If by politics you mean race, then Lin can't win.

Because it can't be proven. Throw in the towel and say, "F it. No matter what I do is just useless, nobody will recognize me because of race", that's so NOT Lin. Otherwise, he would have given up long time ago, coz that would be an easy way out to give up.

If by politics, you mean the whole decision making process, aka usual office politics, I thought I was just discussing that.