[greymule]

Unfortunately, it is government that will be doing the background checks. Government will invariably miss many of the dangerous people and flag many innocent ones. Government just had Catherine Stevens, wife of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, on its "no-fly" list. Oops, they meant the former Cat Stevens, who became a Moslem years ago. (And why would he be on the list, anyway?)

Let's not assign the checking of umpires' backgrounds to the same people who make up the no-fly list, and who arrest aged WW2 vets because the Civil War rifle over the fireplace technically fits the definition of "assault weapon." What's an umpire going to do anyway, molest a kid on the field? Does an umpire by virtue of his official position have any greater chance than anybody else in the park to commit a crime against a child?

Afterthought: It is almost certain that the governor of New Jersey is going to commute the death sentence of every murderer on death row. This includes the man who raped and murdered Megan Kanka. I would agree that, should that guy be released at some point in the future (not impossible in this state), he should not be allowed to umpire a kids' game.

CLBuffalo: As something of a student of the McCarthy era, I know of no actual accusation put forth that Eisenhower was or had been a Communist. The John Birch Society did say, however, that Eisenhower was "an unwitting tool of the Communist Party." And don't you have a right to see that report that had "turned somebody's head"? Incidentally, do you know that Hollywood once maintained a "blacklist" of anti-Communists?

PS. Arlen Specter did not have any ties to Senator Joseph McCarthy. Robert F. Kennedy acted as assistant counsel to Roy Cohn for McCarthy's senate committee.