Miami officials who backed Marlins Park: Loria should “get the hell out of here for the good of the community”

In this day and age it is almost impossible to find something that, upon being criticized, doesn’t find itself with at least some defenders.  The urge to be contrarian can be almost overwhelming for some people — Slate has built its entire reputation on it — and thus you can be assured that even the most loathsome figures will inspire some “hey, they’re not as bad as you think” sentiment.

Still waiting for that with Jeffrey Loria and the Marlins ownership group. The knives have been out for them for weeks now, and it shows no sign of stopping. Even the people who once supported them so strongly that they gave them hundreds of millions of dollars are slamming them. For example, here’s former Miami-Dade County commissioner Javier Souto — who voted in favor of funding Marlins Park back in the day, but who now excoriates Loria — speaking to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald:

“This ownership group is a disgrace. I regret supporting it … This was a convoluted, complicated deal that [former county manager George] Burgess concocted and only he understood. He promised us it was the best deal…. Now, we’re close to a total boycott of the team. The best thing that could happen is for this ownership group to get the hell out of here for the good of the community.”

That’s nice and all — and, not coincidentally, a quite expedient position for a politician in Miami to have these days,  but would that Souto and his friends have been as critical of Loria and his plans before giving tax dollars to him against the taxpayers’ will as part of a deal he now admits he didn’t even understand.