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The Secret To Uniting A Divided Country: Hatred Of The Miami Heat

Americans at all points on the political spectrum constantly bemoan the perceived inability of politicians to work together to get things done. That’s made clear by Congress receiving a 79 percent disapproval rating in recent polls – and that number actually being an improvement. Disagreement’s only natural, of course – the two-party system exists to encourage different ideas and disagreement and the two sides will be forced to compromise to pass bills. And sometimes the calls for greater unity and compromise between the two sides are a little much – again, they’re supposed to disagree.

But it’s hard sometimes not to wish for a less contentious political environment – and on Sunday, NBC’s Meet the Press might have discovered the secret during a segment where Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, a Democrat, and Ohio governor John Kasich, a Republican, debated the implications of May’s weak jobs report, among other topics. The way to bring the left and the right together: unite them in hatred of the Miami Heat.

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Listen to them laugh, those old buddies. Of course, they’d both be expected to root against the Heat anyway – Patrick governs the state where the Celtics play, Kasich governs the state where LeBron used to – but who’s to say a tidal wave of anti-Heat sentiment couldn’t pervade all of American politics, reminding each and every man and woman in Congress (well, aside from those representing the Miami area) that no matter how strong their differences, they’ll always have that? The entire MTP segment is available here.

[h/t Josh]