Mr. Sunshine, and I are at an ideological impasse: He wants the Olympics here in Chicago in the Year 2016, and I don't.
MS just accused me of possibly being a republican b/c I am opposed to the Olympics being hosted in Chicago in 2016, wtf?!
Um, it's not just the cost, It's the natural land being razed to make way for the festivus (I don't know how to hyperlink, but here's Ben Joravsky's take on the issue, http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/theworks/081204/)...it's the weight on our already stretched public transit infrastructure, the amount of pork that will be earmarked for special Olympic projects, the disruption to traffic, the mess before, and after, the crime, the spotlight, etc.
Look at Chicago now in 2009. Are the potholes going to get any better by 2016, the deficit any smaller, the sales taxes any less higher?
Sure, as a tourist I wouldn't mind *visiting* Chicago for the Olympics, or chilling on my couch watching those sexy male swimmers, and marveling at the shoulders of volleyball players named Misty, and thinking of how cool it is that it's all happening just an el ride away, but as a citizen do I want the games here, in my backyard? Heck, no! Sure, it'll be spectacular, an awesome time for the world at large, but what about all the before, and after, all the lives, and land compromised? All the millions of dollars spent?
Take the gilded party elsewhere, please, and stop referencing the 1893 Columbian Exposition. People, as in those from outside our country still liked America back then. Furthermore, 2016 puts us at the last Hurrah of Obama's presidency, that is if he is a two term president, which at this nascent point I hope that he will be, though only time will tell. He's going gray pretty fast, and 7.5 years in politics probably feels a lot like dog years-- and Christmas to those behind the wheels of the Chicago Clout machines that work nonstop, its windy citizens caught in air shafts, bearing the albatross that could be Chicago's 2016 Olympic Games.
"Are you a republican? Oh no!!!!" were his exact words.
This was his original email to me. The tag line of "maybe this will sway your opinion" made me smile. I guess he doesn't know me that well. Maybe I will sway his opinion. I hope it won't cause a rift, though. I'm already missing his dog, and he cooks better than Lean Cuisine. But, I'm holding firm. No Olympics in 2016, please!!!!!
Date: Wed, 13 May 2009 10:30:33 -0700
From: "mrsunshine@XXXXX
Subject: Maybe this will sway your opinion
To: XXXX@hotmail.com
Hey, check out these videos listed on this link. I know that you think the olympics will be too costly, but imagine the jobs, commerce, and new infrastructure that could come from getting the games here. Chicago would not be anything like it is without the 1892 World's Fair. This is an opportunity for the city to pave the way for the future of all great cities in the world. It could be the platform for President Obama to globalize the green initiative. It could also stand as a voice of a new America, one that has weathered the storm of the economic near-depression and is now a respected and peace-loving leader of the new world. I may be a bleeding-heart liberal optimist, but I truly did believe in the President's message from the start of his campaign. I believe this country can become a great country again. I think that in the final year of his presidency, after what I believe will be two terms of progressive groundbreaking political leadership, that having the olympics here would be a great way for America to communicate it's new and proven message to the international community thus further globalizing government and economy.
Sorry went off on a little blog of my own. Hope you enjoy the videos.
XXXXXXX
Videos:
http://www.chicago2016.org/chicago-2016-videos.aspx
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