Atlanta native David Cross has been a life-long Atlanta Braves fan but with the team's move to Cobb County next year, he doesn't plan to follow.
Instead, the 52-year-old stand-up comic and actor said he proudly wears a T-shirt which uses the F word attached to "Cobb County." (A former GPB producer created it and got fired as a result in 2014.)
"I bought it online," Cross said recently while promoting his new Netflix comedy stand-up special "Making America Great Again!" "I was a Braves fan. Die hard. With my family and friends, I've probably spent $40,000 over the years on the team. I've been to NLCS, the World Series. I was at Fulton County Stadium when they won the World Series in 1995 and David Justice hit that home run. I've been to numerous games. No more. I just can't. It's so blatantly wrong."
Even Tim Lee being voted out as chairman of Cobb won't sway him. "That's great but it's a little too late," he said. "I can't in good conscience go there. I know a lot of friends who feel the same way."
He visits Atlanta two or three times a year to see family. He has biked the BeltLine. He has visited Krog Street Market. "Less cars, more bikes, more greenery, that's great," he said. And he's thrilled Millennials are more accepting of MARTA.
Cross said the reaction to his stand-up special - which eviscerates presidential candidate Donald Trump - was not surprising. His fans enjoyed it but the 10 percent of people on social media who still think he's Tobias on "Arrested Development" were not so amused. "They're outraged and say you should leave politics to the politicians," he said. "I'm just a bunch of liberal shillery. Happens at every show."
I spoke to him right after Trump implied (perhaps) that supporters of the Second Amendment should go after Hillary Clinton and gun-control supporting judges. Cross isn't sure he really meant that.
"I think he's so dumb, he does't have any editor or filter," he said. "He was trying to be cute and funny and toss something off to his base. I don't think he was truly wanting her dead. That may be the upshot but I truly don't think he's that deliberative or that thoughtful."
Despite the comedic material, Cross is not enjoying this presidential race. "I can't wait until it's over," he said. "I'd like to focus on other things. It's unprecedented what Trump has been able to achieve and the way he's able to achieve it. I fear we may never go back. I think we lowered the bar so monumentally for how uncivil the discourse can be. At least Newt Gingrich spoke in code."
Cross is no fan of Hillary Clinton and a big supporter of Bernie Sanders. "I care about people. I care about this country. I care about the planet. I care about my Muslim friends and my black friends and my gay friends and family. Yes. I will vote for Hillary Clinton. I'm not stupid. I'm not selfish. I'll hold my nose and continue to speak out on things I speak out about. Hopefully, they'll be some change from the bottom up instead of the top down. Hopefully, we'll have a whole new generation of people make the things they want to happen happen."
He chose not to make a big issue about Clinton and Sanders on stage at the time he taped the special in Austin in April. "It didn't feel right for a comedy show," he said.
On Netflix
"David Cross: Making America Great Again!"
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Monday, September 5, 2016
About the Author
