I am using this blog post to defend Luke Scott.
In an interview yesterday, the Baltimore Orioles outfielder stated that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. “He was not born here,” he said. “That’s my belief. I was born here. If someone accuses me of not being born here, I can go—within 10 minutes—to my filing cabinet and I can pick up my real birth certificate and I can go, ‘See? Look! Here it is. Here it is.’ The man has dodged everything. He dodges questions, he doesn’t answer anything.”
I am here to defend Luke Scott because, in the coming days, he is sure to see his quotes repeated and repeated and repeated, so much so that they’ll somehow take on an air of importance. Which is unfair. Because Luke Scott is not important. At least not in this realm. He is a baseball player. An uninformed baseball player. He has every right to voice his opinions, but those opinions aren’t especially valuable. Hell, this is a man who says Ted Nugent, “has the core beliefs of what it means to be an American in his heart.” Even Ted Nugent doesn’t think Ted Nugent “has the core beliefs of what it means to be an American in his heart.”
So why, if Luke Scott’s thoughts mean nothing, am I blogging about them?
I have no friggin’ idea.
PS: That said, I love this passage of the interview:
DB: So how’s Obama doing?
LS: Obama … hmm … Obama does not represent America. Nor does he represent anything what our forefathers stood for. This country is basically built on an attitude. It’s a way of life. It’s not because you’re born here. It’s not that you’re supposed to take from those who have and give to those who haven’t. That kills a country. It killed Russia.
I have friends of mine who are in the ministry who [work] in churches in Russia. If they can describe [the country] in one [phrase], it’s “messed up beyond repair.”
That’s what communism does. Cuba, Venezuela. People are trying to escape these lands like a plague. What would make a human being swim 90 miles in shark-infested waters on a raft made of tires and planks? To leave their culture, their family, their language, their way of life. Everything they’ve ever known. What would make someone do that?
You don’t see people in America doing that. There’s no one here in America swimming the Pacific Ocean — or the Atlantic, or the Caribbean — to leave this place. The reason why is because of the freedom. Freedom for a man to mark out his own destiny. It’s not, “Hey, you have so much.” Hey, that person worked for that. That’s not to be taken and given to someone who didn’t put in the time, the effort, and do his part.
Obama, he doesn’t represent that. He represents, “Hey, everyone. Give me votes and I’ll give you stuff.” And there’s even people on TV who [are asked], “Hey, who you voting for?”
“I’m voting for Obama.”
“Why?”
“So I can get more free stuff.”
That’s not what makes this country great. That’s what tears down a people, tears down nations. Hence, the problem we’re having in this country, where we’re experiencing unemployment. We’re experiencing all of these negative things that are happening in our land as a direct result of that type of attitude — of too much government involvement, of moral decay, and of people lacking honor and integrity.
Eighty years ago, 50 years ago, a man would walk up to another man and go in for loan. He’d extend his hand, he’d shake it and he’d look at the man and he’d say, “I’ll pay this back.” He would do it. You couldn’t even … to even mention that [scenario] today … is that a cartoon fantasy? That’s how far we are removed.
