Gore Vidal on "Muh Artificial Borders!"

At a 1999 lecture in Dublin, Gore Vidal said:

"A characteristic of our present chaos is the dramatic migration of tribes.

"They are on the move from east to west, from south to north.

"Liberal tradition requires that borders must always be open to those in search of safety or even the pursuit of happiness.

"But now with so many millions of people on the move, even the great-hearted are becoming edgy.

"Norway is large enough and empty enough to take in 40 to 50 million homeless Bengalis.

"If the Norwegians say that, all in all, they would rather not take them in, is this to be considered racism? I think not. It is simply self-preservation, the first law of species."

Radatz Wins and Loses the Same Game

Radatz, the starting pitcher for Toledo, is trying to keep the Aberdeen Pheasants at bay. It's the top of the seventh, Toledo's down 3-2, and Aberdeen has the bases loaded with one out. On a 1-2 pitch, Radatz gets Flood to bounce into an inning-ending double-play.

As the Mudhens come up to bat for their half of the seventh inning, the rains come. The umpires suspend the game. It's August 4th. The suspended game will become the front end of a twi-night doubleheader (remember those?) to be played on September 19th.

On Labor Day, Radatz gets traded to the Pheasants. That same day, in a game against the Lansing Lugnuts, Joe Sparma, the Pheasants' pitcher of record in the August 4th game against Toledo, tears his ACL sliding into second and is out for the season.

Aberdeen and Toledo resume play on September 19th. With Sparma out for the season, Aberdeen's skipper decides to pitch Radatz in relief against his old teammates for the bottom half of the seventh inning. Radatz gives up up a walk and a single. With one out and two men on base, Mudhen slugger Chris Cannizarro hits a home run, putting Toledo up by two. The inning ends with Aberdeen up 5-3.

Toledo's relief pitcher Navarro cruises through the eight and ninth innings. Toledo wins 5-3. The winning pitcher for Toledo is their starter, Dick Radatz. The losing pitcher for Aberdeen is their reliever, Dick Radatz.

I'm convinced there's a violation of The Great God Natural Rights somewhere in there. Rights knows I'll never find it.