Stuff That Grinds My Gears: The Ozzie Guillen Situation Redux
After my last rant on this topic, SportsChump sent me a link to an article with the simple comment “You’ll love this.”
So I read it.
As I read, I was forced to rush for the duct tape in a futile attempt to keep my skull from exploding.
I was too late.
As I was picking up bits of brain and skull from around my office, it became clear this was SportsChump’s attempt to goad me into another rant. After all, he posted a pretty good take on this situation as well.
His plan worked. By the time I had Humpty-Dumptied most of my head back together, I could feel the new rant fulmenting. The rant comes in the patented Dubsism breakdown format. The article in question was written by Teresa Puente form Chicagonow.com. It’s pathetic. Read further at your own risk.
Ozzie is being Ozzie.
No matter how much Ozzie Guillen apologizes for his misplaced respect and love of Fidel Castro, he will never be forgiven by the Cuban community in Miami.
“I feel like I betrayed the Latino community,” Guillen said in Spanish at a press conference that was broadcast on ESPN Tuesday morning.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…there’s nothing quite like the supreme assholery of those who are so quick to label something “unforgivable.” That is EXACTLY the type of intolerance upon which dictatorships like the abhorrent one of Castro are built; the soul of tyranny is the stamping out of that which is deemed arbitrarily to be “unfavorable.”
Not to mention, isn’t the first sentence basically dismissive of this entire article? If this is just another example of “Ozzie being Ozzie;” meaning yet another time that an outspoken guy said an outrageous thing, then why does anybody give a damn? For one reason and one reason ONLY… so that some writer can take on some high moral tone which will prove to be complete bullshit.
This is true. But his remarks are offensive to all people who believe in democracy.
The people in Cuba are not free. They are not free to travel. They are not free to vote for the leader of their choice. They are not even free to use the Internet.
I know this because I have friends who fled Cuba or still live in Cuba, and they have shared their stories with me.
I could be petty and point out the disconnect between the control of information in Cuba and just how this writer shared these tales of woes with all her Cuban friends who are still on the island. But I would rather cast aspersions on this article with the real meat; the complete hypocrisy it contains. Note how the author climbs up on her high moral horse in a defense of democracy, yet the entire tone of her “Fire Ozzie” argument relies on the same shop-worn, intellectually vapid pillars used by the typical American hypocrite anytime they want to censor something they don’t like. Democracy and civil liberties are great for me, but they stop for you the minute you say something I don’t like. One of the great lessons I ever got in life came from my grandmother who told me to never trust people who claim to have the “moral high ground.”
Now I know she was talking about people like Teresa Puente.
One thing the “moral crusaders” love to do is make you feel guilty based on the suffering of others…hence, Puente trots out a whole list of tear-jerkers intended to make you break out the crying towel.
One friend was so hungry that some days all he had to eat or drink was a glass of water with sugar.
I have another friend who was not able to legally live with his wife in Cuba. She was from another province and the government wouldn’t give them a permit to live together because the square footage in his house was too small.
She was afraid walking around Havana of being stopped by the police and sent back to her province several hours away.
Average Cubans are not allowed to step foot in hotels that are reserved for tourists.
And of course there have been many political prisoners of Castro.
Ask any Cuban-American and they can tell you a story of struggle or suffering in Cuba.
Are you shocked, appalled, and feeling compelled to action yet? Don’t feel guilty if you aren’t; nobody else is either. There’s a great reason why you aren’t. In order for you to feel as outraged as the author intends you to feel, you have to believe Ozzie Guillen’s blunder-tongued comments either created the suffering in Cuba or exacerbated it. All you have to do to see that is separate yourself from the emotion being used here.
Are these things all horrible? Absolutely. In an ideal world, would suffering on this scale not exist? Of course it wouldn’t. Does anything Ozzie Guillen says have any effect on any of it? Not a chance.
Now for another trick the “moral crusaders” love…pointing to somebody who is being brave in the face of brutal oppression.
To find out more about life in Cuba you should read an amazing writer and blogger Yoani Sanchez, who writes the Generation Y blog. She risks persecution and worse for her brave work.
Now, to be fair, I read this woman’s blog, but I didn’t read every single word; it has a five-year history and is clearly well-written, not mention well-read. But for Puente to try to ride this woman’s coattails is a complete joke. Sanchez’ blog is about real problems facing real people, not a bunch of candy-ass hypocrites who heard words they didn’t like. This is exactly why Puente completely avoids the real issues of human rights abuses in Cuba to get back to some powerless words uttered by a baseball manager.
Back to Ozzie.
The former Chicago White Sox manager deserves to be suspended by the Miami Marlins.
I love it when the “moral crusaders” think they get to play judge, jury, and executioner. Why did he deserve to be suspended? I’m willing to listen to any explanation that does not include the word “offensive.” Shit, you might even get me to agree with one that included the term “crushing stupidity.” But give me something more than the emotionally loaded and intellectually lazy.
They made a big mistake. Marlins’ management should have known that Guillen has a big mouth.
“Should have known?” This suggest to me this woman didn’t give a shit about baseball two weeks ago. Anybody who has been paying attention for any amount of time knows that given enough time, Ozzie Guillen will stick both his feet in his mouth up to the ankles. That’s “Ozzie being Ozzie,” remember?
Guillen is a hypocrite.
Takes one to know one…again, Puente “believes” in democracy, but wants de facto censorship.
Remember how Guillen chastised actor Sean Penn for praising iron-fisted Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez?
No, because smart people don’t bother putting any creedence behind the words of a loud-mouth baseball manager. If they did, don’t you think the gay community would have protested his hiring remembering the time he called then Chicago-Sun Times columnist Jay Mariotti a “fag?”
Guillen deserves the suspension by the Marlins and more.
But no amount of suspension or apologies will undo the political damage he has caused and the economic impact it will have on the team.
The best thing Marlins management could do to repair the damage is to tell Ozzie, “Adios.”
Here’s the best part…she jumps from suspending Guillen to handing him his hat and showing him the door, all while tacitly admitting punishing him won’t make a damn bit of difference. The proof comes from a story on Yahoo Sports which laid out the complete non-impact of the supposed “outrage” in the Cuban community.
MIAMI (AP) About two dozen protesters are outside Marlins Ballpark, expressing their displeasure with manager Ozzie Guillen. The demonstration Thursday came before Miami’s afternoon game with the Chicago Cubs. Many waved Cuban flags, held signs and used a megaphone to criticize the manager.
Two dozen? I can see more people waiting in the check-out lines at a Wal-Mart. Two dozen isn’t a protest, two dozen is a bus stop.
If even the Cubans won’t turn out to pissed off over Guillen’s comments, they why should I give a shit what some self-righteous writer thinks?
Oh that’s right, I don’t, and it seems nobody else does either.
About J-Dub
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Always nice to be your muse, sir.
By the way, is there any sort of muse pay for this?
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My muse usually comes in the form of Kentucky sour mash…
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It shows.
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Don’t judge me…like they don’t have booze in Florida.
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Great points, JW. While Guillen’s comments were idiotic for the time and place he was in, the entire situation was entirely blown out of proportion!
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Thank Goodness.
I’d offer to buy you some if you came down but I know if you’re not coming down for the Frozen Four, you’re not coming down for a free bourbon cocktail.
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Never underestimate the power of free bourbon.
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