Someone Bring Me A Chair

Now for something a little different than usual.... 

Someone Bring Me A Chair

“Ok, I’ll make you a deal. I’ll go get my toe looked at, but only if you go to the eye doctor and finally get yourself some new glasses and stop complaining about not being able to see.”

“Fine.”
“Fine.”
“Deal.”
“Deal.”

We shook on it – a silly, ceremonial gesture overseen by wry smiles and winking eyes. Neither of us actually wanted to go to our respective doctors and take care of our relatively simple ailments.

I don’t quite know when it happened, but I undeniably fell into the stereotype that men avoid the doctor at all costs. I can honestly remember telling myself that under no circumstances would I become that asshole coughing up a lung or bleeding from his ears that said, “No, really. I’m fine. Just … someone bring me a chair. I just need to sit for a minute and I’ll be good to go,” and actually mean it.

The moment I decided not to be that guy: I strolled through the front door of my parents house after a particularly rough baseball practice, still riding the high brought on by the freedom of being sixteen and able to drive myself around, when my sister, near tears, ran up to me.

“Dad fell off a ladder!!” “What? Where?!” “Backyard. He’s just lying there.” I sprinted through the house, out the open back door, three steps to the porch railing, vaulted myself over it and landed next to my father who lay motionless next to a now broken ladder. “…Dad…?”

He rolled over. “That fucking hurt.”
“Are you ok?”
“Ladder just gave out and down I went. Landed right on top of it. Broke the fucker.”
“You landed on the ladder? How high were you?”
“Top rung. Had to trim a branch.”

It was then that I looked up to the tree and noticed his 18’ tree pruner (basically a saw on a pole for cutting hard-to-reach branches from tall trees) hanging precariously from a half-sawed branch. “Ok, Dad. We’ve gotta move you.” I bent at the knees, preparing to lift my not-so-light father. I threw his arm over my shoulder and he doubled over in pain, grabbing at his chest. “Or maybe we should call an ambulance, Old Man.”  
“Fuck that. Bring me a chair. I just need to sit for a minute and I’ll be good to go. And bring me some water. And Crown.”

Turns out Dad broke two ribs and fractured his back, but we didn’t find that out until he went to the doctor … four weeks later. So I decided I wouldn’t be that guy.

It’s not that doctors scare me, or their offices or even hospitals. I consider myself in good health, even if WebMD has turned me (and, admit it, you, too) into a closet hypochondriac convinced that I’m tired not because I was up late working last night but because I have the diabetic AIDS cancer I’ve read so much about. My mood upon leaving a doctor’s office is, more often than not, optimistic that I very probably will not be dying of some medical cause in the immediate future. All in all, no real reason to fear the doctor. If anything, I should welcome the word of an expert, a professional, telling me that my headache is being caused by stress and not a sinus infection that spread into brain cancer, leaving me only two weeks to live (and I’ve still so much to do).

It surprised me, then, to find myself displaying much the same attitude as my father.

“Does this look like an ingrown toenail to you?”
“Sure does.”
“You’re not even looking”
She sighed, loudly, as she put down her book to glance at my toe. “I’ve no idea. I don’t know what an ingrown toenail looks like. But it definitely looks like it hurts.”
“Please. I can take the pain. I’ll be fine.” It did hurt. And looked awful.

WebMD more or less confirmed for me that I did indeed have what looked like it may well have been an ingrown toenail, complete with a nasty infection. But they also offered home remedies – no need for a visit to the doc.

I traveled back home for the winter holidays and my mom, being a mom, asked about my toe. Naturally, I said that it was fine even as it sat wrapped in a Band-Aid smothered in Neosporin and screaming for some antibiotics lest the infection spread and kill me. We have three dogs at my parents house, and errant paws run rampant through the house. Unfortunately for me, one landed squarely on my toe. Now, I can take pain, but this sent me to the floor … and my mom sent me to the urgent care center.

“Yup. Your toe is definitely infected. We’ll get you some antibiotics and fix you right up.”
“So it’s not an ingrown toenail?”
“Nope. Just infected. Take these twice a day for ten days and it should knock out the infection.”

This conversation happened with two different doctors. Twice the infection returned. I took a different route.

“Foot Doctors, how can we help you?”
“Hi, yeah, um, I need to make an appointment for my toe.”
“Do you have insurance?”
“Yeah. I found you on my insurance website. You’re in network.”
“Ok. How’s three weeks from now?”
“You don’t have anything earlier?”
“No.”
“Oh.”
“Does that work for you?”
“Yeah. Sure. That’ll be fine. Something in the middle of the day would be great.”
“Ok. Three Wednesdays from now, 1:30.” I gave her my info and set up the appointment.

For those of you that don’t know, medical care in New York City is excellent if you can find a doctor that you trust. The only problem is that you have to wait an hour or two once you get there. And you have to arrive before your scheduled appointment time as most offices charge you a fee if you’re late. I did not know this before I showed up just on time for my appointment … and sat in the waiting room for an hour.

But once the doctor saw me, it was quick.

Nurse: “Take off your shoes and socks. Sit on the chair. Put your feet up. The doctor will see you in a minute.”

I took off my shoes and socks, removed my seemingly ever-present bandage from my toe and waited. The doctor strolled in wearing the usual white coat but minus the stethoscope. I guess I should have guessed at that. I didn’t really think that he’d need to check my heartbeat from my feet, but my mental image of a doctor always has a stethoscope. It just feels right.

“Ok, which toe?”
“Uh, the one that looks like it needs medical attention.”
“Woah. That thing’s a party favor. How long has it been like that?”
“About … maybe four months?”
“Four months?”
“Maybe longer. I went to an urgent care center and they told me it was infected but not ingrown.”
“Why’d you go to a GP? You wouldn’t go to a neurologist for a broken finger, would you?”
“No.”
“Next time come to me first. It would’ve saved you time, money, and lots of pain. Now, let’s get that toe fixed.”
“Now?” He had already grabbed a syringe and plunged it into a bottle, slowly drawing out the clear liquid.
“Yup. This will hurt a bit, but I’m going to numb up your toe, dig out the nail and remove the infection. Get ready for a pinch … now.”

For those of you fortunate enough to have missed the exquisite pain involved in being stabbed in the toe, let me tell you that your toes are surprisingly sensitive. The “pressure” he was talking about … anvil dropped on the toe. Surgical strike of acute pain. The bastard stabbed me in the toe! With a needle! He caused intense pain in order to numb it. It didn’t seem fair.

“I’ll be back in about five minutes and we’ll fix you right up.”

Five minutes passed where the feeling in my toe disappeared.

“Ok! Ready?” He flicked at my toe. “Feel that?”
“Not really.”
“Excellent. You’re ready.”

He dove right in. Taking what looked a bit too much like a wire cutter, he started hacking away at my nail, cutting straight down and losing his nail clipper under my skin. He cut out a sizable chunk of my nail and a good piece of skin. This all should have been quite painful. Instead I stared jaw-dropped and felt nothing.

“There. You’re done. Put this cream on the toe, wear a Band-Aid and everything will be fine.”
“No antibiotics?”
“Nope. I told you, go to the expert first and save yourself some hassle.”

I still don’t know how I got to be “that guy” who avoided the doctor, but here I am again, another toe with an ingrown nail and in so much pain I can barely walk. Just, someone bring me a chair. I’m fine.

Swine Flu Justice

The world media, and, truly, the world in general, has been all aflutter over the recent Swine Flu (H1N1 flu, hybrid flu … a rose by any other name, right?) epidemic (when a disease hits many people all at once in one locality where the disease is not normally present) or pandemic (a country- or world-wide epidemic) or whatever status we’re assigning it.

My question is: why?

Worldwide, according to the NY Times, about 800 people have been infected, with zero US deaths. Each year about 36,000 Americans die from seasonal influenza. This outbreak of swine flu gripping the world in fear seems to be much milder than everyone initially feared; milder, in fact, than the regular flu. There is a chance that it could mutate and become horrifying, but until then…

… let’s move on to more important things.

Justice David H. Souter recently announced his retirement from the Supreme Court. The problems that President Obama has faced in his first several months in office have been global and daunting. His decisions and policies about how to tackle these challenges will doubtless be long lasting and important.

That being said, his choice to replace Justice Souter might just turn out to be his most important decision that he will make as President.

It may be difficult to see this now, but I believe that the worst thing that happened under President Bush II was his appointment of TWO ultra conservative justices to the Bench. Most presidents don’t get to appoint any Supreme Court justices, and an administration that most Americans want desperately to forget was fortunate enough to appoint two.

The reason that Supreme Court appointments are so important is that justices long outlast the presidents that appoint them. Justices hold their seat on the Bench until they decide to retire (or they become unable to perform their duties), and their rulings potentially change the course of the country (Roe v. Wade and  Brown v. Board come to mind as just those kinds of cases).

I’m optimistic about President Obama’s pending nomination, but not because I think he will appoint a well-known liberal to replace the left-leaning Souter. President Obama is so appealing because of his obvious intelligence and the way he appears to deeply contemplate everything. He weighs issues, seeing them from multiple points of view, and then delivers an eloquent decision. Basically, he is incredibly smart and makes thought-out, informed decisions. I am absolutely sure that he will nominate someone with similar insight and thoroughness.

Many in the media are clamoring to predict his woman or minority nominee. Although I do think that a woman should be nominated (there is currently only one woman on the Bench), I do not think that gender or race should be at the top of the list of criteria.

As a constitutional law professor at one of the most prestigious law schools in the world, President Obama earned a reputation as a vehement pragmatist in his interpretation of constitutional law. I imagine (hope, even) that he will appoint a like-minded person to the Bench. Some liberals might not be happy about that, but, really, a pragmatic and thoughtful Justice would almost always side against conservative rulings, and, in fact, might do some work to reverse some of the recent laws that allow the government to spy on citizens (put into law under President Obama).

However this goes, Mr. Obama’s nominee will likely face little to no challenge in his/her appointment. Republicans will surely make a fuss and try very hard to denounce the nominee, but the Democratic majority in the Senate will make blocking an appointment incredibly difficult.

I am confident that this president, unlike his predecessor, will take this nomination seriously and appoint someone that I will trust to hear each case objectively, weighing the case against the spirit of constitutionality and leave personal politics at the door.

This could be President Obama’s most important and lasting decision in office. This is a difficult and important test for a young president with much to prove. Here’s hoping he passes it.

The Pakistan Problem

The Democratic Party doesn’t really have a reputation as the party of war, and in recent years, the Republicans have painted Democrats as lily academics, scared to get their hands dirtied by hard work or the blood of war. Basically, the general opinion of some Americans (as far as I can piece together from political campaigns and opinion polls of the recent past) is that Democrats are weak and need the Republicans to defend them (and the country).

President Obama recently had the opportunity to change that when he dealt with Somali pirates that attacked a US registered ship and took its captain hostage. Mr. Obama ordered Navy SEALS to use whatever force they deemed necessary to rescue the captain, and on April 13, SEAL snipers killed 3 pirates, rescuing the captain. President Obama made it known that if you attack an American, the consequences will be swift and fierce – and I applaud him for that, as did many Republicans that feared he would be a soft leader.

He needs to maintain that fierceness, though.

Pakistan appears to have completely given up their fight against Taliban insurgents as the Taliban move closer and closer to Pakistan’s capitol city of Islamabad. As the insurgency approaches to the capitol, the Pakistani government barely lifts a finger to stop the advance. Last week the Taliban took control of the Buner district, a mere 60 miles from Islamabad and the government’s response was to send constabulary forces (not military, mind you) to lose an almost non-contested fight for control of the district.

It’s not as if Pakistan is lacking in military prowess. They’re a recognized nuclear state (remember the India/Pakistan nuclear tests?), and a major power in the region. Oh, and they receive one billion dollars a year from the US in military aid to boost their standing army of 500,000 people and help them fight off insurgencies like this (we provide them aid to help maintain and protect their fragile democratic government).

The idea of rogue groups having nuclear weapons is frightening enough, but the idea of Iran going nuclear AND the Taliban taking over an already nuclear state is outright horrifying.

Now, I’m a sissy Democrat and opposed the war in Iraq, but we’re invested quite heavily in the region. We may not be well liked, and it may not be right of us, but we’re still the world’s super power and consider it our duty to try to keep peace in the region, often by our political and military might. 

President Obama will have to make tough decisions throughout his presidency, indeed he has had to make tough decisions from Day 1. But his decision on how best to deal with the Pakistan situation could well shape the course of his tenure as leader of the free world. Not being a high ranking military or political figure, I can only offer a mere civilian’s (and an urban Democrat, at that) thoughts to the matter.

The US needs to take a military stand in Pakistan.

Yes, that would create incredible tension between our two governments and it would likely outrage many in the region. But the two days leading to the announcement that the Taliban took Buner were the two of deadliest days in Iraq. We have been bombing lawless regions in Pakistan where terrorists and Afghan insurgents are hiding out. Is it that hard to believe that we Pakistan plays a huge role in potentially keeping peace in the region? I don’t think so.

I don’t know how, exactly, this military presence should be made in Pakistan, and I’ll leave that up to our military leaders, but I do know that Pakistan’s democracy cannot fall to the Taliban. It would cause regional upheaval and give an extreme and unpredictable group state-controlled nuclear weapons and legitimacy. And it could very likely cause another war between India and Pakistan.

Here’s hoping this problem is dealt with swiftly and effectively.

Nuclear North Korea

President Obama just finished up his first G20 meeting and a trip that took him through Europe to Turkey and ended in Iraq. This was the first time he was could showcase his international political skills as President.

But the real test to President Obama and Hillary Clinton has come from the always troublesome of North Korea. In the past few weeks North Korea has been preparing to put a satellite into orbit using a three stage rocket.

Despite urging from nearly every country with global clout, including (sort of) China and Russia not to go through with it, North Korea launched the rocket towards space.

Now, if you get your news from sources within North Korea, you’d be under the impression that the launch was a success and a satellite is currently hurtling around in low earth orbit while sending patriotic music back to their Dear Leader (not even kidding, they have to say this when referencing him. Punishable by imprisonment), Kim Jong-Il. If you read uncensored news sources, you’d be under the impression that all three rocket stages and the payload fell back to Earth, not making it into orbit.

The question now becomes: how should the world respond? Most countries see this launch as a blatant attempt by North Korea to show that they can launch an ICBM and reach faraway targets, presumably with a nuclear warhead attached (because, remember, they’ve been trying to become nuclear capable for some time now and have been in six nation talks to stop the program).

Barack Obama has appealed to the UN Security Council to take action against North Korea. Probably the response will be watered down by Russia and China. The goal here should be to use this as a way to further Mr. Obama’s desire to end nuclear proliferation by citing the dangers or rogue regimes achieving nuclear capabilities and ignoring the safety of the world.

Despite the ties between Russia and North Korea, I think that North Korea’s blatant dismissal of international wishes can be a way to convince Russia we live in a time when the possession of nuclear weapons by rogue states or groups is increasingly more dangerous than the possession of nuclear weapons by nations that seem to have enough sense not to use them.

The takeaway from this situation, I believe, is that North Korea is a dangerous country, akin to a wild dog, that desperately wants to be taken seriously and they need to be punished – and not taken seriously. Ideally, Mr. Obama can appeal to North Korea’s allies/suppliers and use the influence of Iran, Russia, and China over North Korea to punish Kim Jong-Il and find a common issue that can act as a base to rebuild relations.

North Korea attempted to use the launch as a means to increase their political capital, but I think that Mr. Obama should use the launch as a means to leverage his own international political capital to pull together countries that have before been seen as enemies and strengthen America’s place as the super power.

 

Presidential Availability

It’s an interesting exercise to think about the American government as a business – with the President as the CEO and the voters both as customers and as shareholders. The President interviews for a job with his campaign and we give him the job based on our votes, and then we use government programs.

The last administration seemed to carry with it an air of aloofness. As an everyday American that happened to devour news, I found it difficult to get adequate answers from high ranking officials about issues small or large, and policy answers proved even more elusive. Sure, we heard talking points and well-scripted answers that kept a veil of secrecy up between government and the people it served, but that just never seemed to cut it for me.

Maybe I’m being a bit harsh on the Bush administration in terms of transparency in governing (and I understand that some parts of the government should be kept secret), but something tells me that more than a few people share my belief.

This new administration charged into the White House on the backs of small donations (and, really, huge donations from corporations and special interest groups) with the help of the Internet. I don’t know about you, but I was almost sick of receiving emails from Barack Obama during the campaign. And I liked it.

President Obama promised to change the politics of Washington, and while we all knew this to be hyperbolic, it appears that he is at least trying earnestly to change the availability and transparency of the Office of the President and, indeed, of the President himself.

In the past two weeks, President Obama has been on Leno and 60 Minutes and he held a virtual town hall meeting on CNN where he answered questions from attendees (there live) and the Web. The President is making himself available to the American Public.

I’m stunned.

It’s amazing. I actually feel like President Obama can be reached. Back when I was a kid, if I had some kind of monumental complaint, my mom/teachers/whoever would tell me to write my Congressman, basically letting me know that my complaint was falling on deaf ears, with no solution in sight.

Now, it seems, our President is following in the footsteps of FDR’s famous fireside chats and reaching out to the people, actually hearing our concerns and letting us know what the government is doing to help. The President spent most of his time explaining his budget, his stimulus plan, and his view on the future of the economy (bleak, but, thankfully, fairly realistic), but he had time to crack some jokes as well. Yes, the Office of the President is still difficult to reach, but not impossible.

President Obama started his term facing monstrous obstacles, and while I don’t always agree with all of his policies and decisions, it calms me to know that he is an incredibly smart man that takes his job, and his country, seriously. I hope he continues to reach out to us, the American public, explaining his decisions and listening to our thoughts/fears/concerns/ideas.

He may not take our views into consideration as much as we’d like, and he likely cannot save the jobs we’d like him to save or quickly turn around the economy, but, hey, he’s not Superman. As long as he keeps himself available and attempts to increase the transparency of governance, he can start to cause actual change in Washington: bringing our Democracy (republic, really) back to the spirit of Democracy where every citizen’s voice actually matters.

I could get quite used to four years of this.