It's not a game...

[Bigmack]

Have you noticed how the media has made this election into some kind of sporting event? The debates are billed as "The candidates go head to head", and the campaign is a boxing match.

Great editorial in the Seattle P-I this AM.
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First Person: Running the country is not a game
By GREG JAMES
GUEST COLUMNIST

Last week, my friend, Sam Chapin, wrote a guest column about Sarah Palin under the headline "She's got game, but can she shoot?" His many references to basketball and the fact that some women get overlooked because they're perceived to be inferior to men on the court made a good case for the old adage "You can't judge a book by its cover." But let's be honest, basketball is only a game, and the worst a crummy basketball player can do is cost you some points and bragging rights. Leading America and potentially having to take over the job of the president is not a game. It's a seriously important job and I have some real doubts about Palin's qualifications.

...if you want to use basketball as a metaphor for politics, as Sam did, and evaluate Palin as a rookie looking to join the pros, there might be some decent parallels: First, if Palin's political background and experience were considered in the same way a coach examines the experience of a prospective basketball player, she'd have played at community college level at best and, at worst, in the pee-wee league.

Using sports as a metaphor for politics is sort of silly in that, generally speaking, sports requires some brains and a lot of physical skills, while politics requires very little physical skill, but a ton of brains and experience. (And, let's not forget that, like Bush, she's done virtually no traveling outside the USA, and got her first passport a little over a year ago.)

Think about it. Just because someone says he or she can play the game doesn't mean the person is ready for the pros. My 8-year-old can shoot hoops, but I wouldn't want him sitting down with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, and I'm pretty sure the rest of America wouldn't, either.

[YOY]

1. Sports metaphors are the worst dumbing down tactic next to jingoism that I can think of.

It dissimilates too much.

[orleans]

2. i agree.

"note to republicans: THIS IS NOT A FUCKING SPORTS EVENT. YOU DON'T KEEP ROOTING FOR THE TEAM WHEN THEY KEEP FUCKING UP THE COUNTRY!
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