The One Percent Win Again (This Time in Baseball)

[seafan]

Russ Baker:

October 31, 2011



Former Rangers co-owner turned President George W. Bush watches a Cards game from box of his friend and financial savior, Cards owner William O. DeWitt

What is the significance of baseball, besides being an enjoyable escape for most of us? Well, for one thing, it’s a classic method of diverting and distracting Americans from other things going on—like Occupy Wall Street. Most of us have very little free time outside of essential and pressing work, family, health matters and such. So how do we spend that free time? Do we read books and learn how the world really works? Do we go out and participate in demanding our rights? Or do we channel our energies, our hopes, frustrations, aggressions, etc, into sports teams that despite the “we” rhetoric really don’t “represent” us in any meaningful way?

We may not understand this, but the One Percent surely do. Need proof? Let’s look at the competing teams in the World Series. One, the Texas Rangers, gave George W. Bush the public platform to appear a “successful businessman,” provide him with a personal fortune, and pave the way for an unsuccessful and hardly accomplished fellow to become Governor and then President.

Ok, you say, but the Rangers lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. (And a lot of people were apparently rooting for the Cardinals because that team was not associated with Bush.)

But guess what: it was. If you watched the after-game ceremony, you saw the team’s owner, William O. DeWitt Jr. And who is he? A close friend of the Bush family who bailed out a failing George W. Bush when his Arbusto oil company was about to go belly up.

.....

Baker then takes a quote from his book, Family of Secrets, illustrating his point beautifully:

The Bushes and their friends had ownership stakes in a lot of teams—the Reds, the Mets, the Tigers, and other favorites. It all started with W.’s great-grandfather George Herbert “Bert” Walker, who was a force behind professional golf’s Walker Cup and, in fact, the introduction of golf itself into America. He was also a prominent booster of the New York Yacht Club, professional tennis, and premier horse racing. This family legacy culminated in George W. Bush’s successful effort at capturing a new constituency known as the NASCAR voter. Of course, being associated with sports offers obvious benefits in terms of pleasure and ego, but there is little question that the Bush group was adept at leveraging yet one more beloved American institution.

Baker: 'These guys enjoy baseball like the rest of us. But make no mistake: they understand the crucial role of “bread and circuses” in keeping the public eye off the trough.'

(bold type added)


He then wryly notes that there should be much more journalistic scrutiny on the monopoly control over our sporting institutions that is orchestrated by "The One Percent".


Agreed. And for many more non-sports-related reasons.

[NeedleCast]

1. Ugh, the Anti-Fun meme

Suggesting that spending free time doing things one finds enjoyable goes against the ideas of OWS is counter productive.

[msongs]

2. you get into pro games free? how? to watch the 1% players paid by the 1% owners? nice nt

[NeedleCast]

4. LOL, wut?

I don't get into the games for free. I occasionally attend a minor league baseball game. Otherwise, I watch games on TV.

I don't really care how much the players or owners are paid. Unless they are using that money to gain political influence - and most aren't - then what does it have to do with OWS?

[Initech]

3. The way I look at it:

Twice that asshole has thrown out the first pitch at the Rangers world series, twice the other team has come back from behind to win. Maybe god is trying to tell us something? :evilgrin: