Diminutive Jocksniffer Wants MLB to Blackmail Arizona

Why not just recommend Major League Baseball to revoke the charter of the Arizona Diamondbacks? While we're at it, why not urge the NFL to cancel any games scheduled in Arizona this fall and make the Cardinals play all their games on the road?

I don't think the miniature sportswriter turned political analyst thought this one out too well. Probably just an emotional reaction to not getting his way, like most petulant children. Buffoons like Lupica are quick to call people racist and idiotic, but what should we call someone who urges blackmail in order to get his own way? Is he even aware an overwhelming majority of Arizona residents and Americans support this law?

Arizona's idiotic new immigration law does not officially go into effect until August, 90 days after the current legislative session ends in that state. That means for the next three months, a big new sport in this country will be watching big politicians try to run away from this issue, starting with the President of the United States. Maybe all of them are waiting for the whole thing to end up in front of the Supreme Court.

In the short run, however, the only way to stop a political hustler like Ariz. Gov. Jan Brewer is for other politicians in her state - and that ought to start with Sen. John McCain - to come to their senses about a bad law that invites racial profiling even though Brewer insists it will not.

So no matter how many times Brewer reminds people that the law will prevent profiling, a closed mind like Lupica just refuses to believe her. Barack Obama could tell him the moon is made of green cheese and he'd believe it, but anything out of a Republican's mouth is to be ignored. When did this myth about liberals being open-minded start?

There is nothing that needs to be done in the moment, other than issue the warning. But if both Democrats and Republicans really are going to run from this until after the November elections, trying to appease the white voters who love Gov. Jan Brewer and somehow not scare off the Hispanic vote at the same time, Commissioner Bud Selig - who owns a home in Arizona - has a chance to be better than all of them.

Selig has a perfect right to say that if the law stands, then the All-Star Game goes somewhere else.

I'm going out on a limb and suggesting Lil' Mikey hasn't read the law. If he did he might learn something.

The law will allow police to engage in racial profiling. Actually, Section 2 provides that a law enforcement official “may not solely consider race, color or national origin” in making any stops or determining immigration status. In addition, all normal Fourth Amendment protections against profiling will continue to apply. In fact, the Arizona law actually reduces the likelihood of race-based harassment by compelling police officers to contact the federal government as soon as is practicable when they suspect a person is an illegal alien, as opposed to letting them make arrests on their own assessment.

But hey, why pay attention to the guy who actually wrote the law when you've got your mind made up already?

Now suppose Mikey Lilliputian gets his way. Where would he like the 2011 All-Star game to be held? Maybe St. Louis? Atlanta? Cleveland? Cincinnati? Houston? Arlington? Kansas City? Baltimore? Denver?

Well, I've got some disturbing news for him and the rest of the boycott blackmailers. Those cities are all in states that may soon be passing laws similar to those of Arizona. So that'll make ten MLB cities ineligible to host an All-Star game if this punk is to get his way.

Now since the Super Bowl is scheduled for Dallas next February, I suppose we'll have to blackmail the NFL into moving it out of there so as not to offend Mike Lupica.

In fact, this is such a slippery slope, we may as well just stop playing sports altogether since every city may have laws on the books that offend someone.