April 10, 2003
LONG LIVE DEMOCRACY, FREE SPEECH, AND THE '69 METS
Have you heard the latest... the Baseball Hall of Fame has canceled a 15th anniversary celebration of the movie "Bull Durham" because of anti-war statements made by co-stars of the 1988 movie, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins. In a letter sent to Robbins and Sarandon earlier this week, Hall of Fame President, Dale Petroskey wrote:
"In a free country such as ours, every American has the right to his or her own opinions, and to express them. Public figures, such as you, have platforms much larger than the average American's, which provides you an extraordinary opportunity to have your views heard -- and an equally large obligation to act and speak responsibly. 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. As an institution, we stand behind our President and our troops in this conflict."
While Petroskey's and the Hall's words and actions seem shocking at first, once I thought about it a little further, it all made perfect sense. After all...
- Dale Petroskey was an Assistant Press Secretary in former U.S. President Ronald Reagan's White House; and
- Current U.S. President, George W. Bush, once owned the Texas Rangers baseball team.
Robbins sent Petroskey a letter containing the following thoughts:
"I am sorry that you have chosen to use baseball and your position at the Hall of Fame to make a political statement. I know there are many baseball fans that disagree with you, and even more that will react with disgust to realize baseball is being politicized. To suggest that my criticism of the President put the troops in danger is absurd. ... I wish you had, in your letter, saved me the rhetoric and talked honestly about your ties to the Bush and Reagan administrations."
Frankly, I could care less about the Baseball Hall of Fame's planned 15th anniversary celebration of "Bull Durham" (or anything else, for that matter, related to our supposed national pastime). The Hall of Fame is, in my humble opinion, a joke. If you look at the words, Hall of Fame, you'll notice that all about "Fame"... not "achievement" or "accomplishment." This is the same institution that continues to deny baseball's greatest hitter of all time, Pete Rose, access to its membership ranks because he gambled on baseball. Hmmm... let's see... the organization itself is headed up by a former Assistant Press Secretary in the Reagan White House. Yeah, I'm sure that guy's clean!
With recent research showing that 72% of U.S. citizens support President Bush's decision to attack Iraq, what does the Baseball Hall of Fame really have to be afraid of?
Posted by Mikal at April 10, 2003 11:33 PM
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I *HATE* baseball. I think it is a waste of resources, time & money. But, I know who Pete Rose is. If I don't follow baseball and I know who Pete Rose is, then he must be famous. If he's famous, then shouldn't he be in the Hall of Fame?
