Getting Out
March 31st, 2008Bruce Reed, whose Has-Been blog is one of my favorites, writes about the Pittsburgh Pirates and their struggles as metaphor for western Pennsylvania’s. While there is plenty of hope for Pennsylvania today and going into the future, I wonder if even Barack Obama could find hope for the Pirates! (Personal note: I am going to Pittsburgh this summer for a Pirates game — I am! because it’s a great ballpark, by all accounts, and I’ve been wanting to for a long time but haven’t been able to because of familial restrictions that are fortunately no longer there. Relatedly, I’m going to LA from the 11th-13th of April for some fun with some friends, Friday and Sunday, and a Dodgers game Saturday.) And you know who else has been talking about baseball recently? George W. Bush, for several innings on ESPN’s coverage of Opening Night in Washington D.C., with its new stadium. He was booed lustily when he threw out the first pitch (I thought the crowd’s reaction was classless and disgraceful) and then he delighted at least one viewer with his commentary for ESPN. “Looks like Chipper’s got his first homerun” and the conversation he had with Joe Morgan about “the K zone” was rioutous. I’m glad Bush had the chance to get out and enjoy himself — the White House must be feeling like a prison for him, and I just finished reading about the only two Presidents who could literally feel imprisoned in the White House (Johnson and Nixon) due to the savagery of their opponents, so I have sympathy for the President, even if he has not faced the situation LBJ and Nixon did and even though he is not my favorite person in the world. Edit: after considering it just a little bit more, Bush’s reception at Nationals ballpark demonstrates the beauty of our democratic country. “Your leader is booed and hated!” Maybe (hate is a strong word) but the people are free to boo or cheer and do as they choose.