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Friday, April 11, 2003

Some among my loyal e-mailers have suggested that people like me, meaning people who have taken a strong public stand against the war, might actually be putting American troops in greater danger.

I had been dismissing this notion as nothing short of preposterous until yesterday, when an almost identical charge came from Dale Petroskey, president of baseball's Hall of Fame. When the president of baseball's Hall of Fame stops whatever he's doing to criticize you, you might have to rethink your position.

Yeah.

To be accurate, it wasn't me Petroskey was ripping, but rather actor Tim Robbins, with whom I'm rarely confused, especially by Susan Sarandon, who in this case was Petroskey's co-target. Tim and Susan, live from the Oscars and all over cable TV, might have a broader public forum than I do from page Z-99 of the Post-Gazette, but our sentiments have been similar. Reading Petroskey's comments, I marveled at how in the world the Reagan Administration ever kept him from attaining a position higher than its assistant White House press secretary, because it's obvious to me that Petroskey's ability to manufacturer great vats of 100 proof American jingoism out of thin air is immense. I'd say ingenious, if it weren't so, you know, stupid.

In a couple of weeks, to mark the 15th anniversary of the great baseball movie "Bull Durham," in which Robbins and Sarandon starred, the Hall of Fame had planned to stage a commemorative celebration. In the greater context of world events, the "Bull Durham" anniversary in Cooperstown loomed as something of staggering unimportance, at least until Petroskey canceled it.

Now it's an issue.

Sheer p.r. genius, if it weren't so, you know, stupid.

It's been canceled due in large part to Robbins' and Sarandon's stridency against the war and the Bush Administration.

"We believe your very public criticism of President Bush at this important and sensitive time in our nation's history helps undermine the U.S. position," Petroskey wrote to Robbins and Sarandon, "which, ultimately, could put our troops in even more danger."

Uh-huh. It's just a matter of time until one of those embedded correspondents comes through with an interview of a doomed Iraqi resistor who will say he would have quit two weeks ago had it not been for Robbins and Sarandon.

Does Petroskey think every Iraqi thinks every American supports the war? In a nation born of dissent, blessed by diversity and validated by Constitutional protections, are there to be no disagreements behind our unrelenting storm of smart bombs?

Here Petroskey tried to draw a distinction.

"In a free country, such as ours, every American has the right to his or her own opinion, and to express them," he wrote. "Public figures, such as you, have platforms much larger than the average American's, which provides you an extraordinary opportunity to have your views heard -- and an equally large obligation to act and speak responsibly."

They key word is "responsibly," by which Petroskey means "in agreement with me and my president" and nothing else. Robbins and Sarandon, by committing the high crime of being public figures, are supposed to surrender their First Amendment protections by decree of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

For his part, Robbins replied that he did not realize baseball was "a Republican sport." He should have. Baseball is obviously a Republican sport, as it is played by roughly 800 people who are almost exclusively in the top one percent of wage earners, meaning they'll get 28 percent of Bush's proposed tax cut. They are Bush's constituency. The bottom 60 percent of wage earners will split eight percent.

Not to be critical.

These are difficult and jittery times in America. Tempers are short. When Madonna is censoring herself, you know something's not right. When Hootie Johnson is the biggest name in golf, unprecedented contentiousness is afoot. We're snapping at each other. Roy Williams, being interviewed by Bonnie Bernstein after the NCAA championship game Monday night, uses a vulgarity because Bernstein had the nerve to do her job correctly by asking the tough question about Williams' future. It wouldn't be plausible to suggest that the Kansas coach was stressed out over events in Iraq; it's more likely he was frayed from watching his Jayhawks miss 14 layups and 18 free throws while losing the national championship by three points, but the atmosphere of intolerance persists.

Just four years ago, Robbins was visiting the Hall of Fame with his children, and Hall officials were beaming over Robbins' contribution of the baseball uniform he wore as Ebby LaLoosh in "Bull Durham." Robbins' Bulls jersey thus joined Geena Davis' uniform from "A League of Their Own," Ray Liotta's uniform from "Field of Dreams" and the uniform and warm-up jacket worn by Robert Redford in "The Natural" in the Hall's Museum, among other cinematic artifacts relating to the game.

"Not only are my sons and I big baseball fans, but we enjoyed the Museum tremendously and are honored to have our family represented with this donation," Robbins said.

Those were gentler times to which we should all aspire to return. In the meantime, we are losing our rights in America and our standing abroad. Let's not lose our minds while we're at it.