Obama--And Mrs.O'Leary's Cow

Chicago has been in the news alot in the last week-the aftermath of a failed attempt by President Obama to have the Olympics held there in 2016.

It was interesting (and somewhat pathetic) to note how Rush Limbaugh and others took delight in Chicago’s defeat—and in how they castigated the President for making the effort.

Personally, I think he should have stayed home too, but I applaud his passion for his hometown and his lobbying efforts to land what could have been an economic plum for the Windy City. My criticism is that his team was not clued-in enough to know that Chicago’s chances against a Latin American country were slim, and shielding the President from the embarrassment of backing such a likely losing effort should have made the decision NOT to go an easy one.

Regardless of your views on the involvement of Obama, one thing is for certain: if the President had NOT actively participated in the campaign, the following two scenarios are clear:

1) Chicago would still have been denied and..
2) Rush and his media-wannabes would have blamed the President for NOT trying to bring the Olympics to Chicago.

Am I right?

Absolutely-even Rush supporters can agree that no matter what course of action Obama took, it was certain that ol’ Rushbo would have found fault. He, of course, would never admit this were the case—but knows in his heart that he had a “lock”---a “can’t lose” proposition whereby he has ammunition for either choice of action. Only if Chicago were selected would his cynicism be neutralized—and maybe not even then.

This, in my view, diminishes his credibility. George Will is a conservative columnist who has written scathing criticisms of Obama, some of which have merit. He has also written pieces that support the President on certain issues. As such, Will’s perspective is relatively untainted by ideology. It rises and falls with actions taken or opinions expressed. Unlike Rush and other narrow-minded political animals (of either party), Will refuses to paint the President with one brush. Every political leader is a mosaic of views and positions—crafted from their own personal life story and world-view. To completely dismiss Obama for EVERYTHING he does—and to support former President Bush for EVERYTHING he did---makes Rush Limbaugh nothing more than a political hack. His is a zero-sum game with an immature and ignorant win-lose orientation.

This leads to the fabrication of viewpoints that may not exist or outright lies put forth as the truth. Whoever said that one was entitled to one’s own opinion, but not to their own “facts” had it right.

Mrs. O’Leary’s cow had a similar problem.

It was on this date that the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 began. A two-day blaze that killed between 200-300 people, destroyed over 17,000 buildings, left 100,000 people homeless and caused the equivalent of $3 billion dollars in damage.

Here is Hollywood’s depiction of Chicago at the time of the blaze—perhaps a tad inaccurate, but since movie footage of the actual blaze is harder to come by, this may be your best bet:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uo0WjfI74Bs


The fire was blamed on Catherine O’Leary’s cow, which allegedly kicked over a lantern in the barn.

This was a lie, put forth by newspaper reporter Michael Ahern of the “Chicago Republican”, who in 1893 admitted that he made up the story to sell newspapers. Ahern was the Rush Limbaugh of this tale. A man who never let the facts get in the way of a good story. He had the audience--and the trust of that audience, which he betrayed, He, in effect, "controlled" the truth for the millions reading his account of the fire, even if it was all a lie. Of course, this was little consolation to Mrs. O’Leary, who became a recluse after the story broke and who died in 1895. In 1997, the Chicago City Council exonerated both Mrs. O’Leary and her bovine.

The point is that the TRUTH became buried by the LIE, one told so often that even 138 years after the event—and 116 years since the lie was exposed as such, most people still BELIEVE that a cow started the Great Chicago Fire.

So….beware of lies told repeatedly…..even if the cow telling them doesn’t live in Chicago.

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