Opus 2024-390: Time to Deal a New Hand

Years ago, I spent a little bit of time playing poker.  I found that I enjoyed the game. I found that I enjoyed the game too much.  Going along with that I found that whatever it is that you call luck had nothing to do with me.  I concede that my skill was not the highest, but there are times when pure luck prevails and I repeatedly came up on the short end of the stick.

Poker is an ongoing game.  You have hands that are dealt.  Each time you deal a hand you take all the cards, shuffle them, and then ask who wants to be in that round.  If you want to play, you are expected to ante up.  What that means is if you were serious you had to put something out in the middle of the table as an opening investment, an opening bet.  It was usually established at a level that everybody could participate even though they had no idea what cards they were going to get.  And then you would proceed through the game, dealing the cards, being able to discard once and ask for replacements.  And then you would go around and people would play psychological games.  You would bet more and dare others to match your bet or a increase it.  You were doing a couple of things when you were betting on the cards you had in your hand.  At one point you are betting on the possibility of getting better cards in the draw.  You were guessing what kind of cards the other people had.  Each step required you to up the ante, make a bigger bet, put your money where your mouth was.

Politically, we have come to the point where it’s time to deal a new hand.  In the past those of us with traditional values would take the win and leave the game.  We can’t afford to do that anymore.  When we do that they take over and run things.  They win by our default.  They go back to business as usual.  The swamp once again starts to spread and pollute.  We walk away with the couple of nickels in our pocket that we got from that hand, think we are fine fellows, and they sit there laughing, knowing that the game goes on.

We need to stay in the game and up the ante.

Keep in mind that those we are playing against us are not just the left wingers, the mindless Democratic machine, the administrative state, or any other label you want to put on them.  We are also playing against the Republican establishment, the Rinos.  They are by far the largest danger.  We won elections.  We sent a message.  The Democrats know that we sent a message.  But what they are counting on is that the Republicans who have a vested interest in keeping things as they are, will undermine the message.

We need to stay alert, stay in the game, up the ante and, metaphorically of course, go for the jugular.

Don’t rest on your laurels.  Pray harder than you ever prayed.  Speak up louder and more often than you ever did in the past.  Stand up for the things that you know are right.  Put aside fear and speak boldly.  Risk conflict at the Thanksgiving table.  Write letters.  Make phone calls.

To change the metaphor, we’re only in the first inning of the game and we can’t go home just because we’re ahead one to nothing.

homo unius libri