The Game Of Politics And Life

So how many of you watched President Trump’s address to Congress last week? I can’t remember when I actually watched a Presidential address from start to finish. Typically I watch bits and pieces and then listen to summaries of what was said, but this one I watched in its entirety.

There were a couple of reasons that I ended up watching the whole thing. First, I wanted to hear what he had to say and how he said it. Quite frankly, I enjoyed the speech. I didn’t feel that he talked down to the country and I found myself enjoying the experience of listening to a President who seemed to love this country.

I know that a lot of it had to do with the fact that I agreed with his stances. And that is something I haven’t been able to say for the last eight years.

Almost everyone has said that they were impressed with the way the President acted and how he delivered the speech — even if they didn’t agree with what he had to say. Some have said he had a “low bar” to reach to be more presidential because of the way he has conducted himself in the past, and that is probably true, but don’t take away from his performance and how he acted — it was very presidential.

Some have criticized the Democrats from failing to stand up during any of his speech. Lest you think I am getting soft on the liberal left, I will have to defend them on at least part of the way they acted.

For the record, I cannot under any circumstance defend, in any fashion, the absolutely crass failure of any member to not stand when the President recognized the widow of fallen Navy SEAL Ryan Owens. There is no defense and no forgiveness for that repugnant action by a member of Congress.

I have sat on the House floor in Jefferson City during addresses by Democratic and Republican governors. It is natural for the governors to get standing ovations by their party and for the opposition party to sit. That is part of the way the game of politics is played – you can’t appear to be too cozy with the other party.

I am not going to try to defend those actions, and I was just as guilty as the Democrats who sat during President Trump’s address. I will venture to say that had the President taken an old, somewhat moderate Obama speech and delivered it pretty much verbatim, the Democrats would have still stayed in their seats and the Republicans would have stood — even though the roles would have been reversed when the speech had been given by Obama.

I think that’s a big part of the appeal of President Trump. He is breaking the old molds and isn’t interested in playing the game of partisan politics. Of course, he understands the game, but he is just not playing it the same way it has always been played.

I know that the average citizen doesn’t like to think of our political process as being a game, and I would agree that it would be nice if it was not that way. But the facts of life are that just about anything that is accomplished in life involves some fashion of game playing.

That analogy goes for your work life, community involvement, church or personal life. I have made the statement before in this column that power can corrupt and absolute power can corrupt absolutely. That is why we have to take such pains to make sure we elect officials that understand that dynamic and try to avoid the allure that power gives.

But, at the same time, we have to acknowledge the fact that not everyone has pure motives and are not always motivated by the same things that motivate us in life. That is why we have to understand how things get done – not just in the political arena but also in every aspect of life.

So, we have to play the game even though we don’t always like it. The trick is to play the game with integrity and honor. Even though we know other people are not going to play fair, it is important that we hold ourselves to a higher standard. Often times, that means we might not win, but as I have also said before, victory is not always a win and a loss is not always a defeat.

So agree or don’t agree with President Trump, at least give him credit for being “presidential.” And while life may be a game, please try to play it with integrity and honor.

“I have made the statement before in this column that power can corrupt and absolute power can corrupt absolutely.”