Rise to the Occasion - And No More Tears, Please

Who hasn't had to do something they dread, either because they don't enjoy it, or don't feel comfortable doing it?  Nobody, or I suspect nearly nobody.  This starts early in life - think school assemblies - and continues into adulthood.  Funerals, some business functions, and even holiday events with certain folks top the list of "do I really have to go?" for many.  But still, duty calls, we stand up straight, and do what we have to do.

Apparently this does not hold for the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. John Boehner.  He has declined President Obama's invitation to attend official state dinners for the leaders of India, Mexico, and this week, China.  Everybody knows that socializing - or a least socializing well - can be tremendously beneficial.  Relationships matter.  Rep. Boehner could certainly benefit from strong relationships with other leaders, including the leader of the most populous state in the world.  But he has chosen not to do so, and further declined to give a reason.  Maybe he doesn't like his president - and yes, Mr. Obama is his president, after all.  Perhaps he wants to send a signal to our communist visitor that there is no unity in the American government; one can only wonder how that would help Rep. Boehner or our country.  Maybe he doesn't like China, or its leader, and wants to send a clumsy message that "I won't put on funny clothing to have dinner with you."  Smart adversaries in all domains - political, military, business, and even athletic - normally jump at the opportunity to see opponents up close and personal, to get to know them, see first hand their outlook, tendencies, and to develop a sense of their character.  But not Rep. Boehner, who must think that somehow he has seen enough, and has nothing more to learn.

What a shame for him, and what a shame for us that Rep. Boehner will not stand up and do his duty for his president, and for his country.

And as a side note, Rep. Boehner, please stop crying in public, which I believe you have now done three times.  While the occasions for your tears were certainly very emotional, Americans really don't like to see their leaders cry even in the most moving circumstances.  Lincoln didn't cry at Gettysburg, Roosevelt didn't cry after Pearl Harbor, and Reagan didn't cry speaking at heartbreaking memorials to our dead at Normandy, to John F. Kennedy, or to the Challenger astronauts.