politics as intramurals

in the united states, politics are intramurals.  every game is a home game; the true opponents are not on the other team, but instead are the fan base, the observers and the rest of the surrounding community.  it's not exactly the same in the rest of the world since most political parties didn't start primarily to facilitate access into the political class like they did here in the united states.  we have always been light, too light, on ideological friction.  our politics are just a bunch of fraternity guys playing softball as an excuse to drain some kegs.