Scott Brown effect - Health Care Bill and Football Analogies

I read newspapers back to front, sports first. Reporting on sports is most reliable - and less so as you move towards front page news. What is reality? What is the score of the game?

John Naisbitt, Mind Set!, Collins, 2006

Most Americans think health care legislation is doomed, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center. In the survey, conducted from Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, 60 percent of those polled said they thought health care legislation would not pass this year.

Katharine Q. Seelye, "Poll: Americans Doubtful Health Overhaul Will Pass, New York Times, February 3. 2010



I can’t help but notice the many football analogies,
On the failure to pass a health bill with its fallacies.

We were told the health bill was in the red zone,
The ball past the twenty yard line had gone.

From there you could throw for a touchdown,
Less in November you might have to skip town.

Others maintained the ball rested on the two yard line,
Which meant an easy touchdown would surely soon be thine.

But Brown threw them for a huge thirty yard loss,
Now the goal line they can no longer run across.

The best they can hope for is a long field goal.
That at least would give them something to extol.

Either way this game is going to go into overtime,
You can’t turn around a 2000 page bill on a dime.

Who wins may depend on a toss of the coin,
And who public opinion kicks in the groin.