With all the problems that we have in the world, it's stupefying to me that people in Washington and other places have time to comment on a law that effects Arizona.  But, here we have Senator Bob Menendez (D-Grandstand) demanding that MLB move the All-star game from Arizona in 2011 and have MLB teams move elsewhere for spring training.  All due to Arizona's new immigration law.
 
Forget for a moment that the Senator is from New Jersey, which, as they say down South, doesn't have a dog in the hunt.  Sure, you have Yankees, Mets and Phillies fans in New Jersey, but the state itself has no team. So, the Senator is obviously speaking for himself because baseball has no economic footprint in New Jersey.

Perhaps it would do the Senator's case better if he urged his fellow Senators to get off their dead asses and enact some meaningful immigration reform.  The fact is with an election coming up in November and both Republicans and Democrats courting the huge Hispanic voting bloc, that won't happen.  The calls for reform now are a trap to try and get one party or the other to displease the Hispanics so as to lose their confidence in November.  Menendez is not up for re-election, but is the chair of the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee, which means he's setting the tone for this plank in the upcoming Senate elections.

This, like Arlen Spector and his ridiculous assault on the NFL or Oren Hatch's BCS hearings, are more about gaining favor with voters than taking action.  If voters were smart, they'd vote all of these guys out of office simply because they are not addressing those issues which are important to this country, namely the economy, the war in Iraq and the issue of what to do with fourteen million undocumented people.

Also today, one of those activist groups called "Latino, Sports, and Progressive Advocates", (progressive being the sanitized way of saying "liberal") has penned a letter to Bud Selig demanding action.  They call the Arizona law "hateful" and say "baseball’s millions of Latino and immigrant fans – deserve a loud and clear message that the League finds this law unacceptable. We strongly urge you to relocate the 2011 All-Star Game from Phoenix and to pressure teams to pull all winter and spring training games from Arizona while this un-American law is in effect.”

It certainly isn't within the realm of reality to ask teams, who have multi-million dollar facilities in Arizona to suddenly pick up stakes and relocate.  Do you honestly think Jerry Reinsdorf is going to board the windows at Camelback Ranch in Glendale because of a state law that one segment of society doesn't agree with?  That's like saying the Sox will leave Chicago for San Antonio because they don't like the way the state of Illinois is run.

So, then, do these "progressives" plan on boycotting the teams that continue to have facilities in that state?  Do they plan on showing up at the Major League parks and causing a ruckus simply because the team does business is obligated, by contract, to do business in Arizona?  Seems like a waste of breath to me.  Baseball should not have a stance on a state law.  It's a sports entity, not a political one.  And, given how generous Arizona has been to baseball in the support of facilities for a number of teams, Bud Selig would be wise not to take a chunk out of a hand that feeds him and his sport.

Federal law clearly states that all guest workers must carry their green card with them at all times.  So, what's the big deal?  If you are asked, show the nice officer your driver's license or your green card and you are good to go.  Fail to produce it and risk deportation, which is the correct course of action.  Arizona has a right to protect their border from the stream of drug dealers, potential terrorists and other undesirables who stream and sneak across it on a daily basis.  If you are not "progressive enough to figure that out, perhaps you should consider relocating somewhere where there are open borders.  Iceland perhaps.

It is obvious that the "progressives" want baseball to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.  The reality is baseball is neither responsible for the solution or the problem.  You don't have to be too "progressive" to figure that out.