken several teenagers in recent weeks. Or the fact that nearly half the city didn’t. want. the. olympics.

But the news anchors did finally begin grudgingly mentioning that some Chicagoans didn’t want the games. In a tone similar to a teacher who knows which student triple-dog-dared Flick to stick his tongue on the frozen flagpole, they alluded to the unsupportive, unpatriotic, and downright un-American folks who cheered when Chicago got bumped. Better late than never, I guess.

Michelle Obama has an awesome b*tch face

Personally, I was happy to hear that Chicago was out. I don’t think the city is ready for it and it would simply act as an excuse for more behind the scenes deal-making and shady construction projects. Plus it would make this city unbearable for 3 weeks in 2016 (though it’s impossible to tell if I’ll still be here…). But I was disappointed in the gross neglect on the part of our news stations to acknowledge the significant portion of their audience who wanted nothing to do with these games.

I’m definitely too old to still justify naiveté, so I suppose it’s good that I have discovered this glaring problem with news organizations. But it does raise the fairly difficult question: where can I go to hear what’s actually going on? Or do I get to find out if ignorance really is bliss.

By Jesy: who is happy to take suggestions on *actual* news sources.

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