OPINION:
Rules govern every sport. Those who understand and exploit those rules best tend to give themselves and/or their team a competitive advantage. Tiger Woods understood this completely. He was an encyclopedia of the rules of golf. Free drops. Lift/clean and place. Whatever the rules allowed, no matter how tiny, Tiger would consider. Relief, even in the form of just a few inches, might provide a better lie, resulting in a better shot, typically resulting in finishing the hole more strongly, and in turn, winning a tournament. Woods’ strict adherence to the rules was good for him and good for the game.
Sometimes, however, taking advantage of the rules is detrimental to the game. Professional baseball, for example, has recently seen several recent strategic maneuvers like the infield defensive shift or like the pitch count, a practice where managers pull the pitcher after he’s thrown a certain number of pitches, regardless of how well he is doing, even sometimes in no-hitter situations. These data-based moves may provide a competitive edge, but they damage overall fan and player morale. In short, it’s bad for baseball.
So it is with politics. Politics may be the roughest and is certainly the most documented “sport” in America. Politics has turned into a game of tiny incremental, often data-driven moves, intended to influence election outcomes. Obviously, candidates and political parties have always wanted to win, but the manner in which they manipulate the rules has changed remarkably.
Limits on contributions to political candidates have been circumvented by super PACs.
Threats of impeachment have become a political tool used by both parties rather than a serious last resort for a rogue president.
Supreme Court justices — and increasingly lower federal courts too — are no longer confirmed by the Senate according to merit, but rather subject to votes strictly along political lines.
On the issues, former President Trump was for a TikTok ban until he was against it. President Biden spent much of his political career as a pro-life Catholic, until he wasn’t. New reports show the House Jan. 6 Committee, the one that wouldn’t allow the Republicans to choose their own members to serve on it, intentionally suppressed exonerating information. In some states Democrats tried to ban Mr. Trump from appearing on the ballot. Some Republicans publicly suggested they should return the favor, banning Mr. Biden from red-state ballots.
During the primary season, Mr. Trump refused to debate his GOP challengers, but now insists that Mr. Biden must debate him as often as possible. It was in Mr. Trump’s favor not to share a stage with other Republicans and most think it is in his favor to stand side by side with Mr. Biden.
Lost in all of that is what is in the best interest of the citizens. It seems no one is worried about the greater good or keeping the security of the structure intact.
The president’s 2024 State of the Union address drew a huge crowd of more than 30 million people, aided by what I call the NASCAR effect. Some NASCAR fans love and appreciate the skill of the drivers at high speed. Many fans have a morbid curiosity, however, if there will be a horrific crash during the race. So it was with Mr. Biden’s address. A similar morbid curiosity wondered whether the 81-year-old president could even last for 60 minutes or whether a type of horrific crash would happen.
A complicit media plays a role in all of this too. National news networks have staked out political positions and skew their programming, commentary and interviews to support their predetermined position. I used to joke during his presidency that if Mr. Trump found the cure for cancer, CNN would report “Trump puts doctors out of work.”
The result is that getting a balanced, fair interview of any public official without the moderator either cheerleading or chastising the guest is nearly impossible. No one is well served.
During my second-grade year, President Richard M. Nixon was elected to a second term. This was the year that sparked a lifelong passion for politics in me. We were taught that anyone could run for public office. We were taught that there were limits on political contributions so the wealthy couldn’t have undue influence. We were taught both candidates would share their opinions and adults voted on whom they liked better.
The voting process, we were told, was a privilege. If you wanted to vote, you had to register in advance. You showed identification at your voting precinct in order to get your ballot and all ballots were kept secure at all times, even getting police escorts from the precinct to election headquarters to be counted. Secure “chain of custody” of ballots was absolute.
Now there are drop boxes, ballot harvesting, no ID is required, and no chain of custody. At the risk of sounding like an old guy, what if we took a lesson from yesteryear — lessons from second grade, in fact — and implemented some of these very basic practices again? It isn’t that the world was perfect in 1972. To the contrary, that was the year of the Watergate break-in and all that came with it. Human beings certainly have the capacity to step outside the rules, no matter what those rules are.
The concern in 2024, however, is that America is dropping or ignoring the most basic rules of law and order in the political process. Manipulating the rules for personal gain is bad, but discarding the rules altogether is sowing the seeds of chaos.
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