The recent Detroit Lions’ victory over the Chicago Bears featured a trick play called “stumble bum.” The Lions’ quarterback pretended to trip, the running back took a few steps and fell, and the offensive linemen yelled, “Fumble.” That was all it took to bait the hook. Believing a potential turnover was afoot, the Bears’ defense froze for a moment, hunting for the loose ball. Too late did the Bears’ defense see the Lions’ running back stand up and make a block and the quarterback straightening and throwing the football to the Lions’ tight end, who had “missed” his block and was releasing toward the end zone. Touchdown, and victory, Detroit Lions.

In football, trickery is not unique, but it is not the rule. In politics, trickery is not unique, and it is the rule. This leads some conspiratorial minds to conclude the recent congressional tussle over the Continuing Resolution (CR) was an elaborate ruse to embarrass the departing President Biden and his Democrat-majority Senate by saddling them with a defeat and handing President-elect Trump and the House GOP a win.

But politics is not four-dimensional chess, nor even four-dimensional checkers. Politics is a back-alley game of craps rolled with loaded dice by stumble bums for other people’s bread. The CR’s congressional stumble bums were all too real. Fortunately, President Trump’s victory was equally real, as will be its benefits for his legislative agenda.

In ordinary times, one might wonder why the once and future president, Donald Trump, would precipitately cannonball back into the swamp during the increasingly routine Congressional food fight over a continuing resolution (CR), even calling for extending or eliminating altogether the debt ceiling.