Saturday, October 3, 2009

Chicago Loses Out on Olympic Bid -- Was It An Answer to Prayer?




Chicago had seemed to pick up momentum in the last few days, with many International Olympic Committee members seemingly charmed by Mrs. Obama. But when IOC president Jacques Rogge announced the results of the first vote, Chicago was the city that fell out.

It was one of the biggest upsets in IOC voting history, and will likely have ramifications throughout the U.S. Olympic Committee. USOC chairman Larry Probst was stone-faced as he and acting CEO Stephanie Streeter walked down a hallway.

Chicago was eliminated in the first ballot of voting for the 2016 Olympics on Friday, a stunning defeat for the city that was expected to be one of the two finalists. Not even the presence of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama — nor a long list of celebrities — was enough to help the United States' third-largest city. --- news releases Friday, October 2, 2009

Taking two planes (Air Force One for him, and a smaller Boeing machine for her) plus some high profile people including the high and mighty Oprah Winfrey, the Obama camp descended on Copenhagen like vultures going after a dead animal decomposing in 95 degree temperatures!

Their mission? To convince the IOC that Chicago was the only decent place to hold the 2016 Olympic games. The other three cities being considered are not worthy of the honor of hosting the games – that is, if you talk to anyone connected with Chicago politics.

Then a shock wave struck – comparable, if not greater in intensity, than the shakeups taking place in certain areas of the Pacific Ocean in recent days, only in the lobbying sense where the “lobbyist” is arrogant with the attitude, “Because I am who I am, I will get what I’m after!” Chicago was the first one of the four to be kicked out of the competition! Having been in both Rio and Chicago years ago, there is no comparison between the two. Once you’ve been in Rio, Chicago has no attraction whatsoever! Sort of like standing a guy with a fresh haircut and shave dressed up in a brand new tuxedo along side a hobo in rags who hasn't taken a bath in six months!

Was it an answer to prayer? Maybe someone did pray to the effect that until the rampant corruption is purged from that city, may such a blessing as the privilege to host the Olympic Games be withheld!

Preposterous? Yes, many would say so. But stop and think seriously for a moment. Chicago politics is the measuring stick when it comes to how low politics can sink in our republic – so low in fact, that at that level you have to use a high powered telescope to look up in order to see the navel of a blacksnake!

We in Pennsylvania have to put up with the rottenness of Philadelphia politics such as a governor (Ed Rendell) whose roots are in that quagmire and a turncoat senator named Arlen Specter. But these are rank amateurs compared to the pros in Chicago from which there comes forth “The One” named Barack Obama.

This one thing we can be assured of – the bid for the 2016 Olympics disaster is but one of many he will experience. The reason is clear – here is a man who cares not a bit about the will of God for himself and the country he is supposed to lead. Proof of that is clear to anyone who has a sensitivity to God’s view of human life at all stages of existence and the fact that if governing leaders are to fulfill their responsibilities effectively, then the work has to be done in consultation with God on a daily basis!

The prophet Isaiah hit the nail on the head and explains why things are the way they are politically speaking when he said, “For the leaders of this people cause them to err, and those who are led by them are destroyed.” (Isaiah 9:16).

It will be interesting to see what God does in the times ahead so far as the elected officials of our republic are concerned. More answers to prayer as God deals with the self-centered corruption that has brought our system of government to the precipice of unprecedented disaster?


“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” --- Jeremiah 33:3

Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. --- 1 John 5:14, 15

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