Apparently you don’t need much intelligence to operate a major sports league.
Major League Baseball (MLB) has decided to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta, Georgia in protest amid pressure from activists who don’t like the idea of having to prove who you are to vote in elections and who are upset that they can’t be given water while waiting in line to vote.
Here’s MLB’s statement, given by Commissioner Rob Manfred, posted to Twitter by ESPN MLB Insider Jeff Passan:
Over the last week, we have engaged in thoughtful conversations with Clubs, former and current players, the Players Association, and The Players Alliance, among others, to listen to their views. I have decided that the best way to demonstrate our values as a sport is by relocating this year's All-Star Game and MLB Draft.
Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box. In 2020, MLB became the first professional sports league to join the non-partisan Civic Alliance to help build a future in which everyone participates in shaping the United States. We proudly used our platform to encourage baseball fans and communities throughout our country to perform their civic duty and actively participate in the voting process. Fair access to voting continues to have our game's unwavering support.
We will continue with our plans to celebrate the memory of Hank Aaron during this season’s All-Star festivities. In addition, MLB’s planned investments to support local communities in Atlanta as part of our All-Star Legacy Projects will move forward. We are finalizing a new host city and details about these events will be announced shortly.
If the MLB had actually read “The Election Integrity Act of 2021,” they would realize that the propaganda talking points being pushed by politicians, celebrities and the media are nothing more than lies from people who apparently can’t read themselves.
According to a breakdown of facts and myths about the law, the Daily Caller noted that “voters will still have access to water & are not forbidden from bringing their own food items,” “voter ID laws are [already] found in more than half of U.S. states,” and that “voting access has not been reduced.”
As Glenn Kessler reported for The Washington Post, while giving “four Pinocchios” to President Joe Biden for lying about reduced voting hours, “this was the section of the law that expanded voting for many Georgians.”
Somehow, according to ESPN, the Georgia voting rights law has the potential to “disproportionately disenfranchise minority voters.” Of course, that’s a racist take considering it implies that minority voters don’t have the capacity or the access to procure even a state ID card.
It’s a sad day when America’s original pastime makes moves against protecting the integrity of elections based on the false narratives of people who want every election to be like 2020.
H/T: ESPN