42 meets 44

Posted by hpayne on May 8, 2013

Warner Brothers

Warner Brothers

Warner Brothers

42 meet 44.

The remarkable story of Jackie Robinson – No. 42, the Majors’ first black player – is an inspiring motion picture well worth the price of admission. The movie has received glowing reviews amidst a national appreciation of Robinson’s feat. Meanwhile, the story of Barack Obama, our 44th – and first black – president is no less inspiring. Yet while Robinson united us, Obama has divided.

The contrast is a telling commentary on teamwork.

Despite the movie 42′s feel-good vibe, America in 1947 was, historians tell us, a deeply hostile world for blacks, still two decades shy of the Civil Rights Act and MLK’s extraordinary marches. Robinson, unlike Obama in 2008, was not welcomed into the majors by even his own locker mates. Yet his scintillating performance over time transcended race as he demanded the respect of resistant teammates and the sports world, achieving baseball’s MVP in 1949.

By contrast, Obama has squandered the good feelings of his first election, proving himself to be an aloof, partisan class warrior. His daily schedule betrays a politician resistant to leadership as he spends little – if any – time in Washington trying to build coalitions to take on America’s enormous challenges. He re-election in 2012 was hardly an MVP bid – but a scorched earth campaign urging a vote against the other guy.

Obama’s election and Robinson’s first game in the majors are iconic moments. But No. 42 then exploited his prodigious talent to make baseball a better place. Too bad the same cannot be said of No. 44′s Washington

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