Something About A First Pitch

As many of you know, I'm a Red Sox fan. For some reason, given who I am, I feel compelled to apologize for that. Something about how a fat, mentally ill little radical socialist atheist shouldn't embrace something so American and mainstream. A sport, no less. But I am a Red Sox fan, and I'll even watch baseball in general. The billion dollar salaries don't bother me, but that lack of team loyalty does, and that is (of course) connected to the billion dollar salaries. The first time I saw Damon in pinstripes and sans beard or long hair I felt like something very wrong had just happened. Filthy lucre! But that is the way of things, and I'm over it now. So I root for my beloved Red Sox every year, before I even know exactly who is wearing all the uniforms.

Did anyone else notice that George Bush didn't throw out the ball at the opening game in Washington DC? The presidential first pitch is a tradition that goes back to President Taft in 1910. And Bush through out the ball every other year of his presidency. So what happened? An article I read in the Washington Post says that there was a scheduling conflict. Closer inspection reveals that Bush was presenting an award to the Naval Academy football team at the exact time he could have been at RFK stadium. So why didn't he? I suspect Bushie was afraid of the reception that 41,000 Washingtonites were likely to provide. Either that, or his "handlers" were afraid of that April frost. So Bush must be aware, on some level, just how hated he is. Is it that he just doesn't care? Probably not. It's likely that he sees himself as a martyr for a wonderful cause; the establishment of a peaceful Republic in the Middle East. He's an romantic idiot, endlessly searching for his rabbits. An romantic is a great thing to be if you're an artist, and even if you're a politician it's a disposition that can serve you well. But Bush refuses to let reality get in and ruin what has evolved into a fairy tale in his mind. The war for Iraq is lost. It was a mistake to begin with, and we never should have set foot in that country. We lost as soon as we did. His father knew that, which is why he never took Baghdad. But Bush Jr. is watching a movie in his head, and in that movie he is the hero and visionary. Why would he want to risk queering that by paying attention to what is actually happening outside his noggin?

That brings me back to the first pitch that he avoided throwing out. How can such a delusional president, fragile but narcissistic, be expected to face over 40,000 of his people, most of whom would be yelling rather nasty things, and challenging Bush's view of himself? Simply put, he can't...and didn't. He stayed the hell away from there.