Sometimes, you have to take the sack

Politics frequently conjures up analogies to the sport of American football. But there’s one important aspect of the game of football you almost never hear talked about in those analogies.

I’m talking about taking a sack.

I was once a back-up quarterback, and I can tell you every quarterback’s second-greatest fear is giving up the sack that kills what would have been a successful scoring drive. Those are morale-crushing, momentum-swinging, game-changing moments you rarely get to do over in a game.

Many quarterbacks will get into even more trouble trying to avoid the sack, resulting far too many times in a pass that should have never been thrown. If lucky, the quarterback just threw one away. If he’s not, it’s a turnover – either an interception, or a fumble – that gives the ball right back to the opposition.

In a worst-case scenario – arguably every passer’s greatest fear – it results in the game-shattering scenario known as the “pick six.” A cornerback, linebacker, or safety jumps in front of the wounded duck, and snatches it while pointed directly toward pay dirt.

Less than 10 seconds later, he’s in your end zone, celebrating a defensive touchdown with his teammates.

It’s a 14-point turnaround. Not only did your team not score seven points, but it gave your opponents seven on their side of the scoreboard. Guaranteed, when the quarterback gets back to the sideline, his coach gives him this self-evident piece of 20/20 hindsight: “You should’ve taken the sack right there.”

Taking the sack is not something to celebrate. Yardage is lost, the team lost a down, and the clock continues to wind down, but your team still has possession of the ball, without which it is extremely difficult to score.

Taking the sack is a strategic decision to take your lumps for one play with the hope you can reverse the loss on the next one.

No one who knows me has to wonder what team I’m playing for. I’ve always been quite open and honest about my Christian faith. As a result of that faith, I am politically conservative. When I was younger, that also meant I was a Republican. But, the GOP moved sharply left over the last 12 years, and abandoned many of us.

I am also a veteran who swore an oath (more than once) to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. It was an oath that had no expiration date, and I have treated it that way throughout my adult life. I love this country, what it has stood for, and what it can once again.

So, every time Congress shaves off another personal liberty, every time I see our elected officials abandoning their own oaths, I die a little on the inside. Every time the Constitution gets shredded by the Vacationer-in-Chief and his administration lackeys, it hurts me in a way I cannot possibly describe.

This has to end, and it has to end now.

We as a nation need to understand we are Americans not because of our government, but rather in spite of it. We are running out of time, though, to get it right if we want to have anything American left to hand down to our children and grandchildren.

But, to do that, I have to suggest something that is really – and I mean REALLY – difficult to put down on paper, much less to utter. It goes against every instinct in my body, but if we want to have any chance to win, we’re going to have to take the sack on Nov. 4.

That is, I believe we should vote for a Republican majority in Congress.

Before you draft that really wicked piece of hate mail, please hear me out. Like you, I can give you a list of reasons why we, as Americans, as conservatives, and as Christians, should stay home on Election Day. A really, REALLY long list.

I also know there’s the possibility some good could come from rejecting the morally bankrupt leadership in both parties in Washington. For starters, it would once again send the message that we reject liberal-socialist-progressive-statism-disguised-as-conservatism the RINOs running the GOP today are trying to feed us.

But, that’s the message we’ve tried to pound into their skulls for the past two decades. Where, exactly, has it gotten us?

While it might finally do some good, sitting the election out could also provide an opportunity for the media to paint the election results as another “mandate from the people” to give Sen. Harry Reid and President Obama the green light to completely shred every last vestige of the Constitution. Which one do you believe is more likely to happen?

Sitting it out Nov. 4 also guarantees the Democrat-controlled Senate will continue to block anything good (as infrequently as it might happen with John Boehner in charge) that is produced in the House. It also guarantees there will be no check to balance President Obama’s lawlessness in the White House.

By giving the Republicans a majority in both chambers of Congress, we can put pressure on our elected representatives by reminding them who got them elected, what we demand in return, and that they can expect a primary opponent if they can’t get their acts straightened out. If they doubt us, just tell them to ask Eric Cantor what he thinks.

As absolutely undesirable as it sounds, by taking the sack, we actually have a better chance of restoring the constitutional government the Framers envisioned. Otherwise, we’re left hoping for the equivalent of a Hail Mary for a touchdown from Ryan Leaf.