Time to Grow Up

The Wisconsin and Indiana legislatures are not teaching the lesson that I would want my kids to learn. The lesson they seem to be teaching is, "If the game is not going your way, then take your ball and go home." What ever happened to fight the good fight, play hard until the final buzzer, and run through the finish line? The essence of good sportsmanship is also the essence of good politics.

Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if every Big Ten basketball team simply left the court whenever they got behind Ohio State by 15 points? Or if teams in the ACC refused to come out of the locker room for the second half just because Duke or UNC was sure to win in the end? We chuckle because such a thing would never happen. The players on the opposing team have too much self-respect and sense of honor. They will play by the rules. That, and if they refuse to play, they will simply forfeit.

The political problem in Wisconsin and Indiana is that no one can declare a forfeit. The absent legislators have the power--misused as it is--to bring the machine to a grinding halt. But having the power does not mean that it is right or proper to use that power.

I can only imagine the rhetoric if it were the other side who had simply walked away and refused to play. They would be painted as villains who were not willing to play by the rules. Wasn't it President Obama himself who said, "Elections have consequences."? If the Wisconsin and Indiana democrats don't like the consequences of the election, then, like honorable legislators for generations before them, they should make their best case to persuade their colleagues, and if that fails, they should take their case to the voters of Wisconsin and Indiana in 2012 and try to return their party to a place where they can pass or block (legitimately) the bills that they care about. Running away solves nothing.

I know the frustration of playing a superior team and having absolutely no reasonable chance of winning. I know how it feels to step into the batter's box where my only hope of getting on base was to get hit by a pitch. I know how it feels to stand at the starting line and know that unless the guy next to me falls, he will finish the 110 meter hurdles while I am still running hard. But I still played. I still batted. I still ran. And if I lost that game or race, it was a driver to get better. Because there would be a next time.

I know the utter frustration of seeing legislation debated and passed that I believe is horribly unfair, unjust, or plain bad for my state or our country. But the answer is not to run away. The honorable response is to do what I can to elect representatives who will support an agenda that I believe is good for Minnesota and for America. To stay in the game. To make my best case. To win or to lose with honor and dignity.

But running away? Grow up kids!
-Ken