Nationals and Politics

Saw this in my local newspaper and decided I had to bring it here for future reference. Again: not my work, and I'm not claiming it. This was written by Jason Kelly.

The level of stupidity at work here is amazing...

DC wants owner as red as the uniforms
COMMENTARY

By JASON KELLY

No less a partisan political figure than George W. Bush once owned the Texas Rangers.

One of his partners in that enterprise, Fred Malek, now wants to buy the Washington Nationals.

Malek's political leanings -- Hits: Right, Throws: Right, Votes: Right -- do not impugn the integrity of his bid in the minds of elected representatives looking out for the national pastime.

Lefty George Soros, on the other hand, represents a contaminating danger to peanuts and Cracker Jack.

Not to mention the republic.

Hence the Congressional high heat intended to brush his group back from the negotiating table in the sale of the Nationals.

Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) told Roll Call that "Major League Baseball understands the stakes" of selling the team to Soros.

With more bully than pulpit he added, "I don't think they want to get involved in a political fight."

So Congress might consider a bench-clearing brawl -- unrelated to battles over judicial nominations -- to prevent a baseball team from falling into liberal hands.

Implying they might pull out the heavy lumber, Rep. John Sweeney (R-N.Y.) offered a subtle reminder that baseball's antitrust exemption could be revoked over politically polarizing ownership.

Specifically Democratic ownership, because anything worth hundreds of millions of dollars should be reserved for Republicans, who retain the twin freedoms of expression and expenditure.

A managing general partner of the Rangers while his father served in the White House, President Bush's partisan politics didn't summon Congressional review of his ownership qualifications. Those connections probably got him the gig in the first place.

Now the hubris his political success created in the Republican party has seeped into the business of baseball.

As Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins put it: "I must have been napping, and that's why I missed the part where we became a country in which Democrats are no longer allowed to buy things."

Worse than a mere Democrat -- at least they have to register, so the government can keep an eye on them -- Soros actually funds liberal causes.

Imagine the ways Soros might Kerry-fy the franchise to his bleeding heart's content:

1) Change their name from the Washington Nationals to the United Nations, so as not to appear so ... unilateral.
2) Replace general manager Jim Bowden with Hillary Clinton to assemble a roster that "looks like America."
3) Fire manager Frank Robinson. Hire Jesse Jackson.
4) Design a new rainbow color scheme for uniforms.
5) Reject season-ticket applications from John Bolton and Karl Rove.
6) Janet Reno, relief pitcher.
7) At every April 20 home game, the first 10,000 fans arriving before 4:20 receive free "medical" marijuana.
8) Move out of RFK Stadium and build new Teddy Kennedy Park. Lobby local government to raise taxes on tobacco to pay for it.
9) Two words: Recycled bats.

Soros should just stick to Major League Soccer, the Euro pseudo-sport he helped finance in the United States. Or so Congressional power hitters Davis and Sweeney seem to be saying with their threatening rhetoric.

Admitted liberals like Soros with the net worth to buy a baseball team need to watch what they say or risk government interference with their purchasing power.

It takes integrity, not just money, to stand with the noble owners of Major League Baseball. Try saying that out loud without hacking like Marge Schott herself.

It takes principled leadership, not just power, to put personal interests aside for the good of the game. Try saying that out loud without whimpering like Bud Selig himself.

If Congress felt so inclined, it could just deport the Nationals, considering they were born north of the border.

Come to think of it, that probably explains why Soros wants this particular team.

It's Canadian.

French-Canadian.

Now that the franchise represents the nation's capital, it needs a red-meat, red-state sort of owner whose money will not support the campaign of anyone to the left of Rudy Giuliani.

Not some practicing Democrat who feels entitled to buy the team on the dubious basis that he and his partners can come up with $400 million to pay for it.

Because then, regardless of the standings in the American League East, the terrorists win.

Meanwhile...

June 30, 2005

Pittsburgh 5, Washington 7 at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium

Winning pitcher - Esteban Loaiza (4-5)

Losing pitcher - Kip Wells (5-8)

SV - Chad Cordero (28)

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