Playing Away from the Ball
Posted on July 27, 2017
Playing Away From the Ball
When I was a youngster (a long, long time ago), I learned from my basketball coach about playing away from the ball.
Like soccer, when kids play basketball, they tend to want to always have the ball. As a result, they either are always yelling for the ball or going towards the ball.
A good coach wants a balanced floor. He wants people to get open away from the ball which tends to make it easier to get an easy and open shot.
What we are seeing in Washington resembles a grade school basketball game. Everybody is flocking towards the ball, and nobody is getting open shots.
In Washington, everybody is flocking towards the ball, and nobody is getting open shots. #RussianCollusion Share on X
The ball in this case is Donald Trump and the Russian investigation.
Because the President is the President and because he commands so much media attention, by dint of his huge personality and by his unconventional approach to politics, almost everybody is focused on the so-called Russia scandal.
This is especially dangerous for those who want to predict the political future of Republicans in Congress and for the President himself.
Because while the media is focused on tweets, the American people are playing their game away from the ball.
And they are scoring points. Lots of them.
The economy is steadily growing. Wages for low-income workers are up. Regulations that have hobbled business and industry have been reversed and the result is more economic activity. While inflation is still not what the Fed would want it to be (it’s too low, which is kind of weird if you think about it), and interest rates are still low (which hurts some in the financial industry), those indicators are examples of an economy that is poised to expand. Unemployment is down. Consumer confidence is up. The stock-market is ridiculous.
Part of this is a reaction to Trump’s pro-business philosophy. Part of it is because the avowedly anti-business Obama Administration has exited stage left. Part of it is the natural ebbing away from the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
The American people are playing their game, away from all the Washington shenanigans. And that bodes well for the future of the Republican Party in the House and the Senate.
Happy wife, happy life, the experts all say.
For the pundits, a corollary would be: healthy economically, healthy politically.