Where Baseball Has Become a Political Football

From the New York Times:

WASHINGTON - For years, Washington hungered for a baseball team. Now it has one, and a winning team at that.

But in a city where politics course through the veins of the inhabitants, where Republicans run the show and the man in the White House is himself a former baseball team owner, it was probably too much to expect the Washington Nationals to usher in a bipartisan era of peace, love and understanding.

Sure, James Carville, the Democratic political consultant, can be spotted at games sitting in the same row as Andrew H. Card Jr., President Bush's chief of staff. But now that George Soros, the financier and philanthropist who spent millions of dollars trying to defeat Mr. Bush last year, is competing for ownership of the team against bidders who include Colin L. Powell, the former secretary of state, and Peter Fitzgerald, a former Republican senator, the mood on Capitol Hill isn't exactly Mom and apple pie.

Some Republicans went so far as to suggest that Major League Baseball, which owns the team, could lose its antitrust exemption if it permits Mr. Soros, who would be a part-owner with a group of investors headed by a local entrepreneur, to buy it - a threat that drew immediate ridicule in the sports pages and outrage from Democrats.

By Wednesday, one Republican, Representative Tom Davis of Virginia, backed away from that suggestion, saying he never intended any threat. But Mr. Davis and other Republicans did not back down from their criticism of Mr. Soros, who, they took pains to note, has been convicted of insider trading in France - a ruling he is appealing - and has supported ballot initiatives to legalize medical marijuana.

"We finally got a winning team," Representative Davis said. "Now they're going to hand it over to a convicted felon who wants to legalize drugs and who lives in New York and spent $5 million trying to defeat the president? How's he going to get him out to the opening game?"

Let's face it. This controversy is all about money and power. The Republicans have the power in Washington--both the Congress and the Presidency. The Washington Nationals have the money--they are a winning baseball team. When you combine money with power, you end up with corruption. A baseball game is a perfect setting for a little lobbying for tax breaks or special interest regulations between a congressman and a lobbyist--especially when they're sitting in the luxury boxes. Now a businessman with heavy Democratic leanings is expressing interest into buying the team, and the Republicans are worried they're going to lose their little perk. Can't have Democratic senators or representatives sitting in luxury boxes with lobbyists. Democratic Representative George Miller told the Times:

"This is K Street run amok," complained Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, referring to the Republican "K Street Project," an effort to encourage businesses and trade associations to hire Republican lobbyists. "The message they're sending to baseball here is no different than the message they send to corporations: unless you play ball with us and our people, forget access to the halls of our democracy."

So the Republicans are going to try to strong-arm Major League Baseball into rejecting Soros' bid. The Republicans want to keep their little perk. It is simple corruption.