A Tired Pony at the Reflecting Pool; The Necessity for Triage in Public Policy

The Reflecting Pool on the National Mall being repainted.

“And truth is like a punch or two. It hits you hard; it knocks you through.”

These are words from a song I like by Tired Pony called “Get on the Road.” It’s a song about traveling, physically or emotionally, toward your great love. But for me there’s always been this yearning in it not toward a romantic love but rather toward one’s life destiny.

My grandmother also used a road reference to talk about life. She would paraphrase the old Irish proverb, “It’s a long road that has no turning”. I think it’s supposed to mean good things happen in life and bad things happen. Neither is permanent, but you keep moving forward.

So if you’ll permit me a moment of self-indulgent reflection, I have always struggled with the pull of something bigger, with a feeling I should be doing more, achieving better. I’m not sure if that is character flaw or simply a healthy motivation to succeed. Perhaps it's some combination of the two. But I do know it creates tension in me, and in my life. The truth that hit me hard this week, and will knock me through for some time, is that though I wanted to run for office again this cycle, there is no path forward for me to do so. It isn’t for the lack of the wanting. It isn’t for the lack of work ethic or lack of a sense I can contribute positively in these hectic times. It’s simply and discouragingly for lack of fundraising ability, the thing that stops all too many candidates, particularly those of us more moderate in our beliefs or in our approach. The money is with the national parties and at the extremes, and so there too you will find many of your candidates for federal office. And you will find them hard at work at their national party’s narrative, instead of seeking to work for you.

I sat with all of that this week against the confusing backdrop of our national disconnect. On the one hand we have a war, hopefully now concluding. We have an ally in Israel that needs to find restraint. We have inflation over 4% again. We have credit card delinquencies at the highest level in 15 years, not because people bought jet skis but rather because they bought food, medicine, and gas. Lessor nations can now hold off greater ones with cheaply made drones. AI marches on while its regulation stands still. And our nation’s debt continues its climb toward $40 trillion dollars, or to put it in popular culture terms…40 Elon Musks. Musk now has more wealth than 175 nations have GDP. He can theoretically control through Starlink who can communicate during times of war and through SpaceX who has access to space.

Here’s the confusing part, the disconnect. These weren’t the political topics people spoke to me about this week. No instead, on the golf course I heard about progressives in New York passing a bill to replace the words “mother” and “father” in court rooms with “gestating” and “non-gestating parent.” In a coffee shop I heard a congressional candidate tell me one of the main reasons for running was to “keep men out of women’s sports.” At a bar, a woman told me that a transgender person walking into the hair salon she was at earlier in the day “disgusted” her. And then of course a UFC fighter, at the event inexplicably and inexcusably held on the White House lawn, said in his victory speech, “And lastly, Michelle Obama is a man. Am I right, America?” We seem to be obsessed with gender…other people’s. We seem to believe someone else’s family looking different somehow diminishes our own. We seem to think free speech is somehow best protected by using disgusting or fallacious speech.

As I reflected more on this disconnect, I heard even more distraction…the repainting of the reflecting pool between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument and the algae bloom exacerbated by the darker color paint. And then we heard more about the President’s physical exam as if it should surprise us that a man of 80 years holding the most stressful job on the planet who mainlines Diet Coke may have health concerns. But what was the focus of the reporting – curiosity as to whether the President discontinued use of his hair growth prescription. Distraction, distraction, distraction.

And so as any good distracted American would do, I shifted my focus to golf’s U.S. Open, currently being held at the amazing Shinnecock Hills. The players will have to deal with a golf course that Rory McIlroy called “the best championship test in the country.” They will have to deal with wind gusts of up to 30 mph. They will deal with championship pressure. They will deal with boisterous fans. They will deal with many moments of angst. And they will try desperately to focus on what they can control…the next shot.

A great sports psychologist I know named Bhrett McCabe, who works with several PGA players, speaks about the funnel of mental focus. At the top of the funnel, where it is widest, a player is aware of everything around him, including all the distractions and perhaps other important things that just may not be as pressing in the moment. As the funnel narrows the player’s focus must begin to also narrow, casting aside those distractions as he begins to build a strategy for the next shot. As it narrows further, he begins to visualize the outcome he wants for that shot. And then at the small tip of the funnel, when everything else has been set aside, he executes the shot. Finally, the golf ball now in flight, he accepts the results regardless of the outcome.

In our national lives, our funnel is upside down. Our awareness is tunnel vision to what we are told to care about or what our party leader tells us or what our faith tradition tells us or the condition of our wallets. And our execution is attempted at the wide end of the funnel where everything is cluttered and no distractions are removed. And we certainly don’t ever move forward accepting the result.

We have so many giant issues, yet we and our leaders and those running for office seem to have forgotten that politics is the art of the possible and public policy is the necessity to triage. Much like a doctor treats a heart attack before a broken arm, a good politician knows that because political capital is not limitless, it must be used for the most pressing thing first. But we are not triaging very well at all. We are distracted and distracting. And that distraction saps unity that could well be used on the larger issues. War kills. Inflation kills. Lack of medical care kills. Someone you don’t care for coming into your hair salon is something to be forgotten about by lunchtime.

I don’t deny that we can walk and chew gum. I don’t deny social issues are important. But we are letting ourselves become so divided on the social things, on the cultural things, that there is no ability to succeed on anything.

The ironic thing is that the social issues should be the easiest to solve. Our country’s mission statement, the Declaration of Independence, teaches us that all have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – all of us, not just those you understand or with whom you agree. Our governing document, the Constitution, guarantees all equal protection under the law. In other words, teach what you want in your church. Teach what you want at your kitchen table. If you think you’re right, live that way, model it. But unless your social belief is also an issue of public safety or of ensuring equal protection, keep it the heck out of the halls of government. And if it is to be kept out of the halls of government, then for the love of all that it is holy and decent and kind, keep it out of political campaigns and political fundraising so that we have half a shot of getting pragmatic, effective leaders into office.

I’m convinced that we will return to a place where those with moderate approaches, reasoned thinking, and loyalty to all constituents instead of to party will once again be tapped for office. I’m convinced that we will return to a place where those too progressive and those too closed-minded will both be shown the bench, allowing us to achieve reasoned, predictable, and sustainable progress. But for now, I’m going to shake off the punches and watch some golf.