It's been a looooooooong week. We lost an election in MA we should have won by 15 points. Let's all take a deep breath. We can learn from this debacle and move on OR we can continue to self destruct. Today's diaries have been wrought with justifiable anger and frustration. The Democratic Party also needs a 24 hour moratorium on talking to the press until they can get on the same page. Anyway, since we've been handing out advice here is my little 2 cents....I am a Chicago native and since the President loves him some basketball I thought he and many other's could appreciate where I'm going to go with this diary. Follow me over the jump.....
I remember the epic battles from 1988 - 1991 between the Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons. They were some of the most brutal basketball games I'd ever seen. The Bulls suffered defeat after defeat in part due to talent but mostly due to what those of us in sports call "heart". We all know the story of Michael "Air" Jordan. He was the soul of the team and without him the Bulls had no chance.
It was rare to have a player succeed on the offensive and defensive ends of the court in such a dominant fashion. However, it took a bit for Air Jordan to go from a finesse offensive player to taking it to the Detroit Pistons on the defensive end. Jordan knew he and his team had to get there in order to get over this hump. In the meantime, Detroit adopted a set of rules to neuter this Jordan threat. They called it the Jordan Rules. In essence the rules were as follows Jordan Rules:
the Pistons' strategy was "to play him tough, to physically challenge him and to vary its defenses so as to try to throw him off balance. Sometimes the Pistons would overplay Jordan to keep the ball from him. Sometimes they would play him straight up, more often they would run a double-team at him as soon as he touched the ball to try to force him to give it up. And whenever he went to the basket, they made sure his path was contested".
I mean does this sound familiar? The Republicans are throwing any and every tactic at our best player to derail his Presidency and thus the success of the American people.
In 1988, the first of 4 epic post season battles, Isiah Thomas and his Detroit Pistons eliminated the Chicago Bulls in five games.
The Pistons and Bulls would meet again in 1989 and the Pistons, now famous, "Jordan Rules" defense facilitated in once again eliminating the Bulls.
In 1990 the Bulls emerging talent surrounding Jordan again fell to the Pistons as the "Jordan Rules" was now a famous and effective method for slowing down Jordan and stopping the Bulls.
It wasn't until 1991 that Michael and his now ultra talented squad finally beat the Detroit Pistons. The Bulls were able to finally over the hump and swept the Pistons led by Jordan opting for the assist over the shot, made difficult by the Pistons "Jordan Defensive Rules". Jordan finally put trust in the trustworthy teammates.
During 1988 -1991 the Chicago Bulls had to shake it up. They had to fire some people and put the pieces in place to make this team effective. I think Mr. President that may include some staff members and any dead weight Democrats that are holding us back. We need to use all the tools at our disposal to get policy changes done. The Bulls recognized this and I hope so will the Democratic Party.
Now we know the Republican game plan. They use it over and over. They will use whatever is available to them to get back into power. They play ugly and and they play dirty politics but they play as a team. Now, I am not advocating getting into the mud with them but I am advocating that the Democratic Pary get on message, if you caucus with us you will vote in favor of the party platform or you will not caucus with us (hear that Joe Liebermann, Bayh, Lincoln, Baucus, Blue Dogs, etc.) continue to remind the public how and who led us to the place we are today and how hypocritcal some of them are being deficit hawks (including members of your own party if you have to), and finally they need to get some "heart". Stand up and do what is right. The American public will reward them for their efforts. We cannot continue to be Republican light and expect the base to be enthusiastic. Good policy is good politics.
I hope the Democrats take a page out of the Chicago Bulls playbook. Last night was 1988-1990. I'm hoping that my President will add a little toughness to his finesse and lead his team and the American people to victory.