Laid low by stomach flu, I am splayed on the sofa in the presence of MSNBC, hoping that the worst is over and pondering another cliché of current politispeak: doubling down. It comes from blackjack, the casino card game in which, after the deal, you can double your wager after seeing your hand and the dealer's upcard. You get one more card if you double down--you can't decline a card or draw more than one. You double down only when you're in a strong position: for example, your two cards are an 8 and a 3, so that a ten or any face card gives you 21. A chart of basic blackjack strategy is here. With 11, you should always double down; with ten points, you double down unless the dealer shows an ace, a ten, or a face card; with nine points, you should double down if the dealer shows a 3, 4, 5, or 6. I am not much of a gambler, but it's pretty easy to learn by heart the basic strategy, and, when playing according to its rule, the house's advantage is very small.
Transferred to the political realm, however, it seems "double down" is just a kind of wild west thing, an act of defiance. Instead of being a reasonable move dictated by one's strong position, it's a gob of spit in the face of one's reasonable foe. You do it when your position is weak, to show your disdain for ordinary rules--the ones by which you're losing, such as that the truth matters. One woman accuses you of having groped her, you deny it. Ten more say you groped them, you double down on your original lie. I think the gender aspect of my example is apt. I can't remember anyone reporting that Hillary Clinton ever doubled down on anything, but Trump is said to do it several times a day.
I see that Condoleezza Rice is making the rounds. She actually sounds measured and reasonable, which I attribute to the degeneracy of the current Administration. Sure, the last President Bush was a failure, but he did not indulge himself in racketeering, money laundering, nepotism, and ass-slapping in the girls' dressing room. Trump's first hire for the position Rice held was Michael Flynn.
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