U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) is outraged. He's fired up. So much so that he's whipped off letters and talked up a storm of indignation.

The object of his ire is the NBA's age minimum, requiring aspiring ballers to be at least 19 (and a year out of high school) before entering the league's draft.

Not the implosion of the American economy, nor the war in Afghanistan. Not the President's speech on the Middle East. Nor the growing number of Tennesseans who've lost their job, or might be losing their home to foreclosure, or who can't afford health insurance.

None of the above, but a rule that affects fewer than a dozen young men every year.

Why? Or even better: Why now does he stand before the near-empty Congressional chambers (and a TV audience, of course) to rage against a rule that was put in place two years ago? Didn't hear a peep out of him then. Didn't hear a word of outrage out of him when Derrick Rose, a mega-talented freshman, led Memphis, which is in his district, to the national championship game in 2008.

Why now is because Rose is presumably at the center of an allegation that a Memphis player cheated on an SAT test, an allegation that has already stained the Tiger program and threatens to lead to NCAA sanctions.

Now, Cohen (pictured) is outraged.

I don't mind politicians sticking their cattle prods into sports when needed. Often, it is. (See: BCS championships and bowls) But when they are motivated by a clear personal agenda that dismisses any thoughtful discussion, they really just need to shut up.

Especially when they sink to the depths of banality, as did Cohen.

For starters, he said the young men who have to wait a year to be eligible for the NBA draft are "forced to go to school when they have no desire or interest in going to school."

Uh, don't a lot of kids do that every day?!

So there's something wrong with a young man spending a year or two on a college campus? It hasn't hurt myriad young men, from Magic Johnson to Kevin Durant. And their schools or programs did not seem to be hurt by their drive-through.

Moreover, there are now other options for young players, such as Europe, where most notably Brandon Jennings has spent the past year, waiting to become eligible for the NBA draft.

Cohen's remarks were just silly. This is outrageous, insulting and just dumb. Cohen compared the rule to "slavery," saying it's "a restraint on a person's freedom's and liberties."

Jeez, my ancestors never quite described slavery in those terms. Nor have the thousands of women being held as sex slaves in too many places around the world.

Congressman, have you written any letters against that? 

Posturing such as this is so transparent and insipid it diminishes any real discussion about the argument for or against the target of the politician's scorn.

And that's too bad.

But I'm sure it will pass once the next great recruit signs a letter of intent to attend Memphis -  forced to do so like a slave.

Photo courtesy Rep. Steve Cohen