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Play Your Own Game
It’s almost as if there were a law. In the pregame of every major sporting championship the intrepid sideline reporter will catch up with the coach of the underdog team and breathlessly ask, “How to you beat those guys?”
“Simple,” says the underdog, “We have to play our game. If we play their game, we lose.”
It sounds clichéd but it’s true. Not just in sports but in politics as well. And the name of the game we’re playing today is “condemnation.” The rules are relatively simple.
- A group or leaders of a nation-state does something bad.
- American politician must issue a statement of condemnation, preferably “in the strongest terms possible.”
At this juncture the ball is now in play. Points are awarded and deducted based on the adequacy of the statement. The actual effect of the statement is to be disregarded as this is not the point of making the statement in the first place. (The three previous administrations played the game very well vis-à-vis North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. That the current administration may have to actually deal with the problem is immaterial.) The rules are very fluid and are often adapted on a case-by-case basis.
For example, in 1964 an off-duty New York City policeman shot and killed 15-year-old James Powell in Harlem and that event triggered six days of rioting in the city. Three days in President Lyndon Johnson issued this statement:
It must be made clear once and for all that violence and lawlessness cannot, must not, and will not be tolerated. In this determination, New York officials shall have all of the help that we can give them. And this includes help in correcting the evil social conditions that breed despair and disorder.
American citizens have a right to protection of life and limb-whether driving along a highway in Georgia, a road in Mississippi, or a street in New York City.
I believe that the overwhelming majority of Americans will join in preserving law and order and reject resolutely those who espouse violence no matter what the cause.
Evils acts of the past are never rectified by evil acts of the present. We must put aside the quarrels and the hatreds of bygone days; resolutely reject bigotry and vengeance; and proceed to work together toward our national goals.
By the rules of the game in 1964 this was a home run. Points were awarded on the following merits:
- Inclusiveness of mutual blame and goals
- Law and Order and Pubic Safety first
- Forward thinking
Bonus points were awarded for the politics. LBJ was a Democrat running for re-election that November.
What got the White House love and admiration in 1964 were universally condemned over the weekend in President Trump’s remarks about Charlottesville. While LBJ waited three days Trump lost bigly for waiting three hours. While LBJ won points for condemning both sides Trump lost points for being insufficiently specific. Where LBJ won points for rejecting both “bigotry and vengeance,” vengeance is now a stated policy goal of the left. Bonus deductions were made because Trump is a Republican and will, presumably, run for re-election.
This exercise will lose me points for playing another political game called “Whataboutism.” If you think the condemnation game is rigged, Whataboutism is Russian Roulette with rounds in all six chambers. Any defense of Donald Trump is automatically scored as a loss. There is no double standard too egregious. And like counting cards at the blackjack table, Whataboutism comes with its own version of banning by the House: “If Obama had done that…” Comparing actual Trump actions to actual past actions of previous administrations = loss. Comparing actual Trump actions to hypothetical past actions of previous administrations = loss. The House always wins in the end.
That’s the funny thing about the games we play is that we accept the malleable rules on one hand and denounce it on the other. We accept the fact that the progressives make it up and bend the rules as they go along and we demand “principled” self-reporting of “rules violations.” The Progressive Left is playing hand grenades and we’re playing a gentleman’s round of golf. We’re all playing our own game. The problem is that, of course, we all lose.
Published in Politics
Just imagine how it would have been spun had Trump offered any assistance, or if the Virginia National Guard had been called up. “Trump uses military to suppress BLM and Antifa, giving aid to Neo Nazis and the KKK.” There is no winning with these people.
Here is how Trump should have handled the situation:
http://hotair.com/archives/2017/08/14/pence-dangerous-fringe-groups-no-place-american-public-life/?fref=gc
If only we had an actual President instead of this clown.
Disagree, because the media is totally blacking out the fact that Antifa and BLM were involved. They have invariably been referred to as ‘counter protesters’, and ‘anti white supremacists’. Acknowledging them as Antifa and BLM would harm the narrative. People might remember that those groups have a history of rioting, and wonder if that played a part in what happened Saturday.
True.
Today, it appears his priority is specifically going after Ken Frazier (and demonstrating his ignorance about drug pricing). Somehow, he has difficulty specifically calling out other entities, however.
Having the federal government setting drug prices is totally conservative right guys?
In Ronald Reagan’s world if you disagreed with the President 20% of the time you were an ally. In modern conservatism if Trump deviates from your world view 20% of the time he’s a clown, a loser and must be dealt with accordingly.
Interesting game you play.
You are correct that the Right is trying to play baseball while the Left just wants to play Hobbesian Calvinball (heh).
The problem is that everybody loses when we all just play Calvinball. We lose even more than we lose now. And there isn’t another game to play. Either we have rules or we don’t.
It is infuriating, I know. The Left deserves a taste of their own medicine. They should be made to understand just how ridiculous and destructive they are being. But we can’t throw away all the norms and rules we want to conserve in order to do so.
No. The left has already done that. Order I conserved through power.
This isn’t a matter of disagreement on policy. It’s a matter of calling evil by its name. Conservatives used to be for that. Under Obama.
Trump’s statement today was good. It’s what he should have said in his initial comments:
“Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,” Trump said in televised remarks Monday afternoon from the White House. “Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America.”
Well done, sir.
Funny, I remember people saying exactly this about Marco Rubio during the primaries, and they were called Establishment stooges for doing so.
@umbrafractus My point there is that there really are no rules and no limitations in politics except what we put on ourselves. The left certainly doesn’t hold back.
I don’t think you’ll find any Trump supporter on Ricochet who thinks the President is the second coming or couldn’t do things differently and better. But as another Donald once pointed out, you never get to go to war with the army you want, only the army you’ve got.
I’m usually with you when it comes to Trump, Jamie, but this is people looking for something to get offended by, and quelle surprise they found something. Trump’s original statement was absolutely right; there is hatred on both sides. Between the alt-right and Antifa, if you asked me to guess who threw the first punch, I’d say it’s a pretty easy guess. Of course the media won’t even admit that Antifa and BLM were there because that undermines the narrative.
Only one side committed an act of terrorism. As for the punching – meh, idiots are going to idiot.
There were allegations (and I have no idea if they will be borne out – this could be entirely unsupported rumor) that the Antifa nitwits threw rocks before the car attack.
You and I apparently have very different definitions of terrorism.
FIFY. That act was not committed by a ‘side’, it was the action of an individual. Or should we condemn all BLM protests when a cop is shot, or all Muslims when something blows up?
If that is confirmed then they should also receive punishment and withering judgement from the rest of us.
It may be unsupported, but it’s entirely believable.
No but around here we often do. Why the sudden reticence when its White Nationalists (I’m not accusing you specifically of this).
Which is what is also going to make it difficult to sort out. If it did happen, I think the media will ignore it. If it didn’t happen, then others will claim a coverup.
When they establish the same kind of track record as the others, feel free. Until then, it’s out of line.
I assume you mean threw rocks at the car, right? Because I’ve heard rumors to that effect. But it will all depend on whether there is video. If there is, the media can’t ignore it. If not, it will remain a rumor.
Moderator Note:
Refrain from the personal shots.Nice use of the word clown. The are at their best in horror movies.
I guess he should have simply shouted out that the woman who was killed had her hands up. Obama poisoned our discourse. [redacted]
Insufficient renouncing is not conservative. Got it. Failing to blame all the bad people in the world within 3 hours is not conservative. Got it.
Little Marco is so 2015.
Wow, great dissembling! Use of the imperial “we” is brave and adds a lot of information. Yes, most of us here have a habit of generalizing blame, and are damned quick about it. Are you sticking up for white nationalists? When did you stop beating your wife?
EJHill, this is one of the most brilliant posts you have ever done. Thank you for being part of Ricochet.
Just watched the Special Report Roundtable clip – very disappointed in Steve Hayes. Thought he was over the line with Molly Hemmingway, who has really carved out a nice, unique point of view for herself in print and on screen.