GESENHUES: Anyone know a good therapist for the country's new leader?

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November 5, 2008

BY AMY GESENHUES The News and Tribune Wed Nov 05, 2008, 11:22 AM EST

It’s over. The votes have been tallied and our new Commander in Chief is shopping for a nice Armani coat to wear to his inaugural address on the steps of the Capitol Building.

Since the deadline for my column is the day before Election Day, I’m writing this without knowing who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, 2008. Even if it’s not my guy, there is one thing our next president could do to make us all happy. He could hire a therapist.

Not for himself, of course. No, this therapist will have a much tougher job than analyzing the leader of the free world. This therapist will need experience counseling families suffering through divorce. He will need to take a marriage that was doomed from the start and teach each side how to forget their petty battles and focus on the bigger issues.

The therapist’s primary patient? Our Congress.

Maybe the therapist could have his very own cabinet. His title could be Secretary of Congressional Well-Being. He would lead the Department of Conflict Resolution. This Secretary would work alongside Congress to counsel them through successful negotiations. He could call-out the nonsensical bipartisan situations and help opposing parties find common ground.

There could be team building days when the Secretary of Congressional Well-Being would give our Congress morale enhancing exercises. Democrats would have to pretend to be republicans for the day and vice versa. At the end of the exercises, the Secretary would ask each Congressman, “How did it make you feel when your amendment to the bill didn’t get passed?”

Whatever this therapist does with his patients, he’s got to get them working together quickly. Even if they disagree, democrats and republicans are going to have to do something to make life better for all of us. It’s time they understand that their ultimate role is to serve their constituents in the best possible manner. From the cheap seats, it appears they are only serving themselves and their ploys to get re-elected.

When things are good, there is plenty of time for bipartisan battles about issues that do not affect us on a daily basis. But things are not so good right now.

We need our political leaders to work together to resolve the issues that do affect us on a daily basis. Our jobs are on the line. Our homes are in danger of being taken away. Our debt is growing while our 401(k)s are diminishing. The bitter split between Congress democrats and republicans has made a mess of our lives. We are the children caught in the middle of this nasty divorce, left thinking that it’s all our fault.

It’s a likely story. A marriage turns sour and the kids are the ones to take the brunt of it. This year’s election campaigns have only made matters worse. Do our representatives understand that the their negative campaign ads hurt us more than they have hurt the opposing candidate?

When will Congress stop doing what is in their best interest and start doing what is in the best interest of our nation? Instead of name calling we need successful negotiations. We have to stop worrying about who is blue and who is red and remember that Old Glory is made up of both colors. We are ALL pro-America no matter how big or how small our town. The constant pointing fingers and clamoring about why the opposing party is wrong has to end so that the parties can work together to make things right again.

Congress needs a therapist because their emotional well being is in disarray. Maybe if they came to the table (or the House and the Senate) with a more solid emotional foundation, all the back-handed deals would cease to exist.

No more dirty deeds like adding $150 billion to an already astronomical $700 billion bailout plan. No more voting per their favorite lobbyist’s urgings, regardless of how much the lobbyists wine, dine and line their pockets with dough. No more blaming the other side.

In some marriages, it’s best for the spouses to split so that the children don’t bear witness to the constant battling. But splitting is not an option for our nation’s warring spouses. Unfortunately, our Congress cannot go their separate ways and start a new, happier marriage with someone new. They have to remain married to one another.

I’m not sure our Congress can accomplish such lofty goals. Whatever happens, my hope is that they overcome the challenges at hand and can stay married without destroying everybody else.

Amy Gesenhues is a freelance writer who lives in Floyd County. You can read her daily commentaries at www.AmyWroteIt.Wordpress.com. E-mail her directly at amy@amywroteit.com.

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