I am a great admirer of Beltway columnists like Ruth Marcus, Chris Cillizza and Dana Milbank, people who get that Both Sides Do It. This space will be used to try and write the smelliest piece of centrist trash possible.
There's an old saying in football: Don't spike the football.
In baseball, they say put your head down when you hit a home run.
Politics is a lot like sports. There's red and blue. Often both parties come out black and blue.
It's just the nature of the game.
Using this "politics as sports" analogy, I think it's important that President Barack Obama takes the advice of warriors like Vince Lombardi: Don't spike the football. Look to the Baltimore Orioles great Brooks Robinson, who never celebrated a home run.
President Obama came out to address the media Thursday and proceeded to go against both those great men. He taunted Republicans. Not only did he spike the football, but he danced in the end zone like a hot dog.
Is this leadership?
What America needs is a leader who will take on the serious challenges; not celebrate winning a shutdown. Because when he wins, we lose.
Instead, President Obama should have been gracious to his Republican counterparts, who were simply doing what they thought was in the best interests of the country. President Obama fought the urge to embrace the damaging rhetoric of his liberal supporters during the shutdown, which is admirable. That's leadership.
But what Obama did on Thursday was disgraceful. Luckily for him, he can right this wrong by vowing once and for all to bring our sprawling entitlement state to a heel. He can tell the nation he will be supporting the Paul Ryan plan, that he will bring real change to Medicare and Social Security. By doing this, he will put the onus back on Republicans, who must be willing to accept some revenue.
You won, President Obama. You stood firm in the shutdown, and your party won. But a real win would come by finally reaching that Grand Bargain.
If Obama can achieve that, go ahead and spike the football. Do the "Dirty Bird." Do whatever.
Winning the shutdown was a touchdown.
Winning a Grand Bargain would be a Super Bowl.