Organizers have launched a boycott of Billy Crystal's ballclub,
David Zirin reports:
This will be the last column I write about the Arizona Diamondbacks in the foreseeable future. For me, they do not exist. They will continue to not exist in my mind as long as the horribly named “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” remains law in Arizona. This law has brought echoes of apartheid to the state.
One Democratic lawmaker has said that it has made Arizona a “laughingstock” but it’s difficult to find an ounce of humor in this kind of venal legislation. The law makes it a crime to walk the streets without clutching your passport, green card, visa, or state I.D. It not only empowers but absolutely requires cops to demand paperwork if they so much as suspect a person of being undocumented. A citizen can, in fact, sue any police officer they see not harassing suspected immigrants. The bill would also make it a class one misdemeanor for anyone to “pick up passengers for work” if their vehicle blocks traffic. And it makes a second violation of any aspect of the law a felony.
In response, Representative Raul Grijalva, who’s from Arizona itself, has called for a national boycott against the state, saying, “Do not vacation and or retire there.” He got so many hateful threats this week that he had to close his Arizona offices at noon on Friday.
Many of us aren’t in either the imminent vacation or retirement mode. We do, however, live in baseball cities where the Arizona Diamondbacks comes to play.
When they arrive in my hometown in D.C., my back will be turned, and my television will be off. This is not merely because they happen to be the team from Arizona. The D-backs organization is a primary funder of the state Republican Party, which has been driving the measure through the legislature.
The Yankees are scheduled to play Billy Crystal's ballclub at Chase Field on June 21-23. Let's ignore those games.
If 2001 wasn't enough reason to hate them, this is the absolute kicker. We should start pressuring Crystal to sell his share in the team.
ReplyDeleteLet's never forget that when it came to salary dumping Schilling, Arizona demanded from us BOTH Nick Johnson and Alphonso Soriano, and then dealt him to Boston for a bucket of fried chicken.
ReplyDeleteYou've just made me a D-Backs fan. The illegals in Arizona are committing a vastly disproportionate share of violent crimes. If the federal government won't secure the border, the state has little recourse but to do what they can to round up those bastards and get them the hell out of the country.
ReplyDeleteNice of you to put your name next to your screed, Mr. Anonymous.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, if you want to post here we'll need your name and two forms of ID.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't Anonymous know what happened to Anonymous, Anonymou$, El Anonymous, Anonymous Prime, Anonymous Jr, and Anonymous the Magnificent?
ReplyDeleteGone. All gone.
Under mysterious circumstances, I might add.
ReplyDeleteI don't think they care whether we watch those games on YES or Rupert Murdoch's MY9.
ReplyDeleteWill Latin-American free agents refuse to sign with them? That might get their attention.
I've seen how violent those open border and lefty activists are, so I prefer to protect my privacy.
ReplyDeleteBTW, "screed" is used to refer to a long piece of writing. If a paragraph to you is a screed, perhaps you've been spending too much time on Twitter.
Hey, big man Anonymous, two things:
ReplyDelete1 - this is also about trampling the rights of citizens. No enforceable law says I have to walk around with ID under any circumstances. Nor would I ever present any if asked.
2 - read this:
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/03/nation/la-na-arizona-crime-20100503
Just keep listening to rhetoric without checking facts...