How and why did the “executive subcommittee” of baseball players-turned-political supremacists become so disconnected from its own peers?
The lyrics from Bruce Springsteen’s song “Badlands” have seldom been more relevant: “Poor man wanna be rich, rich man wanna be king, and the king ain’t satisfied ’til he rules everything.”
Translated: Give people a little power, and they will seize the moment and take up the scepter to impose their values on everyone else. I call those people “political supremacists.”
Earlier this month, the Major League Baseball Players Association executive subcommittee—made up of eight players who were granted the authority to help negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with club owners—displayed how just a little taste of authority can turn it tone-deaf to the actual sentiments of its constituents, in this case, the rank-and-file players it was chosen to represent.
Flush with the ego of sitting on thrones of power, the players on the subcommittee quickly became overly enamored with their own personal biases, and thus blind to the bigger picture—the good of the game and the well-being of players—by voting unanimously, 8-0, against a deal offered by the team owners.
The deal they spurned was intended to bring baseball back in early April with a full 162-game season and confer immense new riches upon all players.
But when put to the more than 1,200 MLB players themselves, they rejected the dictates of their so-called leaders and voted overwhelmingly, by team, 26 to 4 in favor of the deal.
Baseball was back.
Why did this “executive subcommittee” of players-turned-political supremacists become so disconnected from its own peers?
Americans are asking the same question about our nation’s elected officials and health agency bureaucrats.
Political supremacists—those in positions of power, who believe their views, and only their views, should be considered—exist in every industry, institution, and walk of life, and they always have.
Yet seldom before has their power gone so unchecked.
Question: Why now? Answer: tribalism.
It used to be in America that the rights of individuals were held sacrosanct. Regardless of anyone’s beliefs, creeds, social status, political affiliations, skin color, or gender, such rights should never be sacrificed to political, business, religious, or civic leaders who might seek to control them or others.
But in today’s increasingly partisan society, the emerging culture within whatever tribe one belongs to is that its own anointed leaders are to be automatically obeyed, regardless of whatever rights-destroying power plays they may seek to impose.
That same kind of political supremacy has come to pass in astonishingly rapid fashion in America’s political arena. Granted extraordinary emergency powers during the COVID-19 pandemic, federal, state, and local elected officials—as well as unelected bureaucrats in the courts and various agencies—immediately seized control. Their personal egos, views, and agendas immediately were conflated (in their minds) with what was in the best interests of everyone else.
It’s now clear that the rulings and mandates handed down by the newly crowned political supremacists across America over the past two years were completely disconnected from reality—and from we, the people.
Damn the science, damn individual and constitutional rights, damn the “irreparable harm” that masking does to children and students, damn the economy, damn the unintended and crushing societal consequences. We, the political supremacists, know what’s best for you, and we’re going to force you to obey, like it or not.
Given the blatant, overt hypocrisy of not following their own mandates, of ignoring arguments that do not fit their narrative, or of bestowing special favors or exemptions upon those aligned with them in their own tribes, or hiding inconvenient data from the public, these political supremacists are the real threat to our nation.
Whether at the White House, the statehouse, the courthouse, or the local school committees, these elitists truly believe they have the moral authority to impose their beliefs on the rest of us.
When their schemes to secretly enact their misguided policies were exposed, they were so confident in their unchecked power that they didn’t even blink an eye. They simply pivoted to coercively enforcing their dictates, seeking to punish or cancel anyone who objected or disobeyed.
They knew full well that in today’s tribalistic and obeisant culture, that no elected body (Congress or state legislature), no judge at any state or federal court, no group of business people, and no religious institution would dare challenge them.
Exemplifying this tyranny is a telling quote from the 1980 “Superman II” movie, exclaimed by Gen. Zod from Krypton, once he realizes that his physical powers on Earth were unchecked: “Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?”
This corrupt notion of supremacy is what fuels today’s politicians. But it’s today’s weak and compliant tribalists—our “sheeple” citizenry—who let them get away with it.
But, hopefully, not for much longer.
Just as the everyday Major League Baseball players rose up and voted to overturn the recommendation of the eight-member subcommittee of player supremacists, this 2022 election year will give everyday American citizens the same opportunity to rise up and vote to turn over elected seats of power to those who will respect parental rights, limited governance, and individual freedoms.
We know that “white” supremacy as a major national problem is a myth. Rather, it is “political” supremacy that is the real growing cancer. The fight to rescue the Unites States from those self-empowered supremacists in our government is the fight of our times.
Americans must come together and defy the politicians, educators, media, and other elitist leaders who seek to control more and more aspects of our lives.
Each of us must take a stand, not just against those corrupt tyrants, but also against those among us who pledge blind fealty to the supremacists in seats of political power.
This ruling class of political supremacists must be exposed for their self-serving and disconnected values, and they must be defeated at the ballot box in November.
The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.
Source: Baseball Players Rejected ‘Political Supremacists.’ Voters Should, Too.
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