A Conservative PAC Is Trying To Ruin The World Series
A far-right group that won't stick to sports
Dear Readers,
Happy almost Halloween! There’s a lot that’s spooky out there today, potentially none more than what’s going on with an onslaught of very gross ads that are playing during many commercial breaks of the (really exciting thus far) World Series. Let’s get into it.
-Calder and Ian
If you want to watch the Philadelphia Phillies try to cap off one of the most improbable playoff runs of all time — or see if the Houston Astros can finish off one of the more wire to wire dominant seasons in the sport — you’re going to have to learn that Joe Biden hates Asians, or that he’s letting illegal immigrants into the country who are raping young Americans, or that he’s going to start World War III with his material aid to Ukraine.
These are the topics of multiple attack ads that have run during the World Series, and throughout the playoffs, on Fox Sports. They come from a group called Citizens for Sanity — a political action committee that calls itself “not ideological” but against “woke insanity,” has consulted with Republicans in swing districts, and has direct ties to Stephen Miller and his cronies.
The organization says that it’s trying to take a satirical approach to advocacy and boil down politics to its basic ingredients, which apparently are pure hatred (we also suspect that the “satire” commitment is a protection against getting sued).
The first, and most important, part of this discussion is that it’s just plain gross that brass at Fox are agreeing to air these ads in the first place. It’s similarly disappointing that executives at Major League Baseball, who signed these television deals with Fox and absolutely have enough leverage to get these ads off the air, are refusing to lift a finger to even comment on what’s going on here. It really stinks for a parent to have to explain to a kid why these ads are lies, it stinks even more that a lot of parents are probably turning up the volume during these commercials to inculcate their children into this cult of loathing.
These ads aren’t only on Major League Baseball telecasts — Citizens for Sanity has billboards around the country and they’re running ads in lots of different places on television. The group, however, does seem particularly proud of the placement in playoff games; they are tweeting that the ads are in World Series games, calling them “home runs.”
As those of you who regularly read this newsletter know, the reactionary conservative talking point for years has been that sports have to be a refuge from politics, that athletes don’t deserve to have an opinion on what’s going on in the world and that Americans just want to put a ballgame on and tune out.
This is clearly ridiculous — athletes have power to affect positive social change and sporting events are already imbued with largely conservative ideology. There is something to say, though, about that last point: people do watch sports as an escape. Even the two of us, who write a weekly newsletter on politics and sports, sometimes just want to put a game on and think mostly just about the score. We can be considerate about sports and politics while still believing the former can serve as a sometimes necessary distraction from the latter.
The Citizens for Sanity ads are evidence of two things. First, that the Republican Party and its various consultants and hangers-on have gotten remarkably comfortable saying whatever they want; the guardrails are off. Second, they’re no longer satisfied with confining that hatred to small corners of the internet or their own rallies or even to the broader political arena.
The position is now: the hate has to be everywhere. You shouldn’t be able to walk down the street, or get on a plane, or watch a ballgame without getting angry, spitting vitriol thrown in your face. This is why the ads feel so oppressive. It’s not their content exactly, we’ve all seen this sort of awful speech before, even if this version is a really bad one. It’s the pure glee with which groups like Citizens for Sanity are saying: if your politics are anything but far-right and conspiracy laden, we’re going to take immense pleasure in ruining your day.
It’s not really possible to compete with this kind of aggression. There’s no real way to hit back with the same cocktail of anger and delight when your basic position is that people should have more rights rather than fewer. All that’s really left is the mute button. Our Southpaw recommendation is to do your best to be gleeful about the baseball and ignore the vitriol, even if it’s obvious that a lot of people are doing the opposite.
RODNEY’S ROUNDUP
Do you want to read about…
… a new saga involving Nets guard Kyrie Irving? “Kyrie Irving Boosts Antisemitic Movie Peddling ‘Jewish Slave Ships’” by Jon Blistein in Rolling Stone (October 29, 2022).
… what LIV has done to the golf world? “LIV Golf Threw a Sport Into Chaos. It Also Changed It.” by Alan Blinder in The New York Times (October 30, 2022).
… the mechanics of a good tennis forehand? “So the Forehand Is Your Best Shot? You Sure?” by Stuart Miller in The New York Times (October 28, 2022).