I am a Pragmatist

This past Tuesday, my favorite hockey player, and arguably the best goalie to ever play the game, Martin Brodeur, had his number retired by the New Jersey Devils. He is pretty much guaranteed a spot in the NHL Hall of Fame. But even though he is my favorite hockey player, I doubt very much I would actually like Brodeur if I ever met him. The man had an affair with his wife’s sister, while she was living with them because she had come to help his wife with their two young sons. This is not exactly an endearing quality. And yet, if I were picking an all time fantasy hockey team, Brodeur would be my starting goalie, hands down, no questions asked.

Howie Long seems like he would be a fun guy to know and hang out with. He is a well spoken football analyst now, but when he played for the Raiders, he played “dirty”. Howie used to “accidentally” step on the hands of opposing players and grind his cleats into them before moving his foot. But he was known as one of the best at his position, and now he is a respected broadcaster.

I bring these two examples up because I think it is important to remember that people we may not personally like may still be the best there is at their jobs. For me, this is especially important during election season. Character attacks are huge in politics. George W Bush supposedly won because more people could see themselves having a beer with him than with Al Gore. But to be honest, I do not want my President (or my Senator or Representative) to necessarily be someone I would want to hang out with. I want them to be one of the best at their job. I do not have to like all of their moral decisions. I have to believe that they are smart enough and capable enough to do a good job in politics. And let us be honest, just like professional sports seems to foster a certain attitude in players, so does professional politics.

When I vote, I do not vote for the person I like the most. I vote for the person who best combines a political stance that mirrors my political values and who I believe will work the hardest and the smartest to accomplish those goals. I do not need to like my candidate. I need to believe they will work their ass off to get shit done. Because the truth is, some other candidate may be saying similar things, or even things that align more closely with my political views, but if I do not think they can accomplish their goals, they are not likely to get my vote.

Sometimes I am wistful. I wish I could be more idealistic. I wish I could vote for hopes and dreams. But my pragmatism will not let me. Hope is a beautiful thing, but it is quickly diminished when nothing gets accomplished. I would rather throw my vote behind someone who can get something close to what I want done than the person who is striving for a piece of perfection that will never be accomplished. To quote some management speak (because hey, I am in management), the perfect is the enemy of the good. And if you wait for perfect, you will never get anything done.

I accept that the professional athletes I love to watch play are not perfect people. And I accept the same thing about the politicians I vote for. I do not ask for others to have the same view point I do. But I do expect them to respect my views as I respect theirs, even if we do not disagree (with the caveat that I will not respect any view that compares someone to Hitler without actual proof of attempted/planned genocide). We are, after all, just like those professional athletes and politicians, imperfect people.