The Latest Attack On the President and Its Disregard
for Reality
By: Jeff McDonough
President Obama is not the founder of ISIS. Anyone
with a brain knows this. And while it’s reckless for a presidential candidate
to talk in this manner, that’s not my main point here today, because the
explanation we’re getting is that he didn’t mean it literally. He meant that
basically President Obama has been weak on ISIS and the vacuum created by the
way we pulled out of Iraq after the war birthed an environment in which ISIS
was able to thrive. Which is a fine explanation, much more nuanced in delivery.
There’s just one problem, it’s not true.
John Oliver's Takedown of Public Funding for Stadiums
By: Jeff McDonough
All over the country there are sports franchises that are
rumored to be at least considering leaving their current city. The biggest
reason given always seems to be because their stadium or arena is too old.
This complaint always seems overblown to me. Stadiums cost so much money to
build, that to tear down a perfectly functional one seems gratuitously
wasteful. When you visit ballparks like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park, it is
like watching a baseball game in a museum. It doesn’t matter if the game is a
blowout because you can get your money’s worth just soaking in the sights. As
long as older stadiums have sporadic updates over the years, I am an advocate
of keeping them. Even places with much less prestige but that are still viewed
as outdated, like Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, are perfectly adequate in my
mind. I’ve seen basketball and wrestling there in recent years and had a lovely
time. I see no reason why the city would spend the money to tear this place down and
construct a new one.
That’s the real issue though. The money so often comes from the
pockets of the government, and therefore, the taxpayers. The billionaires who
run these teams — often as their secondary or tertiary businesses once they’ve made
their fortunes — have the unmitigated gall to ask us to fund
their fancy, new, luxury projects. The thinking is that new stadiums and all
the events there will boost the local economy. John Oliver, the host of HBO’s Last Week Tonight, asserts that this is
a fallacy, in a scathing condemnation of this practice that he delivered two weeks ago. The money from those gaudy naming rights deals that landed Baltimore
clunky-sounding stadiums like the aforementioned Royal Farms Arena — or how
about when the Ravens called PSINet Stadium home? — often goes to the
franchises and not the city. The money from additional events like concerts,
well, Oliver points out that they may be only lining team owners’ pockets as well.
But you better give them what they want because the threat to move your
favorite team to another city always looms.
