Posted on 11/29/2005 4:16:55 AM PST by WhiteGuy
Where is the Instant Replay?
"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program."
Ronald Reagan
Some of the most famous men in boxing-ring history weren't really "boxers" at all. They had real "knockout" punches that provided their victories as long as they could stay on their feet until they had the chance to use them. Babe Ruth's major league baseball career began as a pitcher, until someone realized how well he could hit. Golfers understandingly play to their strengths. Ben Crenshaw wants to get on the green; John Daly prefers the tee box. In sports, whenever a team or a competitor develops a winning play or a proven strategy for winning, they rerun it at every opportune chance they get as long as it keeps working. Even after it has apparently stopped working, they run it a few more times on different occasions or in different events just to be sure it doesn't really work anymore. In case anyone has any reservation or doubt, how often did Jim Brown run the ball for Cleveland or how many passes did Johnny Unitas throw in his career? How often did the Bulls work the ball to Michael Jordan?
In 1994, a conservative political genius devised a strategy of listing ten issues that were near and dear to the hearts of all conservative Americans. Republicans swept the elections gaining control of both houses of Congress for the first time in the lives of most of the conservatives that voted that year. It was no different for the candidates. Precious few of the incumbents in either house, whether defeated or re-elected had ever held office when Republicans controlled either house let alone both.
Was the election simply a backlash from Hillary's health care plan? Undoubtedly backlash was part of it, but the election could not have turned on the outcome of a pending health care vote because Hillary's plan had already been defeated in September before Congress adjourned to campaign for the November election. Americans are generally optimistic and forgiving; they normally prefer to vote for a candidate or an issue rather than voting for revenge. In choosing between the slate of Republican candidates or the Contract with America, who would be willing to dispute that more people voted for the Contract than were voting for the individual candidates?
Could the Contract with America have been the political equivalent of a knockout punch? The forward pass? Having a Jim Brown on third and one? Most people would be inclined to recognize the possibility except for one small detail. We have been more than ten years, five congressional election cycles, and Republicans have not even mentioned the Contract in conjunction with an election. In each and every one of those elections, Republicans held their collective breaths and Democrats were cautiously optimistic about regaining one or both houses of Congress. As the Chicago coach, in the fourth quarter of a close play-off game, would you keep Michael Jordan on the bench?
Why haven't the Republicans used another Contract with America to extend their margins in Congress or to simply advance our conservative agenda? Out of power for more than ten years, Democrats are now considering formulating their own version of a Contract with America. If repetition of winning plays by professional sports seems logical, I repeat, why haven't the Republicans had another Contract with America in a single election since 1994?
Answering the question of why "professional" politicians have behaved differently from professional athletes will be our first step toward understanding how to elect statesmen, patriots if you will, exactly analogous to the Founding Fathers.
Will You Take The Pledge?
© 2005 Hopeful Patriot
Archived Editorials
What on Earth could you possibly have to be paranoid about, Killborn?
:)
Souter.
Then agian, I'm paranoid 'bout everything.
That's true. :) Hehe!
I was only kidding and yet I wasn't kidding about Souter.
Poor Pres. Reagan and Bush I never knew what hit them. By that time it was too late. Let's hope Dubya puts a permanent end to this type of hoodwinking malarkey.
Better yet, lets hope a conservative Justice hoodwinks a liberal troll into appointing him. It will be a reverse Souter and FReepers could party. :)
No, kidding.
bump
Like when the government declared an end to some agricultural subsidies and replaced it with ever-so-generous 'transitional' payments. They just called it something else.
I look to forward to it
Please add me to your ping list.
I will add you when I get home, HP.
For what topics might your ping list be about?
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