The Great Republican Pastime?
So billionaire financier and outspoken advocate of far left causes George Soros is among the eight bidders seeking to but the Washington Nationals from MLB. This, apparently, isn't flying so well with Representative Tom M. Davis, III (Rep. VA), whose spokesman asks: "[H]ow it would look if Major League Baseball sells the hottest team in the market to a guy who spent more money than the gross domestic product of Colombia to legitimize drugs."
First of all, whether "legitimizing" drugs is really what Soros seeks to do, as opposed to restoring some rationality to U.S. drug policy by calling the War on Drugs the abject failure that it is, is very much open to debate.
Secondly, in response to what I'm sure was intended as a rhetorical question, I offer this: "Um, it would look like a heretofore law-abiding citizen whose put millions, if not billions of dollars into the United States treasury over the years, as well as greasing the skids of the American economy in innumerable ways (like most billionaries), bought the hottest team in the MLB market."
And a counterquestion: How would it look if one of the most popular "news" networks in the country were owned by a micromanaging rabidly conservative partisan who only became a United States citizen in 1985?
Granted, as later noted by Rep. George Miller (Dem. CA), this is a tempest in a teapot inasmuch as citing or seeking to end MLB's (ridiculous) antitrust exemption has proven an invariably ineffectual gesture. But still, is this what our Congress is doing? Seriously?
Between this and Senator Warner last night on NBC following the President's speech echoing the all too commonplace You're either fer us or agin' us administration line suggesting that dissent from Iraq policy is tantamount to abandoning our troops or even treason, it's sounding more and more like Democrat is becoming as villified a title as Communist was in the 50's. It's the rhetoric of witch hunt, of autocracy . . . of, dare I say it, fascism.
(Hat tip.)
First of all, whether "legitimizing" drugs is really what Soros seeks to do, as opposed to restoring some rationality to U.S. drug policy by calling the War on Drugs the abject failure that it is, is very much open to debate.
Secondly, in response to what I'm sure was intended as a rhetorical question, I offer this: "Um, it would look like a heretofore law-abiding citizen whose put millions, if not billions of dollars into the United States treasury over the years, as well as greasing the skids of the American economy in innumerable ways (like most billionaries), bought the hottest team in the MLB market."
And a counterquestion: How would it look if one of the most popular "news" networks in the country were owned by a micromanaging rabidly conservative partisan who only became a United States citizen in 1985?
Granted, as later noted by Rep. George Miller (Dem. CA), this is a tempest in a teapot inasmuch as citing or seeking to end MLB's (ridiculous) antitrust exemption has proven an invariably ineffectual gesture. But still, is this what our Congress is doing? Seriously?
Between this and Senator Warner last night on NBC following the President's speech echoing the all too commonplace You're either fer us or agin' us administration line suggesting that dissent from Iraq policy is tantamount to abandoning our troops or even treason, it's sounding more and more like Democrat is becoming as villified a title as Communist was in the 50's. It's the rhetoric of witch hunt, of autocracy . . . of, dare I say it, fascism.
(Hat tip.)
posted by Moon | 6/29/2005 10:33:00 AM
1 Comments:
I'm glad oyu linked to that Orcinus post. I've linked to it before 9though I'm too effing lazy to go dig it up from so long ago) and send people to it regularly. THat is a really well-researched series. Lots of times I think what he's up to is too specific (or at least, not as relevant outside his geographical area) but the fascism piece is not only widely relevant, but hugely scary, not least because it isn't hysterical.
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