Will Ozzie Guillen Be Hacked To Death With A Machete?

Assholes Anonymous

By now, even my dead grandmother knows Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen admires Fidel Castro.  The firestorm is raging.  Let’s face it, a Venezuelan openly ‘in love with’ Fidel Castro in the one city in America with the largest Cuban population in the world outside of Cuba, is going to be controversial.  Just in case you missed it, here are Ozzie’s remarks as first reported in a recent Time Magazine interview:

Guillen, who has long had a reputation in baseball for freewheeling comments, came under fire after TIME published quotes from an interview with him in its April 9, 2012, issue. In the story, he is quoted as saying “I love Fidel Castro.”

…Guillen then amended his comment somewhat: “After a second of reflection, the most unfiltered figure in baseball, if not sports, wants a do-over. ‘I respect Fidel Castro,’ says Guillen, a Venezuela native who also says he respects Hugo Chávez. ‘You know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that mother—— is still here.’ ”

Earlier today, after a press conference where a seemingly contrite Ozzie Guillen apologized for his foot in mouth disease, the Marlins suspended their manager for 5 games.  This wasn’t enough for many Marlins fans of Cuban descent who picketed the presser and threatened to boycott their team.

The predictable screaming match over first amendment freedoms has thus ensued on the Internet and ESPN.  Should Guillen be able to say these things?  Should he be suspended?  Should he be fired?  What about free speech?  Of course, these people miss the point.  This whole event has nothing to do with freedom of speech, the Constitution or the First Amendment.  This has to do with the all mighty dollar.

34.1% of the population of Miami, Florida is of Cuban descent.  The national sport of Cuba, like that of the United States, is baseball.  So, the manager of the baseball team for the city of Miami just told his largest customer base he loved the man they hated for running them out of their homes, shooting their family members and in general just being a nasty Communist tin horned third world dictator with all that implies since 1959. That is called bad for the bottom line in the real world.

And that is the reason dear readers why Ozzie Guillen has been suspended for five games.  This has nothing to do with shutting the man up although I’m shocked Guillen hasn’t been hacked to death with a machete but hey tomorrow is another day.