The rules of politics these days are a little like the rules of basketball. My dad was a division two player in the late fifties, and he coached me when I was young. The way I learned the "rules" was this: if a ref didn't blow a whistle, then it wasn't a foul.
Of course, basketball in the fifties looked a lot different than it does today. In the footage of old games, it almost seems like the players are trying to follow the rules – as though it would be dishonorable to break them. Or, who knows, maybe it's just that the refs actually called fouls in those days. In any event, the game changed and it's bit rougher these days.
Politics changed, too. More below the fold...
It used to be that if you wanted to compare politics to a game, you went to chess or poker. Now, it seems, basketball is more apt. Just as no basketball player would think twice about committing a foul, so is there no longer any such thing as political ethics – whatever you do, if you don't get arrested and convicted, it's not a crime. And maybe not even then. It may be naïve to say it, but it seems to me that the rules have changed.
Obama's split lip is, I'm sure, already on its way to metaphor. Can he handle North Korea throwing an elbow or two? Can he play defense when republicans post up on the baseline? The one-liners come effortlessly. But with everyone and their brother angling for a Palin-Obama 2012 match-up – a little one-on-one between two former basketball players, the point guard against the power forward – a larger basketball analogy is maybe worth considering.
In basketball, teams actually break rules strategically – you manage your fouls. That, I think, is a better description of the republican playbook than the democractic playbook. It isn't really a foul to say that Obama's tax cuts are, in fact, tax hikes because the ref – the media – isn't blowing the whistle. Like those refs from the fifties, they've stopped enforcing the rules. Or, rather, the rules have changed because, like basketball, the political game has inched closer and closer to bloodsport.
Sarah Palin seems to get this pretty well – and you can use basketball to understand everything about her strategy. If she makes a rhetorical flub, she's not stupid – she just double-dribbled. If the media questions her for too long, she calls them for three seconds in the key. She's happy to endorse candidates who win – she gets an assist. And it's okay if she quits her job because she's just sitting out a quarter.
We know that Obama is both a poker player and a basketball player. But maybe his lip gash should get him thinking more of the latter than the former. It might be time to consider throwing a few elbows of his own, as follows:
For one, now that Emanuel has been traded to Chicago, it's time to get Dean back in the game. He never should have been benched in the first place, and now more than ever we need the full court press of the "Fifty-State Strategy."
Take a few more three-pointers in the form of ambitious legislation. It's okay to miss these every once in a while – democrats, in particular, will appreciate the effort. Not everything is a slam dunk, and if you endlessly pass the ball trying for a layup, the 24-second clock runs out on you.
Remember that, for the most part, you've got home court advantage – you get the crowd involved by scoring points, not by running out the clock while you're ahead.
You've got a deep bench – it's okay to trade players in the middle of the game. Indeed, it may only be because Bush didn't trade Cheney for someone electable that you are where you are.
Finally, when your opponent gets some momentum, do whatever you have to do to stop it. Call a time out, throw some elbows, break some rules yourself, provoke a fight. The other side does it, and if the ref's not enforcing the rules, it's not a foul.