So what’s up in the news lately ?

Dude, I’m tellin’ ya…………

There’s been some fairly interesting things going on in the news the last week or so. Let’s take a quick look….

* While I was watching the Hawks game at one of my favorite watering holes on Friday, the news came out that Chicago was the first city rejected in the 2016 Olympics host city competition. I have to admit—and embarrasingly so—–that I was rather surprised at that outcome. And I was embarrrased because I was surprised. I had allowed myself to believe something that the US media had been preaching; that if Chicago did not win the bid, they would at least be in the final 2. I’d been hearing the hype and the overkill for months and months. And with the IOC being such a cesspool for so many years under Juan Antonio Samaranch, how could the backroom dealing, corrupt, seedy city of Chicago not be able to steal the games? Samaranch is more of a retired figurehead now as the current IOC president is Jacques Rogge. Apparently things don’t run quite the way they used to under Samaranch where a bunch of cash and some nice payola gifts earned you the host city rights. So I was a little embarassed to believe the media (one of my staunchest enemies) that the Daley political machine and the presence/backing of Oprah and the Obamas would guarantee Chicago the verdict. I feel like a chump.

I was surprised that Rio won only in the sense of Chicago had not been awarded the games. When I wasn’t listening to the US media and was thinking with my own mind, I asked myself, “where was the best place in the world to hold a gala global party”? Among the four finalists, the obvious answer was Rio de Janiero. I’ve never been there personally, but I would still have to believe that it is one of the most exciting, fun-filled, adventurous places there is. I’ve read plenty of books and have seen plenty of shows on the Travel Channel, MTV, Discovery, the Food Network, etc. to identify Rio as a place I’d really like to see before I die. So when Chicago was eliminated in the first round, almost everyone in the bar that I was at agreed that Rio would win the decision.

I would have liked to have seen Chicago get the games simply for the industry and jobs it would have provided my hometown. As a person who is currently in-between jobs and actually knows more people out-of-work than I know people that are working, the games would have been a great coup for the city. I’m not a big fan of the whole Olympics thing and how they try to portray the whole spectacle as clean and wholesome. Free of ill will and corruption. Just like Notre Dame football has always tried to portray itself in a similar way, it is a complete myth. Both entities are as dirty as Pigpen on the old Peanuts cartoons.

* Then there is the case of funnyman and gazillionaire David Letterman finally getting a little come-uppance. Apparently after someone attempted to blackmail him by exposing various affairs Letterman has had with female staff on his show over the years, the comedian used his priviliged television platform to ‘fess up. He acknowledged on the air that he had indeed participated in a few affairs over the years while maintaining his relationship with his long-time girlfriend (now his wife). He then used his air-time on a different evening to apologize to his wife and others for his behavior and poor judgement.

Isn’t it nice to have a TV show on every night where you can address such matters? Taking as much time as you want to spend on the matter doing spin control and then moving on to interview Gwyneth Paltrow? Without having a deluge of reporters peppering you with questions and pointing out any contradictory statements you may have made? Without the glare of hundreds of flashbulbs and cameras as you try to explain yourself? Too bad some of the other public figures that have used poor judgement in their relationships don’t have the same platform to do damage control like Dave does.

Here’s a guy who has made a living for 25 years pointing out the personal flaws and having fun with the struggles other famous people go thru. It would be interesting to see how many Kobe Bryant jokes Letterman made when the NBA star was caught in a fidelity scandel. Or even better, how many jokes about Bill Clinton and his indiscretions over his entire eight years as President? More recently, Dave has had a lot of fun with the various members of the House and Congress who have been caught having affairs with personal assistants and mistressses. Letterman has had a blast lampooning disgraced NY Governor Eliot Spitzer for over a year now.

Finally the shoe is on the other foot. Now Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, Conan O’Brien, and all the other jokesters can pile on ol’ Dave. And they are in some cases. I’m curious to see how he handles it. Can he take it like he dishes it out? Or will he pout to People magazine or Barbara Walters about the invasion of his privacy and his desire to handle such issues away from the spotlight without everyone ranking on him?

* Last but not least, I’m always fascinated when long-ago abducted kids reappear again. We hear about kids going missing at least once per week on the news. And it seems like about 50% of the time, they unfortunately find the kid dead (example: Caylee Anthony). The other 50% of the time, we just never see or hear from the kid again (example: Natalee Holloway).

But a few weeks ago, missing person Jaycee Lee Dugard was found being held hostage by a demented twist out in California. And last week, former child captive Elizabeth Smart testified in court against her abductor. It’s just really amazing when one of these people turns up again. You can’t help but think of what kind of nightmare these poor kids have been going thru for however long they’ve been gone. Living in tiny spaces. Enduring sexual, physical, and mental assault. Being away from their family and loved ones. Missing out on their innocent childhoods.

After the initial all-out searches, the candlelight vigils, and even the endless Nancy Grace coverage ends, you basically write these kids off and move on to a fresher case. Months and years go by and all of a sudden…….one of them pops up again! We hear lurid stories of how they were kept in a haven in the woods or a backyard bunker compound. We wonder about the kid’s mental psyche now and how they can possibly reinsert themselves back into society.

But take a look at Elizabeth Smart. In every interview I have seen with this young woman, she is just seemingly a bright, attractive, woman of faith who definitley does NOT take her family for granted. She looks like she is going to college somewhere—or could be if she has those plans. She reminds me of my oldest niece……..pretty smile, a little modest, friendly.

It just goes to show all of us. Until a child is found—alive or deceased—-none of us should ever give up on the case. Especially the parents of a missing child. It may be years, but they just very well might see their loved one again. Keep the faith.