...is not THIS guy:
Posted on 04/13/2003 3:40:38 AM PDT by weegee
Babe Ruth once declined to have his picture taken with presidential candidate Herbert Hoover. "Nothing doing on politics," Ruth said.
The baseball version of the separation of church and state is now shattered. In one letter to one person, the president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has issued an edict to millions: If you oppose the war in Iraq, you're not welcome in Cooperstown.
Dale Petroskey, a White House assistant press secretary in the Reagan administration, canceled the Hall's 15th anniversary celebration of the classic baseball film Bull Durham. The reason: Two of its stars, Tim Robbins and companion Susan Sarandon, vocally oppose the war in Iraq.
The two, along with writer/director Ron Shelton and actor Robert Wuhl, were to be in Cooperstown later this month to mark the anniversary. (Co-star Kevin Costner had a scheduling conflict.)
"We believe your very public criticism of President Bush at this important -- and sensitive -- time in our nation's history helps undermine the U.S. position, which ultimately could put our troops in even more danger," Petroskey wrote Monday in a letter to Robbins. "As an institution, we stand behind our President and our troops in this conflict.
"As a result, we have decided to cancel the April 26-27 programs in Cooperstown ... "
What's Petroskey going to do next? Remove all references to the Montreal Expos because of the French?
More questions:
Why is the head of a sports museum making determinations about troop security? And:
Why is the Baseball Hall of Fame involved in a political debate?
These people were not coming to Cooperstown to talk about the war. They were coming to talk about a great, great comedy -- arguably the best baseball movie ever made.
"I thought it would be a nice little weekend away from all this talk of war and politics," Robbins said Thursday. "I'm sorry that Mr. Petroskey has chosen to politicize it."
"For God's sake, let's leave baseball out of it," he added.
It doesn't matter if you agree with the anti-war stance of Robbins and Sarandon. I don't. But it has absolutely zero bearing on this issue.
What does matter is Petroskey has politicized the beloved national treasure that is the Hall of Fame. He's explicitly taken a sanctuary that's spiritually and geographically removed from everyday concerns and turned it into a partisan and political tool. Being a fan, being "worthy" of Cooperstown, now comes with a litmus test.
"No matter where you stand, everybody can tell this is just one step too far from the spirit of what baseball is supposed to be," Sarandon said.
In a follow-up statement Friday posted on the Hall's Web site, Petroskey said, "This institution should never be used as a platform for public pro-war sentiments -- nor public anti-war sentiments."
I couldn't agree more -- except that he violated that spirit in his letter to Robbins.
Petroskey also wrote that "a strong possibility existed that they could have used The Hall of Fame as a backdrop for their views."
Petroskey could have alleviated that worry by explicity telling the two to stick to baseball and the movies, that the Hall is an apolitical venue. If Robbins and Sarandon demurred, then Petroskey would have been right to cancel the appearance.
Sarandon said she didn't even think the couple was going to speak at the event. Certainly, she and Robbins said, they did not intend to make it a political appearance.
"We've got plenty of venues. It never had occurred to either of us," she said Thursday. "We were going with our (three) kids as a family. We were looking forward to it."
I've admired Petroskey and his stewardship of the Hall since he took over in July 1999. But he's brazenly imposing his partisan political beliefs on an institution that should be decidedly apolitical. There's no defense.
Robbins, Sarandon and Shelton now all question whether they can again visit the Hall of Fame with their families, at least in the near future.
"I'd be a little frightened," Sarandon said. "It's a scary letter."
It should be scary, and sad, to all of us.
McGuire writes for the Albany Times Union in New York.
...is not THIS guy:
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Here is the false premise upon which this article is built
Garbage in gargage out
.
Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins couldn't resist the temptation to slam President Bush and our forces liberating Iraq....no matter what the opportunity might be.
Now they're throwing a little hissy-fit because they were "busted" by the Cooperstown H.o.F. before they could do anything!
~ Blue Jays ~
Hey...there's a thought...
Go cry about it on Pete Rose's shoulder.
And why, I wonder, would he find it necessary to qualify Mr Petroskey as a one-time staffer for former President Reagan? And not mention that both Robbins and Saran Wrap have a long and well-documented track record of full-on full-time anti-American treachery?
Bah! Humbug!
The only politicizing here was to nip this in the bud when it started to flare up (some people reported to the Hall that they would have a problem with this, and some of them have the initials FR...).
It's funny that he calls Tim Robbins and Susan Sarrandon stars of the movie while he lists Kevin Costner as a co-star. I guess Kevin must have just done a walk on...
I wanted to make sure that others did not make that same error in judgement.
If Petroskey had asked Robbins and Sarandan not to speak out against the war he would have been accused of stifling free speech.
Sarandan said they wanted to attend with their three children as a "family". Here's a little advice: GET MARRIED!
Agreed. I find it rather humorous that in the libbers' eyes Freedom of Speech only applies to them.
I'll bet what happened is this . . . supporters of the Hall of Fame bitched because Sarandon and Robbins were to be given a microphone where they could "possibly" spout off all their leftwing nonsense -- which isn't a stretch since they've failed to refuse any opportunity to let one and all know their views when a microphone has been within a square mile in the past -- and the Hall of Fame folks decided now was not the time for this kinda BS. We are at war after all.
But instead of agreeing that others have the same rights they do, S&R and their leftist supporters have been screaming to high heaven that they're being discriminated against. Bullshit! No one's throwing them in a gulag like their hero Fidel does on a daily basis. We the People, or the majority of us anyway, just don't want to give them what is supposedly a non-political forum or microphone to use while our warriors are dying as we speak to protect the very same rights they claim to hold so dear.
These libbers are disingenuous at best . . . closet-Nazis at worst. But the internet is the Great Equalizer. Us conservatives have our own little forum and, LOL, we've learned how to use it and it's driving them to their knees -- which isn't a unique position for most of them.
Lying bitch...she and her boytoy never pass on an opportunity to make their point in front of a camera.
In short, the woman [Dr. Laura Schlessinger] is a twit. Fine. So why is this anti-Laura push a concern? Because she is angling for victim status, and she just might get it.
It worked for John Rocker, the Atlanta Braves pitcher who, in one Sports Illustrated article, made a fool of himself with bigoted remarks (aimed at blacks, gays, Asians, single mothers -- pick a minority), then got suspended from baseball. This knucklehead gets support from some people because he's getting "picked on".
=================================
Mark McGuire thinks that baseball should only be interpreted through the lens of politics when you disagree with him. ;-)
Somebody ought to tell Mr. McGuire (apparently an honorary Ditzy Chick) that many of his old columns are accessible on the Internet, and that in a comparison of the two columns, he appears to be a lying hypocrite.
The same standard that applied to Marge Schott and John Rocker and being applied to Sarandon and Robbins.
I wonder if this guy complained when Schott was removed from MLB or when Rocker was suspended for making offensive remarks.
Great catch on his other articles! The internet makes hiding a prejudiced past a tad bit harder. And it's eating the libbers up. You're a super-sleuth. Good job.
I don't think that Susan Sarandon has ever wanted to participate in any of the anniversary gatherings for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, don't know what would make this film's anniversary so special.
There are all sorts of politics at work in these Hall Of Fames. Pete Rose cannot be inducted at this point. All 4 of the original Ramones were alive, but the drummer for the first 2 albums did not get inducted with the band into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame (Marc Bell/Marky Ramone was inducted instead of Tommy). Dee Dee Ramone had not been in the band for a decade (CJ Ramone stepped in to fill his shoes although the band continued to buy songs from a cash strapped Dee Dee). The band had to buy CJ a ticket to the induction ceremony just so he could attend (he was not considered a guest of the ceremony).
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