Time To Apologize To Georgia

Major League Baseball moved its 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta because the Legislature passed an election law that the Democrats and media claimed was designed to suppress the vote, especially that of minorities. Yet somehow Georgia voters turned out in higher numbers earlier this week than they did in the two previous midterm elections. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred owes Atlanta, the entire state of Georgia, the Braves, and, in fact, the entire nation an apology.

On April 2, the day after the 2021 baseball season began, Manfred announced that he had “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, Manfred explained, “fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”

Making Manfred’s cowardly capitulation to social justice bullies even more infuriating was the fact that the game was moved to Colorado, where voting laws are similar to Georgia’s new rules. Unlike Georgia though, Colorado has a Democratic governor and practices blue state electoral habits. So it was judged differently.

Republican communicator Brian Robinson reminds us that Manfred’s naked exhibition of wokeness carried a financial as well as reputational cost. Businesses, many of them minority-owned, were counting on the game to generate revenue but were shut out by his cold-blooded decision. As much as $100 million was robbed from them by the commissioner.

“When you hurt somebody,” Robinson said, “you owe them an apology.”

The Braves, their home city, and their state got a sweet taste of revenge when seven months later, “America’s Team” won the World Series. Unfortunately, it wasn’t on the Braves’ home field, but at least Manfred was in attendance and had to watch. It was a nice, well-placed needle, but he deserves further discipline.

For Tuesday’s elections, 3.96 million ballots were cast in Georgia – a 57% turnout rate – surpassing the 2018 midterm total of 3.9 million when 55% turned out. Only 2.6 million, a 50% rate, voted in the state’s 2014 midterms. All of that voter suppression in last years’ law didn’t seem to work.

The reason: The criticism was rooted in a big lie.

We said last year that a “fair reading” of the Election Integrity Act “shows that it’s not ‘Jim Crow on steroids’ … or anything close to it,” as “many of its provisions make it easier to vote in future Georgia elections than those in the past.”

Nevertheless, we continued, “the left opposes any law that doesn’t make it easier to rig elections to ensure a permanent Democratic majority, and screeches ‘racism’ at every effort to try to clean up voting.”

Also owing an apology to the state of Georgia and city of Atlanta, which is roughly half black, is Joe Biden. The flapped-jawed president who has never been able to control his mouth called Georgia’s 2021 voting law “Jim Crow in the 21st century” and “an atrocity,” witless statements perfectly in line with Biden’s frequent almost-always-wrong-never-in-doubt outbursts.

Biden also said the law “makes Jim Crow look like Jim Eagle” and described it as “Jim Crow on steroids.” Apparently, he thought he was being profound. Instead, his reliance on hackneyed, sophomoric phrasing merely confirmed that his thinking is neither wide nor deep.

We’d also like to see an apology from Barack Obama, who congratulated MLB “for taking a stand on behalf of voting rights for all citizens.” But even though he too is almost always wrong yet never in doubt, he’ll never admit he was in error and say he’s sorry. His narcissism won’t allow it.

Of course, we don’t expect anyone to apologize. The coarsening of our politics won’t allow it. We’d suggest the Democrats apologize for that, too, because it’s their malevolence that created today’s overheated conditions. Instead, they’ll just carry on with their nasty behavior and drag people like Manfred into the party’s maelstrom of hatred.

— Written by the I&I Editorial Board