Monday, November 4, 2019

Nationals Strike Out At White (Supremacist) House




Well, we're running out of home teams to root for:
After their majestic run through October, when the Washington Nationals won the World Series by doing just about everything right, they couldn’t get through the first four days of November without making a huge error.
By apparently not cautioning their players, manager and general manager to avoid politics at their White House celebration Monday afternoon, a photo of catcher Kurt Suzuki wearing a bright red "Make America Great Again" hat, which can only be described as an aggressively partisan gesture, while receiving a behind-the-back bearhug from a delighted President Donald Trump, will become the day’s enduring image.  [snip]
Suzuki’s political display was still trending across the country on Twitter hours after it happened. What’s more, in the video capturing the moment, in which Trump calls Suzuki to the podium, it’s not only the president who appears thrilled.
Manager Dave Martinez, born in Brooklyn to Puerto Rican parents, also laughed and clapped joyfully, while general manager Mike Rizzo was caught by a microphone trying to preempt the surprise by telling Trump that Suzuki had a “MAGA hat,” meaning Suzuki's stunt had definitely been in the works.  [snip]
Suzuki, Martinez and Rizzo have every right to express their partisan glee about being beside Trump. So does Nat-for-life Ryan Zimmerman, who showered praise on Trump while giving him a jersey, then a hearty pat on the shoulder.
But to do so on such a visible and public stage during what has traditionally been a nonpartisan celebration is both noteworthy and risky.
These clowns play in Washington for f*ck's sake.  They know, or should know, the highly charged moment we're living in with a "president" who is going to be impeached for abuse of power and other crimes.  And yet... there they were, or at least most of them.  Maybe they should be renamed the Washington Nationalists.

Suzuki?  A Japanese American lining up with the white nationalist?  Martinez?  Someone of Puerto Rican heritage who must have seen Trump's criminal negligence during Hurricane Maria?  Zimmerman?  Someone who's involved in fundraising for multiple sclerosis praising Trump, who openly mocked a disabled reporter?  Sickening.

Those named could have kept this apolitical, but they didn't. Shame on them.

Among the honorable who didn't attend:  Sean Doolittle (who explained his action), MVP candidate Anthony Rendon, Victor Robles, Michael A. Taylor,  Joe Ross, Javy Guerra, and Wander Suero.  Good on them.

BONUS:


(Photo:  Kurt Suzuki being pawed by the sexual predator, with manager Davey Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo yukking it up on the right.)
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