April 10, 2003
Bull****!
I'm no fan of the politics of Susan Sarandon and her lifemate Tim Robbins, but this story burns me to the core:
The baseball Hall of Fame has canceled a 15th anniversary celebration of the film "Bull Durham," and the shrine's president said it was because of anti-war criticism by co-stars Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon.
Hall president Dale Petroskey sent a letter to Robbins and Sarandon this week, telling them the festivities April 26-27 at Cooperstown, N.Y., had been called off.
Petroskey, a former White House assistant press secretary under Ronald Reagan, said recent comments by the actors "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger."
Reached Wednesday night, Robbins said he was "dismayed" by the decision. He responded with a letter he planned to send to Petroskey, telling him: "You belong with the cowards and ideologues in a hall of infamy and shame."
The weekend affair, planned months ago, also was to feature "Bull Durham" actor Robert Wuhl and Ron Shelton, who wrote and directed the 1988 film.
Instead of commemorating the movie, the Hall canceled the celebration in a letter Tuesday sent to the scheduled participants.
What a crock of crap. Again, there probably isn't one issue where Sarandon, Robbins and I see eye to eye. When it comes to the war in Iraq, I think they were both as wrong as they could be.
But can anyone tell me what that has anything to do with celebrating a movie that helped reactivate America's love affair with minor league baseball? As someone who can be generally described as "Conservative," I'm very well aware of how a number of right wing personages have been abused on campuses across the nation throughout the years. Individuals have been shouted down, some even attacked. Invitations to speak have been withdrawn. It's all wrong, and it enrages me. But giving a pass to the same sort of behavior when "Liberals" are the victims would not only be intellectually dishonest, but a real disservice to public debate.
I have plenty of friends who I have deep disagreements with when it comes to politics (including a number of my readers), but that sure as Hell wouldn't stop me from enjoying a beer and a hot dog with them at a ballgame.
Here's a suggestion: here's hoping the Smithsonian Institution steps into the breach to sponsor a similar program sometime this year. I'd be sure to sign up.
Link via Drudge.
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» A letter to the Hall of Fame from Off the Kuff
Dear Mr. Petroskey: I'm a lifelong baseball fan. I've lived and died with the Yankees from the days of Horace [Read More]
Tracked on April 11, 2003 03:22 PM
I completely agree. I saw that story this morning and I almost laughed out loud in class. Cooperstown went way out of its way to make itself look foolish on this one. That I'm saying that has special poignancy because, while I very much like them both as actors, I cannot agree with the politicall at all.
Posted by:
at April 10, 2003 05:57 PM
Amen.
I'm a big fat lefty (a short fat lefty, really), but I like to think that I would enjoy a ballgame with George W. And even though sometimes that seems like a notion out of an MGM movie from the 40s, there's no reason it still shouldn't be true.
Posted by:
at April 11, 2003 12:39 AM
If it's as cut-and-dried as the stories make it appear, then no, I'm not too happy with what happened.
But what if (and I'm only speculating) Petroskey called or wrote to Robbins and Sarandon, asking them to restrict their remarks to baseball only, and to stay away from politics, and they refused? That's how I would have handled it were I in Petroskey's shoes, knowing that Sarandon and Robbins (and other Hollywood types) have used similarly inappropriate platforms to shoot off their mouths with ideologically driven, anti-Bush crap.
That's just speculation. But I'm quite positive the Hall does not want to be seen as anti-American and anti-troops, and if Sarandon or Robbins were to use an appearance at the Hall for an anti-war/anti-Bush tirade, there would be some negative splashback on the Hall's image. I think this is basically ass-covering on Petroskey's part, to avoid such a possibility.
Posted by:
at April 12, 2003 09:12 PM
I take your point, Josh, but I heard Robbins on ESPN radio today, and he confirmed that the Hall had contacted the AP to inform the news service of the cancellation before it ever contacted Robbins or Sarandon.
It's clear that Mr. Petroskey never asked Robbins and Sarandon the question you're speculating about. If anything, there's a touch of Martha Burk in the way Petroskey is handling all this.
Posted by:
at April 13, 2003 03:27 AM
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09:12 AM