Mr. Will is a longtime friend of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig and other MLB owners.
To be fair to Mr. Will, he says he does not know how he got the special seating assignment, although the "I don't recall" excuse is often used in Washington by those who want to evade the question.
Mr. Will's (apparent) willingness to accept an entitlement from the high and mighty is instructive here because he has just written a column attacking Congress for pushing a Digital TV "entitlement" for people who will likely never have the opportunity to sit next to him at the ball park.
Congress is considering subsidies for people to buy converter boxes if they can't afford a new Digital TV when the U.S. switches TV signals from analog to digital in late 2008 or early 2009. Without the converter box or the Digital TV, viewers will not be able to watch TV when the switch occurs.
(The House and Senate both approve DTV subsidies, although they disagree on the amount; the issue will likely be resolved soon by a conference committee.)
But the columnist says it's silly to believe that Americans have a right to be entertained.
"Americans have such an entitlement mentality, they seem to think that every pleasure — e.g., digital television — should be a collective right," Will writes.
There is an argument to be made against the Digital TV subsidy. As Will points out in his column, it's arguably unfair to 'penalize' people who decide to buy Digital TVs by offering subsidies to those who do not. (Although it also seems unfair to force people to buy a new TV or a converter box just because the government wants to change the rules.)
However, Will is clearly the wrong person to make the case that people shouldn't be 'entitled' to "every pleasure." When your fame and friendship with the powerful automatically brings you special opportunities, it's unseemly and hypocritical to advocate that the less connected shouldn't catch a break, too.
Afterall, it's easy to assume that Mr. Will already has a nice Digital TV to watch the Nationals on in case he decides not to attend the game in person. However, many Americans have nether the money -- or opportunity -- to buy box seats or a Digital TV.
The 'let them eat cake' philosophy is a poor choice
whether you're wearing a Marie Antoinette Wig or a
Brooks Brothers bow tie.
To read the entire Will column, click
Will.
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