Gracious in Victory
The GOP says Go Dick-Cheney Yourself
by Alan Bisbort

Nov. 8, 2004 -- HARTFORD (apj.us) -- When a baseball team is ahead in a series against a bitter rival, the last thing its manager wants is for one of his players to strut in front of the television cameras or hot dog in front of the other team’s dugout. Joe Torre of the New York Yankees knows this, which is why he was careful, even up 3 games to 0 against the Boston Red Sox, to keep his players—most of whom are paid more than he is—from gloating or taking anything for granted. And this is why, when the collapse came, Torre was gracious in defeat, even as Terry Francona was gracious in victory. And this is why, when the history of the game is written, Joe Torre will go down in the books as one of the class acts in all of professional sports. Nice guys can finish first.

Using this metaphor for politics, one can see that the GOP has no manager. They have no class acts. They have no one who will step forward and keep the troops in line. Mr. Bush’s first press conference has set the tone for the next four years: arrogant, petulant, strutting. It was the equivalent of pointing at the other team’s dugout during a home run trot or dancing on a fallen opponent after making a slam dunk.

For athletes, these sorts of gestures—running up the score, stealing bases when you’re up by 10 runs, bunting on a gimpy pitcher, beaning the star player—are not easily forgotten. In fact, they are NEVER forgotten and eventually fuel the defeat of the team that engages in them. Why? Because baseball, basketball and football are team sports. The good teams back up their fallen players, and regroup to fight another day. One year after losing a heartbreaking series to the New York Yankees on a homerun in Game 7, the Boston Red Sox vanquished their bitter rivals and cruised through the World Series.

It should be this way in politics, too, at least in the current climate.

If Democrats need any motivation over the next two years (until the mid-term elections) and four years (until we take the White House), here’s what should be emblazoned on the wall of every Democratic Town Committee, every union hall, every NAACP chapter, every public school wall, every senior center, and every home of anyone (including moderate Republicans) who opposes George W. Bush.

The following is a selection from a popular right-wing blogger’s post-election wrap-up. I believe it sums up the attitude of the GOP. Let us, then, use it to sow the seeds of their defeat:

“We won: to hell with the rest of them. Those who didn’t support Bush can go and perform a certain anatomically impossible act. They lost, now they can sit in the back of the bus. Thank God Almighty.”