Why Pro Athletes Should Avoid Political Commentary
Because they usually don’t know what the hell they’re talking about.
This would be a huge story if anyone outside Baltimore had ever heard of Luke Scott. He’s a left fielder/first baseman for the Orioles. He’s also a Birther who apparently gets all his political views straight from Ted Nugent. In this interview he repeats almost every Tea Party and Birther cliche; and because of his rambling incoherent manner of speaking, manages to make them sound even stupider.
LS: Obama … hmm … Obama does not represent America. Nor does he represent anything what our forefathers stood for….That’s my belief. I was born here. If someone accuses me of not being born here, I can go — within 10 minutes — to my filing cabinet and I can pick up my real birth certificate and I can go, “See? Look! Here it is. Here it is.” The man has dodged everything. He dodges questions, he doesn’t answer anything. And why? Because he’s hiding something.
I’d be willing to bet that Mr. Scott never gave a damn about any former president’s birth certificate. So why the interest in Obama’s? Maybe because Obama doesn’t “represent America” and thus must not be a real American. I smell racism and xenophobia, but maybe I’m overreacting; maybe his concern with the birth certificate has nothing to do with what makes Obama unique among American presidents, namely race, ethnicity and his international connections. Any thoughts?
Chances are that someone with the Orioles organization will get to him and remind him that pro athletes keep out of political discourse for a reason. And that Baltimore is very close to DC, meaning these fans especially don’t want to hear this crap. Best for baseball players to keep their sometimes reactionary thoughts to themselves. Anyone remember John Rocker? His idiotic social commentary was a contributing factor in the sudden collapse of his baseball career. Gee, I’d hate for the same thing to happen here. Might be a good idea for Mr. Scott to apologize, or at least keep his piehole shut.