Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s White House rejection is big news
By Rick McNair
The Boston Red Sox do not need distractions and the current brouhaha over Alex Cora’s White House visit rejection is one, but for the team itself, I doubt it.
Alex Cora’s decision to not attend a White House ceremony honoring the team is a purely political one on the part of the Boston Red Sox manager.
Cora has vehemently and repeatedly stated his ire over the lack of support given to his native Puerto Rico after a devastating hurricane. BSI’s Steve Atkinson covers the details and I will take a different slant. It is a story and it is aflame on social media and the front page of the Boston Herald.
This is not unusual as attendance at similar ceremonies has increasingly become a political measuring stick regarding the current administration. The past administration also had some attendee issues, but it has most certainly been magnified over the last two years.
What seems to escape is the White House does not belong to President Trump or former President Obama or any other president since it became the presidential residence during the administration of John Adams. The house does not belong to the president and never has. That house belongs to us.
The White House is a gift that is handed out by Americans every four years. It is our house and not that of the temporary occupants who are there simply at our steed. President Trump may be gone in two years or six years and the property will pass to a new occupant just as it always has. That occupant will be there based on our decisions in November 2020.
Cora has his choice as does everyone who receives an invitation for a special visit and not a truncated public tour that I have taken. The honors have expanded greatly through the years with a greater influx of athletes, celebrities, notable citizens, entertainers, and a myriad of others. Just maybe the disputed Kentucky Derby potentially dual winners will be invited? I will leave the clean up to others.
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Apparently, everything is open to making a political statement in the land of the Great Divide. Somehow attending a White House function is now classified as giving tacit support to this administration or any other as the years roll on. And, to no surprise, presidents will certainly take full advantage of any possible PR and photo-op that may enhance their reputation. Certainly has been part of the problem. Maybe a reason for Cora to back off?
I have been one to admire the camaraderie of the 2018 Red Sox which placed the individual on the back burner and coalesced around the team concept. Maybe that approach should have been used? All or nothing since it is a political firestorm at this point. I have seen the usual social media posts regarding Cora’s decision that have only intensified the Great Divide.
dark. Next. Alex Cora will not be attending the White House is a non-story
This will certainly blow over since the primary focus on the Red Sox is the team and not a political construct. Within the locker room is a variety of politics, religions, race, and ethnic background. Baseball is well ahead of the diversity curve in the dugout. Likewise, I am sure there are divisions nonetheless, but – at least hopefully – the paramount issue is to win since winning can be rewarding especially at contract time.