Friday, December 17, 2010
For Crying Out Loud
By Daniel J. Flynn/The American Spectator
House Speaker John Boehner insists his tears, like his tan, are genuine. Too bad. His election night sob story over his climb to success, followed by his 60 Minutes blubbering over schoolchildren, might be excusable if inspired by a Machiavellian streak. Alas, a lack of self-control, rather than an act to exert control over his audience, explains the teary-eyed outbursts.
Boehner's waterworks flow most frequently and famously. But his aren't the only tear ducts opening when the cameras are rolling. Senator Tom Coburn cried during his speech in favor Judge John Roberts's confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2005. Weepy behavior is bipartisan, as Senator Chuck Schumer whimpered during his introduction of Judge Sonia Sotomayor at her confirmation hearings last year. Mitt Romney choked up running for president when talking about his church admitting blacks, his father, and seeing a casket return from Iraq. America is in trouble when the behavior of its elected officials resembles that of the YouTube sensation who tearfully exhorted everyone to "Leave Britney alone! Please!"
One needn't be a stoic to find something unseemly in all this crying. Almost fifty years ago, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons counseled big girls not to cry. Today, one can't suggest so much to grown men without appearing like a troglodyte. Wussy is the new manly.
Politics merely reflects the culture, which likes its men to be like its women. Sometime after the appearance of man purses but before the pandemic of male eyebrow waxing, the culture gave the green light for guys to wail and weep. "It's okay to cry," we were told. But male icons in sports, movies, and television told us that it's not just okay to cry. It's obligatory.
Michael Jordan cried after winning his first NBA title and Tim Tebow cried after losing the SEC championship game. Get some perspective. You play a children's game. There may be no crying in baseball. Basketball and football are another story.
Joe Friday and Harry Callahan would never make it in today's Hollywood. Jerry Maguire, whose welling eyes impressed rather than repulsed the girl, seems a more iconic representation of modern manliness. He had her at hello. He lost me at boo-hoo.
In 2009, ABC presented Jason Mesnick as a catch to female contestants on The Bachelor. The indecisive, gushing Mesnick presented himself as unable to control his emotions to ABC's viewers. The man that ABC believed that women wanted turned out to be a bachelor for a reason.
Glenn Beck may or may not be a crier in real life, but he plays one on TV. Beck's weepiness has become as much a part of his shtick as Bill O'Reilly's temper or Keith Olbermann's sanctimony. When Walter Cronkite's voice cracked as he reported President Kennedy's assassination, few faulted him for his momentary betrayal of the dispassionate ethic of the anchorman. But in the news-o-tainment era, tears=ratings. Cry yourself to the bank.
Pundits who obsess over the artificiality of the tear flood miss the point. The indifference of the sincerely moved to suppress the impulse toward public emoting, and the eagerness of the phonies to release the feigned emotions, both tacitly acknowledge the benefits of being a crybaby in our society.
Proponents of crying suggest there is something unhealthy in holding back the tears. Perhaps they are on to something. Men are from Mars, not from Vulcan, after all. But why must so many men lose it so publicly? It's undignified. It can be, à la children's crocodile tears, manipulative. In leaders, it does not inspire confidence. As one might say to a couple partaking in similarly annoying public displays of affection, "Get a room!" -- the bathroom, the bedroom, the basement, wherever. Just take your crying eyes away from our eyes.
Cannot the dry eyes and the wet eyes come to a compromise? The former faction will grant that it is okay to cry, provided that the latter faction does so behind closed doors. Deal?
Thirty-nine-years ago, Maine Senator Edmund Muskie stood outside of the Manchester Union Leader and denounced the newspaper for criticizing his wife. Amid the emotionally-charged speech, and winter's flurries, reporters glimpsed moisture trailing down the presidential frontrunner's cheek. Was it melting snowflakes or tears? It didn't matter. The mere suggestion that an aspirant to lead the free world broke down during a stressful situation was enough for some to dismiss his candidacy.
In less than four decades, America has morphed from a culture that cringes at grown men bawling to one that rewards it. That's almost worth crying over.
House Speaker John Boehner insists his tears, like his tan, are genuine. Too bad. His election night sob story over his climb to success, followed by his 60 Minutes blubbering over schoolchildren, might be excusable if inspired by a Machiavellian streak. Alas, a lack of self-control, rather than an act to exert control over his audience, explains the teary-eyed outbursts.
Boehner's waterworks flow most frequently and famously. But his aren't the only tear ducts opening when the cameras are rolling. Senator Tom Coburn cried during his speech in favor Judge John Roberts's confirmation to the Supreme Court in 2005. Weepy behavior is bipartisan, as Senator Chuck Schumer whimpered during his introduction of Judge Sonia Sotomayor at her confirmation hearings last year. Mitt Romney choked up running for president when talking about his church admitting blacks, his father, and seeing a casket return from Iraq. America is in trouble when the behavior of its elected officials resembles that of the YouTube sensation who tearfully exhorted everyone to "Leave Britney alone! Please!"
One needn't be a stoic to find something unseemly in all this crying. Almost fifty years ago, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons counseled big girls not to cry. Today, one can't suggest so much to grown men without appearing like a troglodyte. Wussy is the new manly.
Politics merely reflects the culture, which likes its men to be like its women. Sometime after the appearance of man purses but before the pandemic of male eyebrow waxing, the culture gave the green light for guys to wail and weep. "It's okay to cry," we were told. But male icons in sports, movies, and television told us that it's not just okay to cry. It's obligatory.
Michael Jordan cried after winning his first NBA title and Tim Tebow cried after losing the SEC championship game. Get some perspective. You play a children's game. There may be no crying in baseball. Basketball and football are another story.
Joe Friday and Harry Callahan would never make it in today's Hollywood. Jerry Maguire, whose welling eyes impressed rather than repulsed the girl, seems a more iconic representation of modern manliness. He had her at hello. He lost me at boo-hoo.
In 2009, ABC presented Jason Mesnick as a catch to female contestants on The Bachelor. The indecisive, gushing Mesnick presented himself as unable to control his emotions to ABC's viewers. The man that ABC believed that women wanted turned out to be a bachelor for a reason.
Glenn Beck may or may not be a crier in real life, but he plays one on TV. Beck's weepiness has become as much a part of his shtick as Bill O'Reilly's temper or Keith Olbermann's sanctimony. When Walter Cronkite's voice cracked as he reported President Kennedy's assassination, few faulted him for his momentary betrayal of the dispassionate ethic of the anchorman. But in the news-o-tainment era, tears=ratings. Cry yourself to the bank.
Pundits who obsess over the artificiality of the tear flood miss the point. The indifference of the sincerely moved to suppress the impulse toward public emoting, and the eagerness of the phonies to release the feigned emotions, both tacitly acknowledge the benefits of being a crybaby in our society.
Proponents of crying suggest there is something unhealthy in holding back the tears. Perhaps they are on to something. Men are from Mars, not from Vulcan, after all. But why must so many men lose it so publicly? It's undignified. It can be, à la children's crocodile tears, manipulative. In leaders, it does not inspire confidence. As one might say to a couple partaking in similarly annoying public displays of affection, "Get a room!" -- the bathroom, the bedroom, the basement, wherever. Just take your crying eyes away from our eyes.
Cannot the dry eyes and the wet eyes come to a compromise? The former faction will grant that it is okay to cry, provided that the latter faction does so behind closed doors. Deal?
Thirty-nine-years ago, Maine Senator Edmund Muskie stood outside of the Manchester Union Leader and denounced the newspaper for criticizing his wife. Amid the emotionally-charged speech, and winter's flurries, reporters glimpsed moisture trailing down the presidential frontrunner's cheek. Was it melting snowflakes or tears? It didn't matter. The mere suggestion that an aspirant to lead the free world broke down during a stressful situation was enough for some to dismiss his candidacy.
In less than four decades, America has morphed from a culture that cringes at grown men bawling to one that rewards it. That's almost worth crying over.
District may close Flora Middle School
The possibility of closing East Flora Middle School was discussed this week as the Madison County School Board faces another year of state funding cuts.
Flora Mayor Les Childress and a group of the school's PTA members sat down with School Board members in executive session to discuss the issue Monday.
The school has an enrollment of 154 students that requires around 13 teachers as well as administration and support staff. School officials estimate it costs around $1 million a year to operate.
Superintendent of Education Michael D. Kent said closing a school is never an easy decision, but with drastic cuts expected for the upcoming school year nothing is off the table.
"There's nothing set in stone, but is it being considered? Absolutely," he said. "It all hinges on funding at the state level.
"What we're doing right now is listening to all the talk coming from the state capitol about funding," he continued. "If we have the funding woes they're predicting we may not have any choice."
Childress said no one in Flora wants to see the school closed and he hoped to push the issue with the town's aldermen and with their state representatives.
"We certainly don't want to see any of the schools on this side of the county close," Childress said. "Hopefully the legislature will come up with the funding, but if not we need to look at all the options."
If closed, the students from East Flora Middle would instead go to Madison Middle School where Kent said they have room. Currently, Madison Middle has the district's second largest enrollment with 1,228 students, second only to Madison Central High School.
In July an analysis of the district's spending showed it costs nearly twice as much to educate a student at East Flora Middle School than it does at Madison Middle School.
The report calculated instructional, transportation and various other expenses coming up with a per-student expense at each school.
It showed East Flora Middle School, the district's smallest, is the most expensive school to operate at almost $10,000 per child.
Other middle schools, like Madison and Germantown Middle, average around $5,700 per student.
The district's overall average is $7,400 per student while the state's average is just over $9,000.
Read More: MCJ
Flora Mayor Les Childress and a group of the school's PTA members sat down with School Board members in executive session to discuss the issue Monday.
The school has an enrollment of 154 students that requires around 13 teachers as well as administration and support staff. School officials estimate it costs around $1 million a year to operate.
Superintendent of Education Michael D. Kent said closing a school is never an easy decision, but with drastic cuts expected for the upcoming school year nothing is off the table.
"There's nothing set in stone, but is it being considered? Absolutely," he said. "It all hinges on funding at the state level.
"What we're doing right now is listening to all the talk coming from the state capitol about funding," he continued. "If we have the funding woes they're predicting we may not have any choice."
Childress said no one in Flora wants to see the school closed and he hoped to push the issue with the town's aldermen and with their state representatives.
"We certainly don't want to see any of the schools on this side of the county close," Childress said. "Hopefully the legislature will come up with the funding, but if not we need to look at all the options."
If closed, the students from East Flora Middle would instead go to Madison Middle School where Kent said they have room. Currently, Madison Middle has the district's second largest enrollment with 1,228 students, second only to Madison Central High School.
In July an analysis of the district's spending showed it costs nearly twice as much to educate a student at East Flora Middle School than it does at Madison Middle School.
The report calculated instructional, transportation and various other expenses coming up with a per-student expense at each school.
It showed East Flora Middle School, the district's smallest, is the most expensive school to operate at almost $10,000 per child.
Other middle schools, like Madison and Germantown Middle, average around $5,700 per student.
The district's overall average is $7,400 per student while the state's average is just over $9,000.
Read More: MCJ
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