So–Are Deuces Wild Or Aren’t They?
by Gerald A. Honigman
Hey, I need to get my mind away from international politics for a while…especially the Middle East.
How’s a game of poker sound?
Deuces wild, you say?
Alright, let the game begin…
Nice–I’ll bet a hundred bucks on my hand.
You’re seeing me and raising me another hundred?
We’ll, hey…I’m just a Florida teacher, with three of my four kids in college at the same time, and the other not far behind. Two ’Gators and a Seminole so far…
Okay… I’ll pay to see you.
Full House, Queen high?
Ugh…
I have two pair, King high.
Hey, Wait a minute!
Where’s the Full House, Chum?
I just see two Queens, two sixes, and a two of hearts…
What…You say deuces are wild?
Since when? Who says?
What…I agreed to that?
Well, that was before you drew the deuce…
Forget about all the legal gobbledygook that went on until recently regarding the Florida and Michigan primaries. It all comes down to a poker game.
Were deuces wild or weren’t they?
Well, all parties indeed knew the rules of the game prior to play time. If there were any questions, the time to have debated them was prior to the primaries.
Sour grapes doesn’t cut it afterwards. And if they do, then we’re all in for trouble down the road.
I get a charge out of alleged liberals crying about disenfranchisement in the aftermath.
Where were their worries when the rules were being expressed loudly and clearly to all parties prior to the vote? How about the folks who played by the rules and didn’t even show up because of them…candidates and voters alike?
The time to question or change the way the game is to be played is prior to its start–not when you don’t like the hand you’re dealt afterwards.
The main issue here is not disenfranchisement (as real as it is), but chaos…and it doesn’t take a lawyer to figure that one out.
If expressed rules and laws set up by legitimate representatives are allowed to simply be tossed aside by disgruntled parties after the fact, then watch out for any and all other types of agreements arrived at as well.
Even I know that precedent is important in law.
And the precedent even the compromise decision recently arrived regarding these two states, which knowingly and deliberately disobeyed the Rules and Bylaws Committee of the Democratic National Committee, stinks like a rotten egg.