Worth it?

VIEWPOINT

By RALPH HARDIN

Evening Times Editor

Back in 2021, the Georgia State Legislature passed a voter reform bill that much of the rest of the nation looked at and raised a number of alarms about the law, claiming that it disenfranchised many poor and minority voters.

Well, almost immediately, it began to impact the Georgia economy. Many businesses are severing contracts with Georgiabased entities, a handful of film and TV production companies announced their intentions to give up the state’s lucrative tax breaks and film elsewhere, and even Major League Baseball pulled the 2021 All-Star Game from the Atlanta Braves’ home stadium, Truist Park.

I mention this because guess where the 2025 MLB All-Star Game will be held. Yep, Truist Park in Atlanta. So, I guess the statute of limitations on outrage is three years. To be fair, it is

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hard to be that mad for that long. You see it all the time with protestors who protest like their lives depend on it and then fade away as the next new thing to be angry about takes precedence.

We saw the same thing later that year in Arkansas when the state’s new anti-trans laws prompted the NCAA to strip the Razorbacks of a chance to host a college baseball Super Regional, a multi-school event that would have not only bring visitors and revenue to the state but also give the Razorbacks a chance to play postseason baseball on their home field. Why would the NCAA give a school an event that would stir up trouble when there are dozens of other schools perfectly willing to do so that won’t raise eyebrows.

Is either side really accomplishing anything with any of these moves. At the end of the day is any of this worth it?

What did MLB ultimately accomplish by stripping the All-Star Game away from Atlanta (for a few years). What did the state of Georgis really achieve with its new laws?

Arkansas has been basically “you can’t do that” by so many judges at this point that I’m not even sure if the legislature knows which of those controversial new laws are still actually in effect.

Are these petty party politics getting any thing done? Is it all worth the animosity. Most, I think, would say it is not.