Washington can learn from MLB

 

Perhaps America’s favorite problem causers could take a lesson from America’s favorite pastime.

While Major League Baseball teams across the country from the Yankees, to the Dodgers, to the Cubs and the Marlins displayed gestures of support and unity for the people of Boston in the aftermath of the horrific attacks by playing Fenway Park-favorite “Sweet Caroline,” the elected officials of the country decided to take the pettier route.

With little time to waste, political opportunists seized upon a moment of vulnerability to further their causes.

A Republican Congressman from Iowa, Steve King, was quick to point fingers, long before the FBI spoke, at the act being one perpetrated by a Saudi national and used the incident to strike fear into the minds of lawmakers, asking them to carefully consider whether or not they should provide temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, a proposal that has been under consideration, according to CBS News.

A Democratic senator from Massachusetts, Barney Frank, used the moment to encourage fellow senators to reach a quick compromise on the sequester “so that Boston doesn’t have to pay for this absolutely necessary expenditure.”

CBS reported a Republican Congressman from Texas took the opportunity to cry foul in media bias of the incident’s coverage.

But during a time when lives are lost, forever changed or halted by moments of paralyzing fear, the nation needs healing in solidarity, not divisive politics that wedge differences between people instead of closing the spaces between them.

Though much is still unknown about the nature of the attacks, and even use of the term “terrorism” in describing what happened is considered questionable, the fact remains that a moment of terror was struck in the American psyche, and in the aftermath of tragedy, the people Americans look to for entertainment seem to display better leadership skills than those we elect to lead our nation.

In order for terror not to exist, leaders within the nation cannot prey on moments of vulnerability and use them to advance their own beliefs.

Though Washington seems to strikeout on a regular basis, the actions of the incorrigible politicians should be enough to permanently disqualify them from the game of politics. causers could take a lesson from America’s favorite pastime.

While Major League Baseball teams across the country from the Yankees, to the Dodgers, to the Cubs and the Marlins displayed gestures of support and unity for the people of Boston in the aftermath of the horrific attacks by playing Fenway Park-favorite “Sweet Caroline,” the elected officials of the country decided to take the pettier route.

With little time to waste, political opportunists seized upon a moment of vulnerability to further their causes.

A Republican Congressman from Iowa, Steve King, was quick to point fingers, long before the FBI spoke, at the act being one perpetrated by a Saudi national and used the incident to strike fear into the minds of lawmakers, asking them to carefully consider whether or not they should provide temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, a proposal that has been under consideration, according to CBS News.

A Democratic senator from Massachusetts, Barney Frank, used the moment to encourage fellow senators to reach a quick compromise on the sequester “so that Boston doesn’t have to pay for this absolutely necessary expenditure.”

CBS reported a Republican Congressman from Texas took the opportunity to cry foul in media bias of the incident’s coverage.

But during a time when lives are lost, forever changed or halted by moments of paralyzing fear, the nation needs healing in solidarity, not divisive politics that wedge differences between people instead of closing the spaces between them.

Though much is still unknown about the nature of the attacks, and even use of the term “terrorism” in describing what happened is considered questionable, the fact remains that a moment of terror was struck in the American psyche, and in the aftermath of tragedy, the people Americans look to for entertainment seem to display better leadership skills than those we elect to lead our nation.

In order for terror not to exist, leaders within the nation cannot prey on moments of vulnerability and use them to advance their own beliefs.

Though Washington seems to strikeout on a regular basis, the actions of the incorrigible politicians should be enough to permanently disqualify them from the game of politics. Perhaps America’s favorite problem causers could take a lesson from America’s favorite pastime.

While Major League Baseball teams across the country from the Yankees, to the Dodgers, to the Cubs and the Marlins displayed gestures of support and unity for the people of Boston in the aftermath of the horrific attacks by playing Fenway Park-favorite “Sweet Caroline,” the elected officials of the country decided to take the pettier route.

With little time to waste, political opportunists seized upon a moment of vulnerability to further their causes.

A Republican Congressman from Iowa, Steve King, was quick to point fingers, long before the FBI spoke, at the act being one perpetrated by a Saudi national and used the incident to strike fear into the minds of lawmakers, asking them to carefully consider whether or not they should provide temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, a proposal that has been under consideration, according to CBS News.

A Democratic senator from Massachusetts, Barney Frank, used the moment to encourage fellow senators to reach a quick compromise on the sequester “so that Boston doesn’t have to pay for this absolutely necessary expenditure.”

CBS reported a Republican Congressman from Texas took the opportunity to cry foul in media bias of the incident’s coverage.

But during a time when lives are lost, forever changed or halted by moments of paralyzing fear, the nation needs healing in solidarity, not divisive politics that wedge differences between people instead of closing the spaces between them.

Though much is still unknown about the nature of the attacks, and even use of the term “terrorism” in describing what happened is considered questionable, the fact remains that a moment of terror was struck in the American psyche, and in the aftermath of tragedy, the people Americans look to for entertainment seem to display better leadership skills than those we elect to lead our nation.

In order for terror not to exist, leaders within the nation cannot prey on moments of vulnerability and use them to advance their own beliefs.

Though Washington seems to strikeout on a regular basis, the actions of the incorrigible politicians should be enough to permanently disqualify them from the game of politics. While Major League Baseball teams across the country from the Yankees, to the Dodgers, to the Cubs and the Marlins displayed gestures of support and unity for the people of Boston in the aftermath of the horrific attacks by playing Fenway Park-favorite “Sweet Caroline,” the elected officials of the country decided to take the pettier route.

With little time to waste, political opportunists seized upon a moment of vulnerability to further their causes.

A Republican Congressman from Iowa, Steve King, was quick to point fingers, long before the FBI spoke, at the act being one perpetrated by a Saudi national and used the incident to strike fear into the minds of lawmakers, asking them to carefully consider whether or not they should provide temporary legal status to undocumented immigrants, a proposal that has been under consideration, according to CBS News.

A Democratic senator from Massachusetts, Barney Frank, used the moment to encourage fellow senators to reach a quick compromise on the sequester “so that Boston doesn’t have to pay for this absolutely necessary expenditure.”

CBS reported a Republican Congressman from Texas took the opportunity to cry foul in media bias of the incident’s coverage.

But during a time when lives are lost, forever changed or halted by moments of paralyzing fear, the nation needs healing in solidarity, not divisive politics that wedge differences between people instead of closing the spaces between them.

Though much is still unknown about the nature of the attacks, and even use of the term “terrorism” in describing what happened is considered questionable, the fact remains that a moment of terror was struck in the American psyche, and in the aftermath of tragedy, the people Americans look to for entertainment seem to display better leadership skills than those we elect to lead our nation.

In order for terror not to exist, leaders within the nation cannot prey on moments of vulnerability and use them to advance their own beliefs.

Though Washington seems to strikeout on a regular basis, the actions of the incorrigible politicians should be enough to permanently disqualify them from the game of politics.