Dumbest question of the day

MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews did a nice segment on Jackie Robinson today. Still, I'm sure many eyes rolled at this question to Jimmy Breslin (author of a new book about Branch Rickey, owner of the old Brooklyn Dodgers): "Do you think ... whites were afraid of black competition ... [and] that's why they kept the blacks out of baseball for all those decades?" No, Breslin shook his head. "It's because they [were] black. You don't need to say anything else." Matthews is well-meaning. But the answer (perfectly expressed by Breslin) is so obvious to anyone with even a passing knowledge of that bygone era, one wonders why Matthews bothered to ask at all. Sheesh.