A hundred bucks says this will be the last event of Bush's miserable tenure where the audience isn't handpicked.

You'd lose. Inauguration Day, 2009. But he'll believe the cheering is for him, as opposed to the fact the world will be grateful he'll be minutes away from becoming past president "43(*)".

I would say the throw to the plate is only thing he didnt screw up in his tenure

I am appalled by all the people who hate our current president, If you are all so completely disgusted then why didn't you vote NOT to re-elect him. obviously he must do something right or else he would not be in the position he is in. Those who don't vote should not give a F*ck how their president turns out because they didn't take the time to vote. shut up and give the PRESIDENT of our UNITED STATES a freakin' break. Good God Almighty you people make me sick!

As a regular voter, I am DISGUSTED with how my vote was disenfranchised during Bush's rigging of the 2000 and 2004 elections. This President does not deserve a break, he deserves impeachment. Keep defending him and find out how many friends you won't have anymore.

Finally a venue where the GOP were not able to vet every single audience member. I do hope the booing was loud and long, although this President is so in a cloud that he might have believed that there was someone batting in first position who the fans were calling to. Maybe he still thinks that Boog Powel is still playing. In any case I actually believe the man so itellectually vacant, and so corrupt, that he like his Vice President don't really care what the majority of Americans think.

So the Bubble Boy President can do one thing and that is to throw a baseball. What a feat for the Bubble Boy President George Walker Bush something that he has touched he didn't screw up. Still the most incompetent, ignorant, pathetic, lying, biggest "Loser" of a President to have ever served the United States of America. Good bye and Good Riddance come January 20, 2009 as the Scumbag Loser will be done along with Vice President 5 Time Deferment Dickless Cheney.

Stumbled on this via Google News... I'm intrigued that a column about Washington behind-the-scenes is featuring a story about Bush doing something publicly. Why don't you tell me if it was a ball or a strike while you're at it?

Way to go, Pres. Bush. Stay the course even when public opinion, fickle as it is, isn't going your way. You made the right decisions to protect our country and I hope the course of events between now and the next Inauguration Day will fall in such a way as to demonstrate the value of a President who doesn't govern by political polling. God bless you, Mr. President!

Way to go, Pres. Bush. Stay the course even when public opinion, fickle as it is, isn't going your way. You made the right decisions to protect our country and I hope the course of events between now and the next Inauguration Day will fall in such a way as to demonstrate the value of a President who doesn't govern by political polling. God bless you, Mr. President!

So?

One job I would never want is C.I.C.

I am not very fond of the current administration, however I respect it. I feel the office deserves at least a little respect . I will show my disdain at the polls, while keeping a respectful tone.

Respect seems to be something we have lost in this country, we look like little whining children to the rest of the world when we act in this manner.

A government is only a good as the people who elect it's officials.

A government is only a good as the expectations put upon those same officials, bu those who elect them.

You want change? Get active. BOOING is hardly effective.

I'm disgusted too! I'm digusted that there are still people out there who will defend that lying SOB. Do they let the mentally retarded vote? Oh, that's right, that is just another name for republican.

Nice toss Pres. To the rest that hate the guy ...Go f yourselves ....I'm sure you'll like McCain better..

Peace

The rule of the stage. If you don't perform, you get booed. A collapsing economy, a stalemated war and a 9 Trillion dollar debt. What do you want... applause?

newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-ushill305631627mar30,0,1508575.story

Newsday.com
Clinton campaign head made $200,000 with subprime lender
BY GLENN THRUSH

glenn.thrush@newsday.com

March 30, 2008

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign manager, Maggie Williams, earned about $200,000 on the board of a Long Island subprime lender that charged prepayment penalties - a practice that Clinton, a critic of the subprime industry, now seeks to eliminate.

Williams, who took over the reins of Clinton's campaign in early February, served as a director on the board of the Woodbury-based Delta Financial Corp. from April 2000 until the firm declared bankruptcy in December, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records.

She was recruited by former New York City Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch, a Delta consultant. Her assignments were to create a new code of "best practices," and to improve the company's crisis management operation in the wake of state and federal predatory lending probes that resulted in a $12 million payout to borrowers.

Her hiring coincided with stepped-up Delta outreach efforts in minority communities, where the company made a large number of its loans, an initiative that included parties for homeless children and mortgage seminars in Brooklyn and Queens.

Williams, 53, isn't the only Clinton insider who made money from an industry the candidate has demonized. A month ago, The Wall Street Journal reported that Clinton ally and former HUD Secretary Henry Cisneros grossed more than $5 million in stock sales and board compensation from Countrywide Financial, one of the nation's largest subprime lenders.

Once a poster child for predatory practices, Delta's reputation improved substantially until it buckled, as executives avoided adjustable-rate mortgages for fixed-rate loans, which have fewer defaults.

To boost revenue in the absence of high-profit adjustable loans, the company charged relatively steep interest rates - 11 percent in 2007 - and levied higher-than-prime-loan closing costs.

And Delta assessed penalties to borrowers who paid off before their loans matured - a practice Clinton frequently decries on the campaign trail.

"I would eliminate the prepayment penalties that lead to such high rates of default," Clinton said in a March 24 speech at the University of Pennsylvania. "I would require lenders to take into account the borrower's ability to pay property taxes and insurance fees when deciding whether to make a loan in the first place."

Subprime loans come with higher interest rates and are offered to borrowers with poor credit. The loans soared along with the housing boom and are an underlying cause of the current credit crisis.

Williams downplayed her role at the company, saying, through an assistant that she served only in "an advisory/oversight capacity."

In a statement released through Clinton's campaign, Delta senior vice president Marc Miller said Williams "did not have a role in the day-to-day operations and management."

Calls to Delta executives, board members and their bankruptcy lawyer weren't returned. The company's switchboard and Web site have been deactivated in the last few days.

Williams turned down repeated requests to be interviewed, although her assistant, Amee Patel, provided brief responses to several written questions by e-mail.

Asked if Williams shared her experiences in the industry with Clinton, Patel responded, "She generally does not discuss her business, board memberships or organizational affiliations with the Senator."

For her services on the board, Williams was paid around $30,000 per year plus expenses and granted at least 25,000 stock options, according to the SEC.

Records show she was able to cash in some of the options for a profit of about $15,000 during a temporary rise in Delta's stock price in July 2007.

"She lost remaining options due to the company bankruptcy," Patel wrote in an e-mail.

A month later, in August 2007, Delta was shaken by a sudden contraction of the credit markets and began a first wave of layoffs. By year's end, the company had laid off all but 50 of its 1,350 employees after bailout attempts failed and the credit crisis deepened.

Like many prominent African Americans, Williams, who served as Hillary Clinton's top White House adviser from 1993 to 1997, initially had high hopes subprime lending would offer homeowning opportunities to inner-city families long stymied by discriminatory bank practices.

Speaking to Directors & Boards magazine in June 2000, Williams said she was excited about offering Delta's home equity loans to working families trying to move into the middle class.

"There are people who miss payments and have bad credit for all kinds of reasons," she said. "It is a very middle-American kind of problem, although I believe it does affect poor people disproportionately."

In the article, Williams said her first tasks were building a new communications operation and learning the ins-and-outs of subprime lending from Hugh Miller, the company's chief executive. "Hugh was really my teacher in all of this," she told the magazine.

If Williams was impressed, others remained skeptical of Delta's reinvention, with some watchdog groups arguing the company continued to aggressively market high-fee loans to low-income borrowers, driving them deeper into debt.

"There was some improvement after the settlement, but they were still the most aggressive company," said Matthew Lee, founder of the Bronx-based Fair Finance Watch, a nonprofit that monitors inner-city lending.

When a president refuses to be embarrassed by the documented lies he and his henchmen have told and continue to tell, when he continues to view the catastrophe of Iraq through rose-colored glasses, when he enabes the very rich to prey on the suffering of the poor with impunity while raking in greater and greater profits, when reasonable advice is spurned and honest criticism is punished, what is left for a helpless nation to do but boo him when the opportunity arises? It doesn't take brains or reading comprehension to understand that expression of utter rejection. Any office is only as worthy of respect as the man who fills it, and I remind those who trot out Bush's elections that they weren't exactly kosher and that many of those who were beguiled into voting for him have since joined a growing throng of dissolusioned Republicans like one elderly lady I overheard saying, "And to think! I voted for the little s--t!"

The Post's policy on reader comments:
"User reviews and comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site."

Obviously this rule doesn't apply to attacks on President Bush!
But if they are mad now, just wait until they get Pres. McLain!

Throw him Out!!

Throw him Out! Not the first Pitch!

First of all, TM, that was low. I've no objection to your opinion of republicans, but there are many republicans who aren't that bad (excepting, of course, polititians). I will be as happy as anyone once Bush is the heck out of power, but I see no reason to belittle half our political power for the phenomonal mistakes of a few. I am not a republican myself, so you've no need to accuse me of bias.
Now that that's out of the way, isn't the point of having the President throw the first pitch that it's someone with power? Bush hasn't the power, mental, moral, or political to admit that he MAY have made a mistake, much less provide any semblance of luck to anyone.
I don't care who the next President is as long as they've got the serenity to not beat a dead issue, the strength to fix what Bush screwed up, and the wisdom to keep from miring us in another silly crusade.

Those who talk about impeaching the president before the end of his term are wasting a lot of energy. If we wait long enough there may be sufficient public support for what this entire administration actually deserves: war crimes tribunals.

History will be far kinder to President Bush than any of the people commenting here. The name-calling and profanity without any substance is a pitiful commentary on the intelligence of the average American. The President was right to try and improve our schools.

Yeah sure he was right to try and improve our schools, how hard can that be right? It should be his job, and he even screwed that up. He hasn't accomplished one thing since he has been in office, and let's not forget he shouldn't even be in office!

How the baseball players would allow a drying Bush to pitch the ball at their celebrated opening game is incomprhensible. But then do some people comprehend anything other than a ball? Unless of course they want to hear BOOSH!

I am amazed that there are still people stupid enough to believe that Monkey Boy has done one thing to make this country safer. His national security team ignored a detailed memo about the threat posed by Osama Bin Laden given to them by Clinton intelligence people in January '01. His FBI ignored a specific warning issued by a field agent, about people who wanted to learn to fly passenger jets, but not to take off or land them. The result? 3,000 people die on 9/11. He snatches defeat out of the jaws of victory in Afghanistan. Thousand more continue to die. The Taliban is slowly reclaiming it's former position and we don't have enough manpower to fight them effectively. Our former NATO friends and others, won't lift one finger to help because they are so disgusted by Bush's "my way or the highway" attitude. He lies about why he invaded a sovereign nation slaughtering at least 100,00 Iraqi civilians and losing 4007 American lives and counting. There is no surge folks. Bush just found a sneaky way to put more boots on the ground in Iraq. He knows it's a lost cause, but he doesn't want the messy end to happen on his watch. Are you feeling safer now? In the meantime, hundreds died needlessly in the Gulf during and after Hurricane Katrina, other now learn that the tiny trailers they were given are highly toxic. There have been no serious measures taken to improve port protection, The Department of Homeland Security is wasteful and incompetent and now we learn that our passports are being printed outside of the United States. Infant mortality has actually risen while Bush has been in office. Those little babies weren't protected very well. Fewer young people can go to college, the value of the dollar has plummeted,and there are more Americans without health insurance now then there were in 2000. Are those folks any safer?

The Bush administration has hit this country like the plague. Only an idiot would say otherwise.

I don't believe Bush is leaving. Who would continue to hide all the s**t he's done? That is felonious stuff!

Someone once said: "Ignorance is bliss." The slimy, little, greased monkey George W. Bush just must be the most blissful thing on the face of God's Green Earth. Baby Boy Bush, when he is no longer in office, should not be given any more body guards than President Clinton. Georgie Porgie can hire his army of guards . . . not paid for by taxpayers.

Had I been there I most certainly would have exercised my right to free speech. Apparently the Utube video of that cathartic scene has already been removed.
That said I hope everyone will focus a little more of this mass frustration on all our 'poor & powerless' representitives who keep feeding the monsters. Saying " Oh look it's so horrible,horrible and we are so helpless - ee look at the fangs, the slobber - ee throw more money at it. "

And if you think IMPEACHMENT is a waste of our time - just take a look at all the other countries around the world who lost their own demoracy a few years back - ask them if they think empeachment 'at this point' is a waste of our time. Do you honestly think the next representive of global corporate trade is going to provide intervention & reinstate our demoracy FOR US ??? Who put Nafta and Gatt in place? - who dropped bombs on another country the day the Monica revealed 'the dress' For goodness sakes - remember and THINK - this is not just about 'this' horrible admistration - the over the top horribleness IS the shock, the distraction -the tactic !!

Look up the books by Naomi Klien and Naomi Wolfe The Shock Doctrine & The End of America

Respect is earned.

The OFFICE of the President deserves respect, but the man serving deserves only contempt - just like the contempt he has shown for this nation, it's moral fabric, it's people, the constitution, treaties with other nations, science, fiscal responsibility, the list is almost endless.

He wants respect? So?

So the president tried and improved schools, eh?Let's try showing our intelligence by saying "try TO improve".

I'm not sure of the exact date in this administration when the right to free expression was caNCELLED, BUT i THINK IT WAS JUST AFTER THEIR SACRED HOLIDAY, 9/11.

If I could think of one thing that the president has done for this country as opposed to to this coun try and its citizens, I might be persuaded to object to the booing. The anti Eisenhower is worthy of every boo he gets. He earned them, he deserves them. After all, hard work should be rewarded. And he has worked harder than any previous president to deny us our right of input to the running of the country.

Hey at least he can throw the ball across the plate. His predecessor certainly couldn't. Oh thats right he was busy with another sport...

That person who wrote defended the president must have his/her head up their arse. First have all Bush did not win any of the election: he stole it...so he should be impeached along with those guys on the supreme court.

It's people like you why this country is in the shape it is in. Give respect to a man that pretty soon will have us eating cat food? you got to be frekin kidding me. I was happy to see that there are still people in this country who are not swayed by the hopla of commander and chief and gave this war criminal what he deserved.

There is still hope for this country.

Any Bush supporters know how many people died in the war today? wounded? how much this war costs us every second?
As our Puppet President in Egypt said: " Everyday the US is in Iraq they create a 100 Bin Ladins". Safer??? Give me a break.

So????

Bush's "accomplishments" include torture, extraordinary rendition, abrogation of our treaties and violation of our laws, neglecting a justifiable war already underway in Afghanistan and peddling falsehoods to lead us into a tragically unnecessary (and counter-productive) war in Iraq, spying on Americans without a warrant, trashing the US economy and American prestige around the world. Bush and his cronies won't be charged at the Hague (though they should be). If Congress abdicates its (and OUR) responsibility to impeach Bush, then all the damage he has done to our nation and our way of life will stand...and future presidents will know they can get away with just about anything.

I was advised by a person, who is very credible that about a year and a half ago, Barbara Bush shared a meal with some top Republican lobbyists and power-brokers and referred to her offspring Georgie, as "The Dumby." As the old saying goes: "Momma knows best."
Bush has a mortal lock on going down as the worst President in our history, including Grant, Harding, Nixon, and other Republican gems. He deserved every boo he received and more. Had the Democrats not proved themselves ot be pusillanimous, they would have impeached this arrogant, incompetent, wasteful inidividual who has manifested throughout his terms his disregard and contempt for our Constitutional liberties, the middle and lower-classes, truth in justifying his actions, e.g., Iraq war, to the Congress and the American people, the lives and bodies of our troops, contractors and the Iraqis and the need to protect our taxpayers, our treasury and future generations from the implications of his pissing away huge amounts of our resources on his mindless, hopeless war and so-called foreign policy, the need to avoid increasing the already huge tax provisions, subsidies and regularity benefits enjoyed by the richest and most powerful persons and entities in our country, etc., etc. Any President and political party which could pass legislation barring the US government from negotiating with drug companies for lower fees on their drug products and creating the so-called "Donut hole," on reimubursement for drug expenses, which shafted the poor, the elderly and other less-fortunate Americans, who have significant and continuing needs for drugs to make their lives more bearable and less painful deserves our scorn, contempt and boos.

History will be far kinder to President Bush than any of the people commenting here. The name-calling and profanity without any substance is a pitiful commentary on the intelligence of the average American. The President was right to try and improve our schools.

Posted by: Buffal0Bill | April 1, 2008 03:49 P

Buffalo: Praise without any substance is just as bad. Getting elected is not reason enough in this losers case.

I'm a Democrat, and I respect the Presidency. As a New Yorker, I was shocked, however, about Bush's immediate response to 9/11 (the delay when he was at the school in FL).

Those minutes were caught on camera, and it terrified me that he was so terrified and looked as if he did not honestly know what to do next.

The headline to the article says "Baby is Born at Nationals Park". The truth, as acknowledged in the body of the article, is that the baby was born 15 hours later at a local hospital. Not surprising that this is what passes as journalism in this country considering how few so-called readers even bother to read beyond whatever provokes their hatreds and prejudices.

Bush hasn't made our country safer. He has played right into Bin Laden's scheming hands: Bin Laden said he would do something that would cause the US to spend itself into bankruptcy.

And Bush did it! The first war in US history without any tax plan to pay for it. So, we have gone billions into debt.

People say Democrats "tax & spend." You know what? Somehow that sounds a heck of a lot smarter than "borrow & spend," which has been the Republican Congress & President's plan for the last seven years.

Bush's stubborn refusal to deal with a factual world has pushed the cost of the Iraqi war off onto our children and their children. That's a fine gift! Republicans: stealing from your childrens' future. Those are facts.

"Helped schools"??? For the love of....!

Bush instituted full-out NATIONAL meddling in LOCAL schools. If a Democrat had even proposed such as thing, conservatives would have flown off the handle. But since Bush did it, it's ok. Because, you know, violating laws and long-held traditions and national values is what a Decider President does.

So, today, we have the National Government deciding what happens in each and every school in the nation. "No Child Left Behind" is more like "National Government Delves Deeply into Your Life."

Bush has set this nation back 50 years.

I cannot wait to see what history writes about the man. As more torture memos are uncovered and more financial connections to lying and stealing cronies are found, there will be no escaping: Worst President in History.

I keep telling myself a Bush backer that gee it was President Clinton who lost the House to Republicans,1st time in over 40 years, lost the Senate, the majority of State Houses and Governorships to the Republicans. He also said he was relevant. Oh well, then there was the sick sex scandel in the Oval Office. Oh yes, you all keep remembering the good old days of Clinton. Why is the nation rejecting the Hillary presidency?

Bob S., what does Clinton having sex and leading a NATO contingency have to do with the disaster that is Iraq, and all the other disasters perpetrated by this administration? When are Republicans going to learn that that dog don't hunt? Trying to put attention on Bill only makes you look exceedingly desperate, which is understandable considering who you are defending. Sad, very, very sad to see soo many GOPers still drinking the kool-aid.

SPECIAL REPORT: Black vendors allege "Vendor Gentrification" at Washington Nationals stadium
To hear interviews with Nationals players visit http://www.blackpressrasdio.com and enter keyword: BASEBALL

(BlackPressMagazine.com) - As Washington, DC Mayor Adrian Fenty took his place in the center of the ribbon cutting line to officially open the beautiful new Nationals Park, home of Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals on Saturday March 29 and when President George W. Bush threw out the first pitch at the season opener on March 30, there was no mention of the noose found in the park just a few weeks before.

But despite a powder blue sky and intense sun, the feeling of entitlement was thick in the air as the Washington Nationals christened their new baseball stadium at the lip of the Anacostia River.

On the lips of several attendees, some media professionals and stadium workers was the thing that Washington Nationals owners, executives and supporters have avoided talking about: Racism.

A growing group of opponents says the new Nationals Park is hot bed for ethnic and economic racism that will force citizens of color out of the city and keep them from taking advantage of the opportunities that the stadium brings.

For decades, most of the Greater Washington area avoided the mostly Black, increasingly poor community of Anacostia like a plague. All that is about to change now that Major League Baseball has built a new baseball stadium for the Washington Nationals. It will only take a matter of time before baseball fans decide to take a tour of the neighborhood surrounding the stadium.

Not so says Nationals Sr. VP of Communications Chartese Burnett.

"I grew up in SE so it's exciting for me to see what's happening to the community," she said during a podcast interview with BlackPressRadio.com. "I love the things we're doing for the community," said Burnett, a twenty year sports communications veteran who came to the Nationals after an impressive career with the NFL Players Association.

Burnett says The Nationals have been actively involved in working with the community with their outreach program and plan special tributes to baseball great Jackie Robinson and a special Negro League game later this spring.

But some say that's not enough.

One veteran media reporter complained about the lack of people of color on the walls of the stadium and found it difficult to find families of color to photograph and interview.

"I'm having trouble finding Black families to include in my coverage," said the reporter who covered the Opening Day game but requested to have their name withheld. "It's a beautiful stadium and we want to be involved but it's hard to justify," the reporter said.

The audacity of hope?

One of the main streets in Anacostia is Good Hope Road, but residents say there's nothing hopeful about it.

Most visitors first introduction to the legendary street is at the corner of Good Hope Road and Martin Luther King, Jr., SE where a newly constructed building marks the NAACP's failed bid to move to Washington, DC. The building was supposed to spur revitalization to the area, but instead sits empty and serves as a visual reminder of the city's refusal to commit to the current residents.

Some of the city's most important people now accuse the city officials of "ethnic and economic cleansing" of Anacostia, which is home of breathtaking views of the Washington Monument and Capitol building and is a five minute drive from Nationals Park.

Residents who have lived in that community for generations say that they have been pushed out to make way for "out-of-reach" priced condo projects clutter the otherwise beautiful skyline and obstruct the stadium's view of the capitol.
As you travel up the street, you'll see that the District of Columbia's Library System is also failing to meet the needs of the community, according to residents. In fact, DC has long since ignored the library on Good Hope Road that was supposed to be built putting the squeeze on residents who rely on the library's computer system.

Currently, the Anacostia Library is housed in a small trailer at 1800 Good Hope Road SE. According to Moses Alexander Greene, it will be years before the promised modern, state-of-the-art library will be available.

In 1999, the U.S. Department of Commerce coined the phrase "digital divide" and outlined a major gap between African Americans and other racial minorities related to computers, home phones and other digital accessible services.

"East of the River" organizations like the DC Library System and Operation Hope were designed to meet the needs of the community by providing access to computers.

But it's not just the DC Library System that is residents say are missing the mark.

At the end of Good Hope Road sits Operation Hope, a not-for-profit organization whose founder John Hope Bryant irritated some residents when he declared "Anacostia [is] a third world country" during a podcast interview with BlackPressRadio.com. But for more than three decades, many Washington-area residents shared Bryant's sentiment.

Although Operation Hope is designed to help residents of Anacostia have access to computers, homeownership workshops and entrepreneurship programs, foot traffic has come to a crawl as many residents feel squeezed out of the center because it recently began to charge for its services.

"I need a job but many of the companies I go to want me to apply online. I don't have a computer, and I cannot afford to pay new fees they charging. What am I supposed to do?" said SE resident Tanya Johnson.

Although Bryant calls Operation Hope's Cyber Cafe "Kinko's in the 'hood," on January 1, 2008, the organization began charging clients to use the computer. Two month later the center raised the fees again and now charges $75 per year for a membership to its cyber cafe and 25 cents per page for each printed page despite a partnership with Microsoft and Dell Computers. The center also recently began charging for the use of its community conference room and other services. Operation Hope has also discontinued employment services programs and does not provide computer training to its clients, many of which are not computer literate.

In hopes of reversing the community's disappointment, Operation Hope has recently received implemented a 9-week entrepreneurship program funded through a $600,000 grant by the Department of Commerce, which is in control of the digital divide programs. A newly established program with the Department of Treasury allows Operation Hope clients to open a bank account and access to services related to financial literacy, but residents complain that the services are to spread out.

"Some days I don't have bus fare," said Johnson. "If I don't have a computer, I can't get a job, and I can't afford to go downtown to withdraw money from the bank so I have to use the ACE [Check Cashing store] because it's in my neighborhood and I can walk to it," she said.

At the corner of Good Hope and Alabama Ave, the view of the Capitol building is almost as impressive as the traffic that patronizes the small but popular shopping center. Using Safeway grocery store as the anchor, the center which includes two banks M&T and Chevy Chase, a post office, police station and other retail store enjoy brisk business. But the residents aren't sold on the Nationals.

"To me, [Nationals Park] is just the beginning of me having to move," said Johnson. "We've scratched and clawed and made it this long, but now it's like they don't even want us here anymore," she said.

But insiders know that there is a heavy price for questioning baseball's impact on Anacostia and the Black community.

Former City Council Chairwoman Linda Cropp lost her bid for mayor when she opposed the plan to bring baseball back to Washington because in part of its devastating affects on the Black residents who have occupied the SW/SE area of Washington since Fredrick Douglass became the first Black homeowner in the area.

Recently, Mayor Adrian Fenty who beat Cropp in the race for mayor, draws fire from residents for his controversial plan to close nearly three dozen schools - including Stevens Elementary, the first school for freed slaves - to make room for pricey condos.

But officials feel that the Nationals are getting a bad rep uncessarily.

"It's a proud day in the District as we celebrate the grand opening of the city's newest monument, Nationals Park on time and within the cost cap. We are thankful for the leadership and support of the Mayor and the Council, and we truly appreciate all of the hard work by the construction team and the Nationals to make this dream of a new stadium a reality. It is our hope that the new stadium will not only serve the Nationals but also enhance the community," said DC Sports and Entertainment Commission CEO Gregory A. O'Dell.

As Fenty took his place in the center of the ribbon cutting line to officially open the ballpark, Cropp sat silently with her grandchildren looking on. The politics of the moment were hardly subtle as the mayor honored her legacy with a brief, five-second tribute.

Despite his avid support of presidential candidate Barack Obama, as the mayor spoke about the opening of the stadium there was no mention of diversity, inclusion or coming together as one city. There was no mention of the noose found in the park just a few weeks before. Still, it was hard not to feel warm and fuzzy minutes later when the mayor took to the mound with his two young sons and delivered the opening pitch during the first game ever played at Nationals Park.

Although things looked like business as usual, throughout the day the underlining message was, "You're with us or against us."

The Nationals scored big community points for including popular Black-owned Ben's Chili Bowl as a vendor at the new ballpark. In fact, during the March 29 exhibition game Ben's Chili Bowl, which is located at "Third Base Gate" in between "Left Field Gate" and the "Media & Suites Gate," enjoyed the longest line of any vendor.

Immediately following the game as everyone is rushing to get out of the stadium, if you head to South Capitol Street and N Place, SE, you see a group of people who are rushing to get in. About four dozen Latino workers stand in single file line to get inside the stadium to do the cleaning. Seeing the workers raises many questions including why are all of the workers Latino? Are they legally able to clean the stadium? How much are they being paid and what effort was done to ensure that other workers of other ethnicities are given a shot at cleaning the stadium?

Residents say another dirty secret of the Washington Nationals is the 800-pound gorilla called parking.

The closest METRO subway stop is Navy Yard on the Green Line, which some Washington insiders call the "Soul Train" because of its mostly African American ridership. Besides the obvious fact the system can barely handle the crowds, the tension between commuters and fans is expected to rise during the week when there are late games.

But what will likely have residents most upset is the closing of the SE Metro garage, which will an immediate and dramatic, financial effect on the commuters and residents who live in those East of the River communities.

The buses have been moved as far away as Montgomery County and Metro is giving workers overtime pay to move them. Instead of having the coming from the SE garage, the buses will suffer because the buses have to travel for up to two hours to begin its routes.

One veteran bus operator, who requested to remain anonymous for fear that METRO will retaliate, stated that there is already intense racial tension with the plan because workers at facilities like Chantilly, VA and Montgomery County, MD are complaining about having to work with people from SE.

"It's just not fair. Why would you do your employees like that?," said the bus operator "They built a beautiful new garage in Virginia that has pool tables, ping ping tables and all kinds of stuff there. I mean, it's baaad! Now, we don't even have a home, plus we have to work intense overtime. It's not right," said the operator.

Politics aside, there's little doubt that the new Nationals Park baseball stadium is beautiful and a work of art. In fact, if you stretched Nationals Park like a slinky into a boomerang curve, it would be a quarter of a mile long. The inspiration for the look of the ballpark was taken from the East Wing of the National Gallery of Art by Chinese architect I.M. Pei.

More than half of the crowd will walk straight off the street to their seats, without ever climbing elevators, ramps or stairs because the field is 24 feet below street level and the main concourse is the same height as the sidewalk. The right-angled jog onto the right centerfield fence is borrowed from the now demolished Griffith Stadium, former home of the Washington Senators, which played its last game 35 years ago against the New York Yankees.

Nationals Park is home to over 3 million feet of power wire and 714,000 watts of lights - the equivalent to 11,900 60-watt bulbs. Plus, over 180,000 hours of manpower went into the stadium to install electrical systems.

Season ticket packages can be purchased by calling 202-675-NATS (6287) or going online to natianls.com. Individual tickets can be purchased by calling 888-632-NATS (6287).

To hear the BlackPressRadio.com's exclusive Baseball Podcast Series including interviews with Black pitcher Jay King, stadium workers and apprentices, search keyword: "NATIONALS" or "SPORTS."

To see the Vendor Gentrification video podcast visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7om6bnCAIE

Black Press Radio.com has been heard by over 1.5 million people and enjoys nearly 400,000 downloads!! Have you listened yet? Don't forget to use keywords to search for topics. Check out the new Black Press channel at YouTube.com/blackpress: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydfz1ep9ocY

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