Bernstein: IOC's Latest Lie Is Just Perfect
By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist
(CBS) It's all a lie, and we know it.
Even those of us able to compartmentalize everything understand that the Olympics are a fraud on multiple levels. From the corrupt process that awards the games to the host city via bribery to the waste of taxpayer dollars and precious resources to build instantly obsoleted venues to the the pretense of global harmony through sports to the systemic doping of athletes that calls every result into fair question, it takes an active suspension of disbelief to turn on the television, hear the tympanic fanfare and try to enjoy.
But sometimes the International Olympics Committee outdoes itself with the kind of brazenness that almost deserves to be applauded itself, as much as any individual or team performance. And its spokesman, Mark Adams, deserves a gold medal in the 100-meter Freestyle Prevarication.
U.S. swimmer Ryan Lochte and three teammates were robbed at gunpoint in Rio early Sunday morning, after their taxi was pulled over by bandits posing as police. They forced the victims to the ground -- at one point putting a gun directly to Lochte's head to make him comply -- and then made off with their personal belongings.
We know this because Lochte supplied all those terrifying details in an interview with NBC News. The U.S. Olympic Committee confirmed that it happened in an official statement as well.
It was far from the first incident in Rio, just added to the list that already included stray bullets flying through a media tent and a media bus, competitors mugged and burglarized, tourists kidnapped and the Games' own top security official attacked by knife-wielding robbers just after the opening ceremony.
But Adams was quick to tell the world early Sunday that "the story is absolutely not true," calling it "a false story." This was despite the fact that the news first surfaced when Lochte's own mother described what happened to Fox Sports and later confirmed it to USA Today. Adams went full Baghdad Bob from the outset, either not caring to find out whether it was true or actively and knowingly calling out the victims as liars in a way that would rival only Joe Paterno truthers for sheer noxiousness.
Why not, at this point?
The IOC has won again, with our eyes drawn to the sports on our screens, the emotional stories and the flags and the anthems. We're mesmerized enough by twirling gymnasts and bouncing balls and sun-splashed beaches that somebody like Adams would feel perfectly empowered to insist on pushing the accepted alternate reality that is already allowing his organization once again to gorge at the trough like the bloated pig that it is.
So congratulations to Mark Adams, the 2016 mendacity champion. There are only a few days left for him to work his magic at the Rio games, but that's the floundering Donald Trump campaign on line two with a job offer.
Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.
