Why hello again, adoring public!  What’s it been, like a week since my last blog post?  That’s a pretty long time for you to go without hearing from me.  Well, the wait is over, guys, because I’m back.  With a real nice post for you.

So, as I told you last week, I’m back in Chicago, the Belly of the Beast.  Now, I know that this is technically the American Liberty Tour blog, but given my current geographic location, I would be remiss if I didn’t use the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on what El Presidente has been up to and how it affects us here in Chicago and beyond.  Because, even though it may sound a bit dramatic, I definitely think that what’s happening now locally is connected very strongly to what the Liberty Movement is up against.  So brace yourselves for a good, old-fashioned — but hopefully still coherent — rant.

This week, President Obama is gonna be flying to Copenhagen to make one last push for Chicago to win the 2016 Olympic bid.  He’ll be joined by his wife, of course, and by such luminaries as Chicago’s own Mayor Richard Daley and Oprah, Talk Show Queen of the Universe.  Ooo!  This is a big deal, folks.  I don’t know about you, but snagging the 2016 Olympics for Chicago is definitely top priority in my eyes.  A bunch of new sports facilities and an Olympic Village is exactly what we need right now.  Never mind that our public transit system is totally unequipped to deal with a huge influx of people, let alone can barely support the people who live there now, or that unemployment is high or that taxes are through the roof.  Yeah.  The mayor has repeatedly assured Chicagoans that the bill is already covered.  He’s got money from corporations and such to finance any pre-Olympic work that needs to be done as well as handle whatever expenses arise from the Games themselves.  I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty skeptical.  If the city has all this money, then why are tax hikes on stuff like pop, liquor, candy, and dandruff shampoo so essential?  Why is parking getting so expensive?  Why the heck would they choose to spend it on new stadiums and fancy-pants temporary housing, rather than use it to fix what’s actually broken?

I guess it might seem like I’m harping on fairly local issues, but if you think about it, the worst aspects of Chicago politics are infecting the federal government.  Sure, these problems have existed in Washington for a while now.  But in the past nine months, all of the recklessness and ridiculousness that we’re used to in Illinois has been kicked into high gear.  Plus, if we do get the bid, the rest of the country is going to get saddled with the bill when it comes out that Chicago, and then the state of lllinois, can’t pick up the tab.  Mayor Daley has no qualms about making promises he can’t keep, spending money he doesn’t have, focusing his attention on stuff that’s not important while neglecting issues that actually need to be addressed…sound familiar?

Let’s consider some stuff, shall we?

President Obama has a lot on his plate at the moment. I get that, and I don’t envy him. But there’s no denying that he’s helped himself to hearty portions.  What’s left for us is out-of-control government spending, an ever-expanding list of czars for anything and everything, and, when you get right down to it, an incredibly smarmy and condescending attitude toward we, the people, whom our leaders have vowed to serve and protect.  And what critical issue is he tackling now?  High unemployment?  Inflation?  Obvious corruption within his administration?  Oh, HEAVENS no.  Years from now, when we’re flipping through our history books (edited, of course, by the Historical Sugarcoating Czar), we’ll see that what truly mattered during these trying times was not that we were being dug progressively deeper into a money pit, or that we were being force-fed destructive legislation, or that the ideals that set this country apart from all the rest were being steamrolled over.  No, what truly mattered was that we won the Olympic bid.  That is what the kids are gonna be singing about.  Mmm mmm mmm!

Obviously, I was being sarcastic just now.  At least I hope it was obvious.  But what I’m getting at here is serious.  In my mind, this whole Chicago 2016 Olympics business serves as a prime example of how out-of-whack our government’s priorities are.  Not only is the President out there condoning further fiscal recklessness in a time when we need responsibility, but he’s putting a host of domestic and international issues on the backburner so he can jet off — on taxpayer dollars, most likely — to promote himself and showcase his schmoozing ability.  Put simply, I genuinely fear that the government as a whole does not have our best interests, or the long-term interests of our country, at heart.  And that is what we’re up against, and that is why it’s more important than ever that we put aside our petty differences and remember that our life, liberty, and happiness depend on the actions we take today.  If we don’t stand up for liberty, who will?