LM, I didn't get to watch the presentations of the other competing countries. I did get to see major portions of the Chicago bid this morning on CSPAN. As a former Communication Studies major back in the day at university in Chicago, my gut tells me the reasons will not be what voters say are the reasons. I firmly believe, in decisions like this, that unconscious factors figure prominently, though no doubt there were strong salient reasons for picking Rio. Among the unconscious reasons might be these (again, these may have zero relationship to voter reality): 1. The world does not like this American habit of bringing in big-name celebrities and then expecting to get the prize. In fact, they HATE this quality in Americans. While I heard good things from the press that with this bid America was showcasing some un-characteristic humility, still there is that American sense of entitlement, which is hard to shake. I think it's an unfair accusation many times (it's been directed at me personally, even when I am trying my darndest to be self-effacing and polite) and I think it's rooted in jealousy more than fact. Still, it's a perception. And in international matters, perception, not reality, often carries the day. When I heard Oprah interviewed, she talked about Oprah. What Chicago did for Oprah. One day Oprah will wake up and realize the world doesn't give two cents about Oprah's biography, nor do they live vicariously through her. While Michelle Obama also made the same mistake in her speech, I do feel it was heartfelt. Sadly, President Obama also made the same tired mistake, with an eloquent, but still not appropriate speech. All three of these people believe that, as Theodore Roszak well analyzed, "the personal is political." That may be true in a highly individualistic, celebrity-driven culture like America, but it is not an asset on the world stage. Talking about oneself is generally considered bad form, however endearing or inspiring your personal story. I am not sure if the other competing countries tried the same approach, but even if they did, the world is particularly tired of this approach coming from America. Secondly, the American people were not brought along with this Olympic push. This is quite dispiriting for me. It seems we have lost our way as a nation. We should be enthusiastic about once-in-a-generation opportunities like hosting an Olympics. But poll after poll showed that Americans were lukewarm about the possibility. Again, I think this is a sign of our spoiled, self-centered, high individualistic approach to life. Countries like Brazil and previous host China have far more people in poverty, and far more intractable social and environmental problems. But their people were genuinely and almost uniformly enthusiastic about the idea of hosting the Olympic Games. Americans were not. And even Chicagoans were not. That is the wrong message to send to the IOC, that even your own people are divided on the idea of hosting the Olympics. It seems harder and hard to do grand things in this country anymore. The nonstop, imbalanced sniping and bloviating on radio and TV is eroding our sense of pride, our desire to come together, our belief in this nation's greatness and destiny. I put the blame for this hostile climate squarely in the laps of immature man-children like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and their equally extreme counterparts on the left. While Rio deserves and needs the infrastructure boost that the Olympics will provide, I am deeply disturbed by this mean-spirited and community-destroying animosity being deliberated stoked in this country. In some ways, as crazy as this sounds, I think the Chinese and other dictatorships have a point in one regard: some kinds of discourse are so rapacious and destructive to goodwill and harmony, they should be banned. The un-hinged vitriol pouring from blogs, radio, TV, newspapers on a daily basis is not a good thing for this country. The Olympics offer a chance for once to let go of that vitriol and come together as Americans. But there are forces in this country who do not want that to happen. They don't want goodwill to occur if it benefits someone whose policies, or, even worse, whose ethnicity, they find disagreeable. This is a shame, a disgrace, and a ominous bellwether for what's to come. I think underneath this loss in Copenhagen should come a profound lesson for my fellow Americans: Grow Up. Stop the Sense of Entitlement. Stop the Whining. Stop the Me-First Politics of Yesterday. And at long last join the community of nations in not only word, but deed. Then perhaps an extremely worthy candidate like Chicago, the heartland of America, and a city that embraces diversity, change and the endearing American values of hard work, education, and discipline, will have a chance to win the Olympic bid at some future date. Unfortunately, just as it took several prominent losses in international competition to wake up American basketball superstars, so too we may need a few more humbling defeats (including Afghanistan and maybe even Iran) before we finally wake up and realize what it takes to be a true citizen of the world in the 21st century. Congratulations Brazil. You deserve it more than us.