Weeping John Boehner, A Sign of Strength and Understanding

Two nights ago they were at it again on O'Reilly, and they are not the only ones doing it: asking the question, why does John Boehner cry so much? Ever since he took office as Speaker of the House, he has been in the spotlight, and many of those times he is shedding tears. The media doesn't seem to understand this, so I believe it is reasonable to fill them in on some of the issues here, to explain this unique behavior.

There are many reasons why someone will weep. After a brain injury of any sort, it is not unusual for a person to have difficulty controlling their emotions. Laughing or crying can occur much more easily than with a "normal" brain, and it is usually obvious to those close to the injured person. Our speaker did play high school football. I don't know the record of his team, or how difficult his schedule was, but it is possible that he received many "hits" to the head during that experience, and lets face it, the helmets were not as effective during those days. Maybe that explains it, but I think the explanation is a bit more personal.

I have had personal experience with these issues, because I have a problem with emotion also, and Speaker Boehner mirrors what I have thought about and personally analyzed about myself for years. Chris Wallace told Bill O'Reilly the other day that when Boehner talks about his family or the American Dream, he will break into tears and they were wondering if that was a sign of "weakness." I almost can't believe the naivete in these prominent television personalities. Don't other persons have this trait? I can't be that unusual.

When I Google "weeping" I get medical explanations which include depression and dementia. I am certain the Democratic opposition to Mr. Boehner would want to elaborate on this one as a cause of his apparent need for handkerchiefs at multiple events. But from personal experience, I don't think that is close to the real reason for these minor "breakdowns."

I have had many experiences when I feel the tears coming up, and my inability to stop them because they interfere with my wishing to address a specific subject. The subjects I am dealing with can be many different topics, but essentially they deal with issues that have deep and significant ramifications relating to serious issues of life and death, love, separation, beauty, friendship, past and future, and life's struggles. I guess, it's issues that deal with the meaningful questions of life that generate deep emotions in myself and Mr. Boehner. I think we both realize the magnitude of these issues and we feel it. I guess there are those who just don't understand.

I recently retired, and when saying goodbye to my coworkers, the deep personal understanding of our years of cooperation, caring, and contribution together made it difficult to talk with them about this without tearing up. It was not a conscious realization of this while I was talking with them, but a deep feeling that arises from inside ones heart and paints the picture of the fullness  of this precious moment in life. Frankly, there are many of these "precious moments" that we all experience in our lives, and some of us just seem to feel them more deeply than others. I believe that welling up of realization of the value of the moment is what Speaker Boehner is feeling which brings forth the tears. As I see it, it can be no other way.

Mr. Boehner is from a large family with eleven children, and I am certain when he thinks about the "American Dream" he understands that he is living it. It is deeply meaningful to him, and strikes that cord of a "precious moment." Taking the gavel of government on the Speakers platform would have been one of those moments for certain. It that weakness? No way. We are fortunate to have such a sensitive human being up there speaking for the people. Will that influence the depth to which he understands his responsibility to the people? Undoubtedly. I think that is a sign of strength, and I congratulate him for his humanity.

I think it is time for the pundits to stop questioning why Our Speaker gets weepy at certain times. I think when they separate themselves from him by admitting that they do not understand why he has "so much trouble controlling his emotions" they are pointing out that they do not  have a sensitivity to the depth of meaning in the many human situations that we find ourselves as we go down the road of life. Mr. John Boehner is showing us how much he understands, and how much he cares. What a special trait to have in one of our leaders.  Aren't we fortunate and thank you Mr. Boehner.

TSA and "Death Panels," What They Have in Common

 In a recent CNN interview, Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, inferred that the "pat downs" are not going away soon, and "we better get used to them." We have definitely moved into a new phase in the security business, and I think we need to speculate on the potential effects on basic American culture. Sure, we need more security because it's getting more dangerous to fly with the terrorists making more and different bombs, but I would like to take this problem one step further. In order to reach this level of security, we are having to submit ourselves to invasive personal scrutiny at multiple levels. I must admit, I feel safer when they probe everyone, but I don't like it when it's done to me.

In a sense, they are forcing us to be "dehumanized." We are being forced to become digits, and that is the antithesis of the American way. Americans are supposed to be rugged individualists. We believe in the rights of the individual. Those rights are "endowed by our creator" and therefore can't be taken away. Isn't that what unalienable means?  Americans aren't meant to wait in line, and shut up!  The value of our personal autonomy is rooted deeply in American culture. Unfortunately, that's not what I see in our future, and I worry about changes in that culture.

Being dehumanized, and treated like a number is where we are certainly headed, and the TSA is child's play compared to what lies ahead. Not many columnists are writing about it, but health care is going to be the real changer. Right now we have "patient autonomy" and "patient rights" that pretty much allows each of us to demand all the treatment we can get. That is going to change in the future. No, I'm not talking about "death panels," because there is no such thing.  What I am talking about is the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality.

This agency was funded under H.R. 1 the Recovery and Reinvestment Act: the Stimulus Bill. It gave $1.1 billion dollars to begin this work. It consists of 15 individuals who are highly qualified with PhD, M.D., J.D., M.P.H. and RN degrees (many multiple degrees), who are going to use research to decide what can or will be done if it is efficient and "cost effective."

The genesis of this idea is contained in Tom Daschle's 2008 book, Critical: What We Can Do About the Health Care Crisis.  Among his major ideas was to create an "independent" board which can "exert tremendous influence on every other provider and payer, even those in the private sector." That, I believe, is the intention of this agency. It is going to make determinations about what is "reasonable" and what is "effective" and probably "not too costly."

Now don't misunderstand me. We need something like this. We spend millions on useless procedures and treatments, because, as Americans, we have a right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The tide is turning, and our individual pursuit of life is interfering with others pursuit of happiness because it costs too much. Changing this misappropriation of funds is now a priority.

The connection with TSA is that we will most likely reach a point in our aging that we will be made to feel like a digit. Only this time it will be more a question of life and death. The old thought of American individual rights will be trumped by the welfare of others because they can't afford to pay for our pursuit of life at any price. I hate to say it, but it just seems reasonable.

What concerns me beyond this interference with our medical care freedoms, is will this infringement on our personal autonomy begin to change our views of the "rugged individual American." We just can't have everything, and will we stop striving for "everything" the way we are supposed to as we work towards the elusive "American Dream." I worry that training us to wait in line to be searched, and wait in line for medical care that someone "in charge" might say we are not worthy of, will stifle  our American Spirit and respect for individual rights. If that occurs it is more serious than any conceivable death panel might be.