Just when you figured there wasn't a local public official in America with enough courage to stand up to the intimidation tactics of the franchise hustlers of Major League Baseball, along comes Linda Cropp of Washington, D.C., to restore our faith in government for the people.

The bully boys of MLB had all but convinced the politicians of the District of Columbia to buckle under to their scare tactics and build a baseball stadium that could cost more than $500 million and be paid for almost exclusively with taxpayers' money.

MLB's favorite tactic -- the one that worked so effectively in Pittsburgh -- is to tell the elected officials of a city that if a new stadium isn't built, the franchise will be moved. That wouldn't work in Washington because there is no team. But a lot of movers and shakers (and too many journalists) badly wanted baseball and knew, because MLB told them so, if they didn't act now to secure the wandering Montreal franchise, it could be decades before another team might be available.

These so-called leaders wanted a team in the worst way and cost, obviously, was not a consideration.

The fact the public was lopsidedly opposed to a stadium being built at its expense -- as was the case in Pittsburgh -- made no difference. Nor did the fact two previous teams failed in Washington. The Minnesota Twins and Texas Rangers once were the Washington Senators. No matter, the politicians plunged ahead.

It looked like a done deal. MLB thought as much and already had its hand in the public's pocket and was ready to walk away with the funding when Cropp, who is chairman of the D.C. Council, put a halt to this modern-day highway robbery. She proposed an amendment to the original funding legislation that would call for private financing for 50 percent of the stadium. The amendment passed, 10-3, and then the original plan, now amended, passed, 7-6.

Rather than attempting to forge a compromise with what is the most viable option for the Montreal franchise, Bob DuPuy, MLB's chief operating officer, called the new deal, "wholly unacceptable" and so much as shut down the Washington operation.

When Cropp, who understandably is under much pressure to fold on her position, asked for additional time beyond the Dec. 31 deadline in order to secure private financing, DuPuy would have none of it.

"We are expecting the Dec. 31 commitment to be fulfilled," he said. "We are not negotiating."

Small wonder some of the D.C. Council members were put off by MLB's imperious negotiation stance.

The nerve of Washington to expect MLB to be anything but an unmitigated freeloader.

Baseball lovers who were counting on a team are furious. But somehow one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world -- a city which already has four professional franchises -- will survive.

"My basic belief," said Cropp, "is that there are too many public dollars going into this. This will make the mayor seek private dollars ..."

Fat chance of getting private money. No one with that kind of wealth would spend two seconds considering such an investment. MLB makes a splendid case for a new stadium at taxpayer expense. It has studies and surveys that prove the new facility will provide jobs and drive additional development.

That's the same spiel we heard in Pittsburgh. Four years after PNC Park was built, there is, finally, construction on the North Shore, which means some jobs. But the predictions of a vibrant community surrounding PNC Park and between PNC Park and Heinz Field have not come close to materializing.

Meanwhile, bars and restaurants are springing up all over the South Side, which is the hottest place in town without, amazingly, a baseball and football stadium to attract customers.

Speaking of the plan for a ballpark for Washington, Stanford University professor Roger Noll, who has authored books on the subject, said, "If they're trying to sell it on grounds of actually contributing to economic growth and employment in D.C., that's wrong. There's never been a publicly subsidized stadium anywhere in the United States that had the effect of increasing employment and economic growth in the city in which it was built."

Other cities are eager to throw hundreds of millions at MLB for a team. Norfolk, Va., for one, is ready to get back in line and Las Vegas is lurking.

P.T. Barnum was right. There's a sucker born every minute. Fortunately, for the District of Columbia, Linda Cropp wasn't one of them.