Tag:

Politician

4 Lessons Learned from the 2012 Presidential Election

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 5/23/2024

4 Lessons Learned from the 2012 Presidential Election There is a lot to be learned from history.

And with the 2012 U.S. Presidential elections now in our past, I believe the campaigns have taught us a few new things that hopefully the new President and Congress can take to heart.

1. The American people don’t want finger-pointing and blame — they want bi-partisanship.

Nobody likes a government that is so polarized that it can’t agree on anything. Even during the Reagan (with Democrats having a majority in Congress during some of that time) and Clinton years (with Republicans having a majority in Congress during some of that time) things got done.

A Congress that can’t get things done demonstrates a significant lack of leadership and a spirit of good government among both parties in Congress. The people have spoken — they want that leadership and compromise moving forward.

5/23/2024 2 comments

The Endless, Irrational Political Campaign

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 5/18/2024

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

The Endless, Irrational Political Campaign Sometimes I’m not so sure what the point of democratic elections are.

After living in one of the largest democracies in the world all my life, I get more and more disillusioned with each passing year.

Why? Because each year the same pattern repeats itself. Endlessly.

This is especially true every four years when we go to the polls to elect our next President. Presidential candidates regularly make promises and pledges about what they can do to “fix” every problem afflicting us today.

5/18/2024 0 comment

Rep. Todd Akin, Abortion and Rape

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 4/22/2024

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

Rep. Todd Akin, Abortion and Rape One thing is clear — Rep. Todd Akin probably should be talking to a few more real medical doctors before speaking about issues he clearly understands very little about. Because no matter what your views are on abortion in America, your views on rape should be pretty clear cut if you’re not living in the 1950s.

Women do not asked to be raped. It doesn’t matter what kind of clothing a woman is wearing, or what she said or did beforehand. There are no cases of “legitimate” rape.

And there is nothing the human body does that says, “Oh, I’m being raped, I’d better ensure I don’t get pregnant from this.”

Only an ignorant, sad and sadly misinformed politician could somehow think these things — much less say them in a television interview during the time he’s trying to get elected to the U.S. Senate.

Read on for the full quote and video…

4/22/2024 24 comments

Jesse Jackson, Jr. is Entitled to His Privacy for Treatment of Mental Illness

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 4/12/2024

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. is Entitled to His Privacy for Treatment of Mental Illness Should politicians and celebrities see it as their responsibility to share the specific details of their mental illness or mental disorder diagnosis in order to help reduce the prejudice surrounding these conditions?

That’s the question Torrie Bosch asks over at Slate and arrives at this conclusion — yes, it is a politician’s duty and responsibility to offer full disclosure about their mental health concerns.

But I think Bosch is missing a key component here. When in the throes of a full-blown episode (whether it’s bipolar disorder, depression, or something else), one shouldn’t be making any life-changing decisions or decisions that could forever alter one’s future career.

While it’s easy to believe that politicians and celebrities are something special, underneath their public persona beats the heart of an ordinary person — someone who is entitled to his or her privacy. Especially for health or family concerns.

4/12/2024 3 comments

Politicians and Sex: The Type T Personality

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 11/14/2023

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

Politicians and Sex: The Type T Personality Colleague and psychologist Dr. Frank Farley has an interesting op-ed over at the LA Times the other day about some of the underlying psychological motivations that may explain why politicians stray from their marriages.

In the article, Dr. Farley refers to the “Type T Personality” — the T stands for Thrill. He makes the argument that we elect the politicians we do because we’re drawn to their bold ideas, their intensity, their charisma. But those same qualities that may make them a good politician (we don’t really know, because there hasn’t been a lot of research done in this area yet), also may put them at greater risk for engaging in unethical relationship behavior, such as cheating on their spouse.

Politicians, like Hollywood celebrities, are also constantly surrounded by people who do nothing but look up to them, sing their praises — “yes” people. He notes that the politician is immersed in a set of people who are “adoring followers, campaign workers, office staff — all focused on pleasing the politician.” It may give someone an unrealistic belief that they above normal morals and ethics, and so cheating is “okay” (perhaps explaining former President Clinton’s tryst with an intern).

11/14/2023 2 comments

10 Things I Don’t Want for Christmas

by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. 3/8/2023

By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.

10 Things I Don't Want for Christmas While everybody else is busy publishing their “Top 10” lists for Christmas and year-end, I thought I’d do something a little different… So here’s 10 things I don’t want for Christmas.

10. Excuses. I’m so sick of hearing excuses from people, rather than results. All the time you spend explaining why you didn’t do such and such or couldn’t find XYZ could’ve been spent actually doing such and such or finding XYZ. I think sometimes we all have had our share of hearing enough excuses from others.

9. Endless war and death. Apparently some of our most recent presidents here in the U.S. haven’t been very avid historians. I think it should be requirement of a politician for higher office that they must pass a minimum set of world history classes, because even our current leader seems to believe that an extended conflict in Afghanistan is “winnable.” Talk to the Russians — they’ll tell you otherwise. War and death are two things we all could use a lot less of. (Sorry to get political there for a moment…)

8. Anger and angst. We spend a lot of our lives being angry at others, holding grudges (that in some cases go on for years), or just getting upset about silly things, when we step back and put them into some perspective. I could do with a lot less of those two things, both on the giving and receiving end of them.

7. Materialism during the holidays. I, like many others, get tired of the endless commercials and attempts to prey upon our more materialistic instincts at this time of the year. I fight these urges by turning off the TV, throwing out the holiday catalogs, and donating as much as I can — in either time or cash — to my favorite charities. They need it more than ever and it helps promote my own happiness, so it’s a win-win!

6. Doctors or therapists who are lousy at communicating. You know who I mean — the ones that you try and talk to about your condition or concern, and they either nod their heads and go, “Mmm hmm, I see. So tell me how that makes you feel?” or the ones who explain themselves by circular reasoning, “Why did you change my prescription, doc?” “Well, the prescription you had was working too well (I kid you not), so we needed to take you down to something that will work better for you.”

5. Insurance company greed. I don’t want insurance companies to take advantage of loopholes in laws. See this recent entry about how insurance companies use the term, medically necessary, in order to deny treatment reimbursement for mental disorders in California.

4. More complexity. You know the old saying, “The simplest solutions are usually the best ones”? Well, this works for nearly any component of your life. Feeling harried by having committed to too many organizations or groups? Cut them down to one. Seriously. Have 40 different ways to communicate with a small group of people? Cut them down to one. Trying to update your statuses on 12 different social networks? Cut them down to one. Are you beginning to see a pattern? Trust me, your life will be simpler, you’ll be less stressed, and you won’t notice much difference in the quality of your life.

3. Family squabbles. The problem with family is that we all know each other all too well, so if there’s a button we want to push, we know how to push it. This Christmas, I’d like to leave the squabbles at home and bring only peace to the table. Well, peace and my appetite. Someone’s got to eat the pie.

2. Close-mindedness. It’s so refreshing to talk to someone who is open to new ideas, who accepts you for you are and what you bring to the table, and doesn’t bring preconceived notions into the discussion. We would all be better people if we could put aside the prejudices hammered into us throughout our life and try to keep a more open mind.

1. Hate. Okay, so this may be an obvious, easy pick, but how much better would our own little world be if we could learn not to hate others — and then just did it? We don’t have to love them, but not hating them could still make a world of difference. In my own world, there’s really no one I hate, but I know people who do hate others, and it makes their lives pretty miserable when it comes up. I see it online all the time, too, and I just have to wonder how much better a place the world would be if we took up all that time and energy we use for such hate and put it into better things.

3/8/2023 8 comments