Armchair Pundits

It's Just A Presidential Election ... Get Over It

I realize that it has been several weeks since the election and that most of the nation has grown quite weary of the political commentary that has surrounded the campaign and the election. But, if you would allow me, I have one further observation regarding the reaction to this year’s election.

I don’t think it started until the 1990’s. At least, I don’t recall hearing anything about it in the 1980’s. On playgrounds and playing fields all over the country. Organized children’s sports, whether school or extra-curricular, stopped keeping score or if they did keep score they started handing out prizes to both sides. From those who were entrusted with the responsibility to oversee and educate our children the cry went up, “There are no losers.” All of a sudden it became taboo to keep score at a t-ball game. This battle cry tended to be loudest from (brace yourself for a shocker) those on the left of the political spectrum. I haven’t paid much attention to it recently, so I can’t say if the childhood development experts’ death grip on keeping score has lessened over the past few years. It makes no difference, I believe the damage has already been done.

By getting rid of winners and losers, these experts failed to provide children an important lesson: How to lose. Although they got rid of winning and losing in the school yard, they failed to get rid of it in the rest of life. In the real world, there are winners and losers all the time. And, if these children enter the real world and are suddenly faced with losing, they will have no idea what to do because they have never had to deal with it before. They were never taught the proper way to lose.

Let me provide you with two examples from the sports world. Every year I love to watch the end of the last game of the Stanley Cup finals. After doing battle (and I do mean battle) throughout the series, the game ends, the winners celebrate and the losers feel the agony of defeat. But then something strange happens. The winners stop celebrating. The losers do not slink off the ice. These two teams line up, shake hands, and congratulate each other on a well played series. Now that is sportsmanship.

Another example of good losing comes from the world of college football. The Army-Navy game is filled with tradition. But one of the great moments of the game doesn’t occur during the game. It occurs after the game. These two teams share a very serious rivalry. But, when the game concludes, both the players and the cadets (Did you know that the cadets stand through the entire game?) sing the alma mater of the other school. Naval cadets sing West Point’s song and the military cadets sing Annapolis’ song. It is a great tradition. It’s also fun to watch the sports reporters try to interview players after this game.

Why can’t politicians and their supporters act the same way? Why must the constantly whine about the fact that the lost? They accuse the other side of cheating. They cannot admit that they lost. I think it goes back to the trend in this country not to teach people how to lose. I can’t prove it, but it does make sense to me.
John Thune gets it. In the 2000 South Dakota Senate race, he lost by a very small amount. Did he complain? Did he make up some outlandish excuse about how his opponent had stolen the election? No. He conceded. It showed a great amount of class. And, that is one thing politics in this country needs a lot more of … class.

posted by Squirrel @ 9:19 PM