Phyllis Schlafly Whiffs at All American Baseball

Phyllis Schlafly returned to the headlines today endorsing Donald Trump for the Republican Presidential nomination.  This Schlafly endorsement probably is intended to give the Manhattan Mogul some sway among social conservatives.

But a commentary that Schlafly published on the Eagle Forum may give conservatives consternation.  Schlafly urged that the Major Leagues ban foreigners from playing in America's Pastime.



Ironically, Schlafly is making her pitch as the Major Leagues have been earnestly endeavoring to expand their influence worldwide. In 2014, the MLB season kicked off in Australia. There has been lots of talk (along with trepidation) about moving a franchise to Mexico. And currently, the Toronto Blue Jays aren't playing their home games on US soil (and it is dubious if Canada will withhold foreign players' visas).

While it is lamentable that there is not as much sandlot baseball that progresses player into the Major Leagues, reimposing bigotry barriers goes against the grain of the civil rights movement.

It is bizarre to believe that sports fans today worry about the ethnicity of an athlete as opposed to their athletic abilities.  Anyone who suggests an "America First" on the fields of competition is out of this zeitgeist.

Granted, Phyllis Schlafly is 91 years old.  Her notoriety skyrocked in the mid 1970s  fighting against the willy nilly imposition of the Equal Rights Amendment.  This was around the same time that then Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) was selected as President Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in 1976.

Perhaps it is time for Ms. Schlafly along with Senator Dole and President Jimmy Carter to gracefully surrender the public spotlight before they further embarrass themselves.

Hank Aaron Strikes Out at GOP As Political Commentator

As Hank Aaron reflected upon America in the forty years since he surpassed  Babe Ruth's then record of  714 Home Runs, the former Braves slugger offered a provocative political answer.  The 80 year old slugger claimed that not much has changed in race relations since his 22 years in the Major Leagues, where he received some cruel correspondences as he chased the legendary mark of the Sultan of Swat.                                                                                                                           To underline his assertions, Aaron essentially asserted that Republicans have treated President Barack Obama like the KKK, except that they wear neckties and starched shirts rather than hoods.  USA Today summarized theses reflections with the headline: "40 Years Later, Hank Aaron's grace a beauty to behold."  It is dubious that those in the GOP smeared by this biased broadside of bigotry would agree with that assessment. 

Although Barry Bonds now holds the MLB  record of 769 Homers surpassing Aaron's mark of 755 in 2007, even Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig still consider Aaron the Home Run King.  Aaron's strength, skill, longevity and perseverance without steroids to pass Babe Ruth was commendable. It is a pity that he tarnishes his legacy with a polemic political philippic.

While public policy partisans may quibble about priorities or programs, no one is entitled to their own facts. It is rich irony that Hank Aaron compares the GOP to the KKK.  Perhaps he has forgotten that Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King supported Republicans, because of what the Grand Old Party did to ensure Blacks freedom in the 1860s as well as their key role in enacting civil rights protections in the 1950s and 1960s and rejecting the Klan.

Of course, there is also the legacy of Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), who had had actually been a Grand Kleagle in the KKK. Some dismiss this charge noting that Byrd was not in the KKK long enough to get his sheets broken in.  Yet Byrd was an ardent opponent of civil rights legislation in the Senate during the 1960s. 

Yet Hank Aaron has the audacity to imply that the GOP are doing the high tech lynching, to borrow a phrase from Democrats excoriating  President George H.W. Bush's nominee  Clarence Thomas during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings. 

In his time, Aaron was an outstanding slugger behind the plate.  But as contemporary political commentator, Hank "the Hammer"  strikes out badly.  May Aaron not continue to follow the lead of his fellow Georgian octogenarian, President Jimmy Carter, who makes outrageous opinionated outbursts which sully his legacy.