By David Bittinger

June 19^th, 2026

So, the Obama Center is having its grandiose opening today. It was supposed to open last October, but the Obama Foundation and big believers needed more time, more money, and more messages exhibited.

I’d say they also needed more of what’s been called by an indomitable journalist “The Chicago Way.” That way isn’t defined simply, but if you have your own Chicago history or are just a fair student of it, you have some idea. For decades, it struck me as a death grip on bedrock precincts and back rooms, with pats on the back delivered alongside elbows to the ribs.

Then the mayor role descended an aptitude or two and traditional Chicago graft diffused. The Detroit-ification of Chicago proceeds, but at least there’s a new tourist attraction packed full of messages.

The Obama Center is technically a “presidential library,” but it’s unlike the 15 previous presidential libraries, which were purposed as sites for historical research, with features meaningfully representing a presidency.

If you realistically consider the Obama Center — the way it was muscled onto previously protected Chicago lakefront and the focus of the entire enterprise — this is no library.

The Obama Center is a place of worship. You could call it The First Church of the Holy Machine or Sacred Sanctuary of The Progressive, but from any realistic perspective, it isn’t secular. I’ve been to many churches, a number of synagogues, and one mosque. Of course, these places of worship differ in focus but all were created to sustain a faith. So was this one.

The official name is The Obama Presidential Center / A Global Center For Change. (Don’t forget the tag line.) But this thing was not created as a storehouse of historical fact. It was created as a site for the faithful to refresh their faith and for others to acquire it.

The Center’s particular belief system is slickly marketed. It’s also symptomatic of my ex-hometown’s fake-hope past and little-hope present. Watching collectivist politics celebrated in this political theme park brings despair. This is 2026 Chicago’s idea of achievement?

Through a sentimental fog, I still recall the tough-skinned beauties of old Chicago. I appreciated many places in the rugged kingdom of Daley the First, from Harlan Berk Coins to Comiskey Park.

But the Obama Center seems somehow more politically sinister than Chicago’s traditional dead voters and wise guy aldermen sent to prison. It’s been aggressively insider-sponsored by a jurisdiction that’s remained comatose through the departures of Caterpillar, Boeing, Tyson Foods, Morton Salt, and many fed-up taxpayers. Even the Bears have given up bearing down in Chicago.

Would you like to question the source of the worshipful Obama political enterprise being the new face of a failing city? I sure would, but I could no more get an audience with His Hopeness than I could with another savior figure.

So here are a few questions posed by me (DB) about the Obama Center. They’re followed by answers I’ve drawn from statements of the Obama Foundation and associated believers, which I’m calling Chicago-Based Word (CBW).

DB: What’s with that bizarre building? Senator Ted Cruz touched off howls of hilarity among architectural critics and social media with his comment “Locating the Death Star in Chicago was a bold move.”

CBW: Obama Foundation Deputy Director Kim Patterson explained, “The building’s shape is meant to mimic four hands coming together to show the importance of our collective action.”

DB: Really, seriously? Well, if Star Wars wasn’t the inspiration for that thing, maybe it was the pyramidal buildings representing The Party’s authority in George Orwell’s novel 1984: the Ministries of Truth, Love, Peace, and Plenty. Did that literary architectural nightmare inspire this actual Chicago nightmare?

CBW: “When visitors look up at the Obama Presidential Center’s museum building, they’ll see three simple, powerful words: ‘You are America.’ Those words come from a speech that is especially close to my heart — the one I gave in Selma on the 50th anniversary of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.” — Barack Obama (Apparently the “Big Brother” style was just coincidental.)

DB: Does the Center actually have an Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit & Vegetable Garden?

CBW: Yes, according to the Obama Foundation, “to educate visitors on healthy lifestyles and environmental sustainability.” (DEI for vegetables should mandate the inclusion of turnips, even celery.)

DB: Does the Center’s posh, NBA-style “Home Court” exhibit represent some accomplishment of the Obama administration?

CBW: “It offers programs inspired by President Obama’s belief in the power of sports, mentorship, and connection.”

DB: Speaking of connections, who was the connected fundraiser already under investigation in 2005 when he arranged a sweet deal for then-Senator Obama’s Chicago mansion? Wasn’t his name Tony, maybe Big Tony? In 2008 — on the very day Barack became the presidential nominee — that Obama pal from the Outfit was convicted on 24 counts, including bribery, money laundering, and wire fraud. Is Democrat wise guy Tony featured in any Center exhibits?

CBW: (No comment.)

DB: Why did the Obama Foundation insist its political theme park be built on lakefront parkland previously protected from development? What about the many objections from preservationists and environmentalists? Is a massive building in the middle of that flyway worth the danger to migratory birds?

CBW: “The foundation is taking multiple steps to ensure the Obama Presidential Center has a positive impact for the migratory pattern on the site.” (The birds were unavailable for comment.) 

DB: Aren’t many low-income residents of that Southside neighborhood being forced out by rising rents and speculation? Housing advocates point out that property owners are increasingly converting long-term affordable rentals into highly profitable short-term tourist rentals.

CBW: When asked about this specific pressure on affordable housing locally, the Obama Foundation declined to comment, citing “limited bandwidth” as they prepare for the Center’s opening.

DB: Did your foundation consider that Chicago’s lavish government pensions and kleptocratic governance had years ago pushed the city down the rabbit hole of financial wonderland? What is the current estimate of further infrastructure costs to be imposed on overtaxed Chicagoans by the Obama Center?

CBW: They’re estimated at $200 million. Currently.

DB: The costs of the Obama Center ballooned from an initial estimate of $300 million to approximately $850 million, plus over $400 million in public road modifications. Was all this just taken in stride by the 20-year politician who owns oceanside estates on Martha’s Vineyard and Hawaii plus red-brick mansions in Washington D.C. and Chicago? Is the Center just another painlessly afforded luxury?

CBW: “We didn’t build the Obama Presidential Center to celebrate my ability to bring about change. We did it to unlock yours . . . . This isn’t my center. It’s yours.” — Barack Obama

DB: Your Center’s exhibits tend toward cringey. There’s one on Obama’s 2008 election, Be the Change! Then there are the Yes We Can and Sky of Hope exhibits. Shouldn’t there be an exhibit about the president who’s repeated “I” and “me” more times than even Donald Trump? Wouldn’t visitors be impressed by a Poser of Pride exhibit?

CBW: The Obama Foundation describes the character of the exhibits at the Obama Presidential Center Museum as “dynamic, non-static, interactive, and deeply rooted in the grassroots power of ordinary people.”

DB: Hey, here are ideas for three more exhibits that would be dynamic, non-static and so forth! One on Obama’s 2012 “red line” warning to Syria about human rights violations, which he allowed to pass without action: Red Line Sunset! And an exhibit celebrating his administration’s use of the IRS to target conservative and Republican organizations before the 2012 elections: Auditing the Bad Guys. And one about —

CBW: The center aims to “inspire, empower and connect people to change their world,” functioning as a “hub that draws people in and then sends them out.” — Museum Director Dr. Louise Bernard

DB: Every presidential library since FDR’s has been a resource for historical research. But with the world’s strangest cathedral and exhibits of supplication, your Center provides a resource for creepy worship.

CBW: “We consistently put our values and principles into action.” — Obama Foundation

DB: Columnist John Kass called your Center “The Obama Temple of Adoration and Fealty.” Wouldn’t that name make your tourist attraction an even bigger draw?

CBW: It’s The Obama Presidential Center / A Global Center For Change. Say my name.

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Bittinger lives in Wisconsin as a long-time refugee but glad grandfather, misses the Chicago and Glen Ellyn he recalls, admires fellow JKN readers brave enough to still live in Chicago and Mahler fans who still go to the CSO. He’s working up the nerve to go to a White Sox game this year.