Thursday, February 25, 2010

Where's the "No Bunt" Pledge?

When ever I read about politicians signing pledges "not to raise taxes" I find myself thinking about Baseball. Why doesn't COAST or the Tea Baggers, as the good baseball fans they surely are, demand that Dusty Baker sign a "No Bunt" pledge?

They might even require an oath: "I, , do solemnly pledge never to use the bunt during a regular or post season game, including suicide squeezes, where the man on third has the speed of Jackie Robinson and we are down by 10 or more runs. If I should break this pledge, I promise to forfeit the game and never, ever, play baseball or any other sport, again, so long as I live. Amen"

Yes, that is ridiculous. It is meant to be ridiculous.

Sometimes you have to bunt. Everyone in baseball knows this. Sometimes, you have to bunt to get the runner into scoring position. When you get the sign, you, the batter, don't shake it off or point to the fans and say: "But they demand efficiency! They expect me to hit a home run every time I am at bat. Home Runs are the only way you win ball games!"

Sacrificing an at bat is part of the game. You don't bunt every time a man is at bat, but you should never rule it out because some insane sports fans obsessed with statistics hate how it ruins someone's batting average.

If I were a Republican thinking about appeasing the Tea Baggers or COASTers, I would think about Baseball and at least try and maintain some intellectual honesty, and not sign a pledge "to not raise taxes." Not all Republicans are void of intellectual honesty, but they don't seem to show often enough, for my taste.

Sometimes you have to bunt and sometimes you have to at least have the option to raise taxes.

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