The flop
In our college group, my friend Joe was a legendary poker player. Legendary for being the worst poker player imaginable. In the words of my late father as he was leaving our private game one night in a suite I booked at Harrah’s Marina in Atlantic City, “Joe shouldn’t play cards.” Joe is one of my favorite people — highly amusing, witty, and full of life. But no matter how acerbic, he doesn’t have the sort of killer instinct that makes you a good poker player. (One indication: His favorite game to call is Indian.) He’d rather enjoy the company, and if that means losing enough to stay in the game, that’s enough of a goal.
I now feel the same way about Barack Obama. Except without all that fondness I have for Joe. Joe means a lot to me, but there aren’t millions of people counting on him.
When Obama sat down, the cards were in his favor. Yes, he inherited a crisis of epic proportions — but in that seat, if you don’t inherit one of those, you’d better figure one is on your way. Obama was dealt a huge numerical advantage in both the House and the Senate, and enough sense of crisis that he was able to put in place enormous change. But Obama now strikes me as someone so charmed in so much of his life that he’s ill-equipped to handle setbacks. The GOP captured one — just one — chamber of Congress, and now he’s folding every hand. The deal on the unemployment extension — in which benefits were supplemented in exchange for both an extension of the Bush era taxcuts and a rollback in capital gains — reads like a strong hand played weakly. (For more of the poker metaphor, check out this piece on Slate, which recounts in sad detail all the ways that Obama is throwing away his chips.) From reading Obama’s expression, I’d gauge that he doesn’t like what he sees in the flop. I’ve got news for him: The turn arrives in January with those new Republicans, and he’s going to like that card even less. A little aggression at the table would help.
December 10th, 2010 at 4:28 am
Sadly, I must agree.
And by the way, the group I used to play cards with made up a by-law that anyone who looked at my face was cheating.
December 10th, 2010 at 11:23 am
Notice: He’s finally bringing in Uncle Bill, AFTER all this, instead of installing Bill into the Lincoln Bedroom back on 1/20/09. Especially for the purpose of midnight soirees with full-court fun and games, maybe even poker. Can you imagine the President a few pounds heaver, no longer smoking cigarettes and visiting McDonalds ad lib??? Bill shoulda been there all this time. A tad late to the game now though. Shoot. But I guess that was a result of steamrollering Mrs. Clinton and depriving Uncle Bill of First Hubby status. Too bad the President isn’t as clearly adept at steamrollering the right as he was with Aunt Hil. He smashed her flatter than a pancake. Say where’s all those young folks that kept him edgy and online during the campaign. Obama could have been the first ONLINE ALL THE TIME President, and out-gunned the Republicans every DAY starting on 1/20/09. He had all that energy.
Lots of problems with this softy play. I cannot believe this deal, and don’t get me started on DADT.
Which, if this goes on much longer, there could be other Dems at the table soon.
As for my poker skills, “foof”. Hey Dan, wanna play poker?
December 10th, 2010 at 11:35 am
Bill is going in there in a few minutes. I hope he doesn’t come out onto the driveway at the West Wing scratching his head, and chuckling. Holy fuck, if he does, no wonder I love that man. He knows stuff, and he loves knowing he’s no longer in the the goldfish bowl.
December 10th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
No driveways for Bill. A class act all the way. His tax cut is not what he wants. Recuses himself, and calls it a bipartisan agreement. Minimize a setback in the economy. Extension agreement in unemployment benefits, will bolster the economy. I still love him.
December 11th, 2010 at 5:23 am
Hmm, maybe experience DOES matter. But maybe things can be set aright now that we’ve assuaged our collective guilt and elected a black guy. Next time, let’s vote for policies & experience, or at least entertainment value! By the by, my best memories of Joe’s skills were in that space monopoly game that Lee had at one time. “A mere bag of shells” still brings a smile to my face!
December 12th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
Droll, quite. But great memories nonetheless, I must say.