Commentary

Donít let the ìterroristsî win

Sure it’s a scam when zillionaire pro sports owners get taxpayers to pay for new stadiums. It’s even worse when they turn up the heat by threatening to leave town. But calling them terrorists might be a tad over-the-top. For years the Florida Marlins have been trying to get the state to fork over some public funds for a new stadium. Last month team officials even traveled to Las Vegas to flirt with the mayor about a possible move. Now the Marlins’ president sends a letter to state House speaker Allan Bense asking for $60 million:

Bense said Wednesday that he has not studied the Marlins’ new request but plans to review it. Senate president Tom Lee appeared less receptive. “I thought that we already appropriated money to help them move to Vegas,” he said. “I was very disappointed that they publicly announced the negotiations and discussions with Las Vegas, and I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”

Well, if we are going to broaden the definition of terrorist like that can we at least put the Patriot Act to good use and use it to stop some of these boondoggles?