By Sarah Moomaw, News Staff

My dad likes to remind me to “pick battles wisely.”

I’d like to say I do, but the almost-nightly argument between my brother and I over the TV would prove otherwise.

However, it seems like an unavoidable battle and qualifies as a dumb fight.

Dumb fights prove not only that human nature has designed us to stand up for what we believe in, but also make it blatantly obvious we need to start thinking before we speak.

Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which has become the subject of too many political arguments.

I typically avoid politics, but this ruling began clogging my social media outlets, which generally focus on sports, entertainment and my personal life. It takes a lot for a political argument to filter through, and by the time it does, it has usually boiled into a dumb argument.

I’m not calling the law dumb by any means. As someone who considers herself injury prone and allergic to the world, I enjoy my health insurance. I’m also an aspiring journalist and delighted by the fact that I can now stay on my parents’ health insurance for another four years.

It’s the continuous argument around it that it is dumb.

I don’t see the need to debate it. We put people in positions to make decisions, they made their decisions, as we instructed them to do, so case closed.

Someone doesn’t like it, so they want to counter it. Without a legitimate counter, though, it never ends, so I tune back out until the next dumb argument seeps into my world.

I’m not here to debate Washington, as placement of dumb arguments isn’t just in the realm of the Capitol and my TV room. Athletes, celebrities and a combo-breed take center stage in their own dramas.

On Sunday, Major League Baseball announced the rosters for its Midsummer Classic, the 2012 All-Star Game in Kansas City. Fans vote for the starting lineups, players pick reserves and then it falls to MLB officials and the game’s managers to complete the rosters.

Simple. It has a very defined process that has worked for many years, but year after year once the rosters are released, more media coverage goes to the “snubs” than the All-Stars.

This year was no different.

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto didn’t receive a spot on the National League roster. Los Angeles Angels’ $254 million first baseman Albert Pujols was left off the American League’s.

Pujols told the media he understood and didn’t expect a trip to Kansas City because his stats are down from previous years.

Cueto, on the other hand, threatened he might file a grievance with Major League Baseball about being left out of the game on purpose by National League manager Tony La Russa, picking his own dumb fight.

Players voted to fill the roster spot Cueto wanted, and apparently his co-workers didn’t think he deserved it. MLB is backing La Russa as having followed the rules completely in this argument, so Cueto is walking into a closed door.

His contract with the Reds states he’d receive a $25,000 bonus for making the All-Star team, so he has reason to be upset, but if it’s a lost cause, it’s a lost cause.

Arguing takes delicate time and time is money, so therefore lengthy dumb arguments could be considered wasteful.

Hopefully now that I’ve publicly complained about dumb arguments, I will be more aware of which ones to pick, and maybe lead by example.