You probably remember the short-lived war against the Peach State, after they passed a much-needed voting bill.
Democrats from all corners of the country–mostly outside of Georgia–called on companies to boycott the state over this new law. Joe Biden fanned the flames by lying about the bill, calling it a new “Jim Crow.”
Even MLB showed its political bias by pulling this year’s All-Star Game from Atlanta, costing local businesses millions.
Of course, none of these grandstanding, arrogant liberals bothered to find out the particulars of the law. The bill did not “restrict” voting rights from any Georgia resident, but merely closed loopholes that could lead to widespread election fraud. Not that Democrats ever bother to read anything.
Many Americans were outraged that MLB would “punish” the city of Atlanta over politics. It seems to have only further eroded Americans’ respect for professional sports. But it hasn’t stopped there. A small-business advocacy group is suing MLB for $100 million. And now, many Georgia lawmakers are backing them.
Georgia Republicans are rallying behind the Job Creator Network’s (JCN) lawsuit targeting Major League Baseball for shifting its All-Star Game away from Atlanta in the wake of the Peach State’s passage of election-related legislation.
State Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller noted that all 34 members state Senate Majority Caucus support the small business advocacy group’s lawsuit…
JCN in a May 31 press release announced that it had “filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against Major League Baseball… [It] demands the immediate return of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game to Atlanta or that defendants pay $100 million in damages to local and state small businesses – many of which are minority-owned and still recovering from Covid-19 losses,” JCN said [Source: Just the News]
This is a pretty bold lawsuit, but appropriate given what MLB did to Georgia. After they announced they were pulling their All-Star Game on dubious grounds, many other large corporations started boycotting the state as well. Celebrities, politicians, and major companies issued statements attacking and criticizing Georgia, ignorantly calling the new law “racist.”
Obviously, you can imagine the damage this has caused to Georgia businesses, families, and livelihoods. And MLB baseball is largely to blame by being the first group to “boycott” the state.
A lawsuit is pretty appropriate, under those circumstances. But even as public opinion sways against the league (you can argue it was on their side), MLB refuses to change its stance. They arrogantly called the lawsuit “political theatrics.” They continued to slander Georgia by claiming the election law “restricted voting rights.”
All that strong language betrays MLB’s real situation. They know that a sympathetic judge is not going to side with a massive organization that is punishing small business owners. To cancel a contract over an unrelated issue is suspect, to say the least. MLB might be on very shaky legal ground, so they are using the strongest language possible, hoping the court will throw out the case.
But they might be in for a rude awakening.
Author: Thomas Smith
