Protests, Baseball, and the Arizona Immigration Law

I'm surprised to hear that the Arizona boycott is actually gaining force – as my understanding, which is the same as the textbook's – is that most boycotts and other large-scale protests end up swept under the rug or directed to the "sit-in room" because much of the protest machine is, much of the time, fabricated and insincere.

According to a May 14 blog post on the NY Times website, the "Arizona Republic is reporting today that Gov. Jan Brewer and tourism-industry leaders are so worried about the loss in convention and tourism business that they are setting up a task force, funded by $250,000 from the state’s commerce department, to counter what they say is “misinformation’’ about the new law."

And just to illustrate how far the issue has gone, my dad mentioned tonight that he read the MLB players union strongly opposes SB1070, and that many players, particularly those of Latin origin, have promised to boycott the 2011 All-Star Game if it's held in Arizona.

This is what finally got my attention. This is proving to be a very costly 'misunderstanding' that's forever branded the state's image in the eyes of most people, and isn't as much a policy issue as it is a P.R. issue.