What About Bob?

New York Assemblyman Bob Reilly campaigning at the Dreyfuss’ house.

We touched a bit on the MMA in New York issue already, but Cage Potato just put up an interview with New York’s resident fucktard Bob Reilly.  Excerpts below:

Just recently I asked an aide to look into the firing of the past chair of the State Athletic Commission, who was replaced by a woman (Melvina Lathan) who in fact had worked for [UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs] Marc Ratner, who now has a primary interest in Ultimate Fighting.  And this woman is going to be our primary regulator in New York State?  What is the connection and who brought her into this position of getting this chair?

Her statement upon getting the position was about how she supports MMA, which I found very suspect.  When I attended a meeting with her she demonstrated that she knew nothing about the sport. And yet her support for the sport was one of the first things that she focused on after being appointed.  It’s that type of suspicious activity that really questions the sport.  I think we’re down the road toward the corruption in boxing, and what happened to the fighters, the corruption in the sport.

(Italics mine.)

I once had a man come to me and say, ‘My nephew is a jiu-jitsu fighter who does MMA, and he has an advantage because of that.  What I’m really interested in is the skill of how he puts his jiu-jitsu skills against a boxer or whomever.’  I asked him, if that’s the case, why don’t people want to watch just jiu-jitsu?  Why isn’t that as popular?  In other words, I strongly believe, you take the violence out of this and it would lose its appeal.  Is it very popular with a certain segment of the population?  Certainly.  Is collegiate wrestling as popular?  No.

Why don’t Americans watch soccer, Bob?  Or cricket?  Or curling?  Americans sports are popular because they are just that – American.  Mixed martial arts, while derived from Vale Tudo fighting in Brazil, has largely become an American sport.  Is the violence a draw?  Of course, it is.  But it’s the same essence that draws people to football.  Or boxing in the 70’s.  Which you admit at numerous points in the interview to being a fan of.

Most people I know find it offensive to see a woman grab another woman by the hair and knee her in the stomach.

Excusing the subtle sexism of this comment, what the fuck does this have to do with MMA regulation in New York State?

One blogger said to me, there are more deaths in fishing than there are in mixed martial arts.  But in those sports the purpose is not to do harm to your opponent and there’s a lot of difference between a good hard tackle in football and what happens in mixed martial arts.

I find it hard to believe that that same person didn’t also mention that MMA has fewer deaths than your beloved boxing.  You know, that other combat sport in which the purpose is to physically harm your opponent.

In reponse to this question: Is it fair then to say you’re against combat sports in general, whether it’s MMA or boxing or kickboxing, since it all involves the intent to harm one’s opponent?

Absolutely not.  The only sport I’m against is mixed martial arts.

Oh, I’m sure there’s an extremely well reasoned and logical argument behind this which is completley devoid of any sort of appeal-to-emotion political anecdotes.

I have people come up to me…

Ah, fuck.

…just about on a daily basis, unsolicited, and say, ‘You’re doing the right thing.  This stuff is just brutal.’  People turn this on when they’re scanning through the channels, that’s their only exposure to it, and there are people kicking each other in the head…People see this and they are really offended and disgusted by it.  They see the violence in it.  They don’t come up to me and talk that way about boxing or football.

Intellectual dishonesty at its finest.

But the people who own this Ultimate Fighting aren’t millionaires, they’re billionaires.  They’re Las Vegas casino owners.  I was in Las Vegas about six weeks ago.  At that time, the government was set to cut the wages of teachers and public employees by six percent.  That’s not a community.  At the same time, at one event out there, the lowest priced ticket was $340 or something like that.  My number may be a little wrong but it’s about that.  I don’t see how that helps build an economy.

It appears as if Bob is dumping the entirity of Las Vegas’ economic woes on mixed martial arts and the UFC.  Surely it has nothing to do with the housing market failure.

And disregrading the ticket price Bob quoted (where he is wrong and completely talking out of his ass), the fights are held in LAS VEGAS.  The main industry is TOURISM.  People come out here to SPEND MONEY.  You fucking moron.

Not just because, but in part.  I do compare the two activities somewhat.  But what has mixed martial arts done for Las Vegas?  Many of those casinos are now going broke.  The city is in a bad financial situation.  So it hasn’t done too much for their economy.

What.the.fuck.

The argument you just made, (note: Ben asked whether or not not legalizing MMA infringed on fighters’ rights to make a living) I get many emails that make that argument, but this is the role of government.  Government says what you can and can’t do.  Government says you can’t drive over a certain speed limit or you can’t sell wine in grocery stores or you can’t stage a dog fight…

There he goes again, equating a sport between two consenting adults to dog fighting.

Government is not a monolithic entity.  It is not an independent body which should act toward its own benefit.  It functions to serve the people within its jurisdictions.  And with that in mind, Reilly’s statement borders on a misunderstanding on the basic tenets of government at best, and the thoughts of a man sympathetic towards totalitarianism at worst.

I really recommend everyone go read this article for themselves.  It’s a perfect example of politicians lacking touch with modern society and current issues.  Big ups to Ben at Cage Potato who I feel did a good job of balancing sharp, poignant questioning without coming off as a raving MMA fanatic.