Winning Ain't the Only Thing

“Red” Sanders and his disciple Vince Lombardi have a lot to answer for. So do Russ Ballard and Santana for that catchy, vapid ballad. And for those who think the messenger is the message, so does Charlie Sheen.

Winning ain’t the only thing, and repeating the word does not mean you are. And the Resident of the White House is also wrong since Donny Johnny D. himself opines, “Money is how you keep score.”

Nope, nope, nope, and nope. A nation free-basing ethics on one-liners from coaches, millionaires, and song lyrics won’t last long. At this point, America is nearly 242 years old, and in a score of years or so, I’d like to leave a functioning and free country to the children.

When you are only winning, you aren’t paying attention to anything beyond the field of the game. Despite the many sports leagues organized around the energetic manipulations of balls of various sizes and shapes, winning games is short-term and pointless, no matter how many trophies and pennants you accumulate.

Americans are not winning. And we’re not winning because life is not a game. By nearly any measure of success, America is losing--friends, credibility, respect, honor, leadership, hope.

Our freedoms are not threatened by the lives, liberty, and pursuit of happiness of our fellow citizens of the nation, world, and planet. Our liberties are strengthened because we respect the freedoms of our fellow citizens and humans and more. True civilization, safety, security, and hope for the future arise from our confidence in each other.

When the Grab-Our-P Party acquired the three branches of our government, they and those who voted to place the rich in charge lost. Their bankrupt and ineffective people and policies were and are revealed for what they are as are the depths to which they are willing to sink.

In my own small way here, I’m taking the words of Ned Stark to heart: “Winter is coming.” And I am pleased to remind you that well before winter will be the next election. I urge you to put aside your balls and bats, your nets, lines, and clubs, and consider the children, yours and everyone else’s.

Please, study the current state of the nation and vote in November, and vote for a future that includes all of us because, as those of us who hope for a viable future note, we’re still here.