There are a few things that separate dentistry from the larger medical profession…. the schooling, the (smaller) bills, the prolific jokes…. But from the limited breadth of my medical experience, the largest difference is the condescension and belittlement. I recently went in for a cleaning…

Things start off well. Niceties. How have you been? How’s everything? What do you do again? Lawyer? Circus clown? Professional spelunker? With at least 6 months between visits, conversation is comfortably vague.

But alas, the dental discourse quickly devolves into accusative questioning…. a heartbreakingly familiar dialogue that went something like this:

Hygienist: So, how often do you brush?
Stephen: Twice a day…
H: Oh really? What kind of brush do you use?
S: Hmmm… one for teeth….as opposed to toilets….?
H: Let me show you the proper way becuase….And do you floss?
S: Once a day
H: Uhuh (insert cringe-worthy skepticism here). Brush after meals, never before
S: I do

*Now drops the curtain of awkward silence* The dental visit has (un)officially become adversarial

She doesn’t believe me. Not a chance. Like the police officer that asks, “is there a reason you were speeding?” It may be routine, but I suspect that chronicling great answers (”lies”) is a job perk.

I’m not sure why, but dentists have an intrusive and almost despotic right that other medical professionals do not. I take very reasonable care of my pearly whites, and almost always suffer vague chastisement at my 6 month check up.

So then with numbers like that, why aren’t Americans more passionate….in one way or the other. That’s not to say that people don’t have an opinion… Leaving now would be a disaster…..or….pack our bags, we should have never gone in the first place….or a combination of the two. And sure, opinions have heated as the election gains momentum… But hardened opinions are a far cry from the Vietnam-era dove/hawk conviction.

So maybe it’s because of numbers like that. 4,000 deaths is a lot, but perhaps not a number that many Americans would equate with 5 years of warfare. As news of Iraq filters through the MSM, we’re not commonly exposed to on the on-the-ground journalists like Michael Totten & Michael Yon that give insight to how the war affects Iraqis. We also talk about the cost of war, but as the economy shows increasing signs of defeat, there’s little dialogue about the connection between the two.

Perhaps the way we experience Iraq has a lot to do with the reasoned but less passionate opinions about the war. Soldiers don’t return in droves to unanimously recount the horrors. There is no draft and full spectrum, nationwide sacrifice that comes with it. Our voluntary forces are not equally dispersed across socioeconomic and geographic lines. That’s what we don’t have…all elements that would humanize our involvement in Iraq…things that would make our investment emotional, and not just political. Instead we have the 24-hour news cycle and high tech depictions. Remember the coverage of our first missile strikes with night-vision cameras? It was reminiscent of Atari. We’ve seen more interviews with retired generals and military consultants than front-line marines. There are Tuesday night specials showcasing military robotics, but most people don’t know what the letters IED stand for. Recently, more publications have featured human and tactile coverage of the war. This NYTimes piece is a good example. But generally, most of the close coverage and special features on Iraq that are often touted with Oooo’s and Ahhhh’s have prevented many of us from a sincere and emotional investment in this conflict.

Whether or not yoga lovers admit it, there’s a pretty serious social stigma associated with their… er… activity. Now that I’m a reformed eye roller (I took a couple classes and, to my chagrin, enjoyed it thoroughly) I thought I’d share some thoughts.

I think the yoga stigma comes from two things. First, the Armageddon-like seriousness with which participants treat it, and second, the perfectly understandable bewilderment one feels when observing. Having lived on both sides of the yoga divide, I think everyone can come together and admit that yoga, to an untrained eye, looks fantastically nuts. Stretching, humming and moving slowly, sometimes while eyes are closed, disagrees with nearly all modern conceptions of physical exercise. So, all this considered, the mammoth disconnect between citizen and yoga citizen is not at all surprising.

Adding insult to injury are the pose names. I couldn’t help but to laugh, nay, breakdown hysterically, when I first heard King Dancer. The Tree pose, the Wind Removing pose…. the Downward Dog…. Truth be told, that one put me over the edge. When I heard Downward Dog uttered with supreme causality and confidence, tears started streaming down my cheeks.

I propose a truce between eye rollers and yogaites. Clearly, both sides will need to make concessions. For the part of the eye rollers, they’ll need to at least superficially entertain the idea that yoga isn’t a complete joke…that it has physical and mental benefits….that it is exercise when judged by a standard other than the conventional. For the part of the yogaites, don’t be so defensive….abstract exercise is a difficult concept. And please, consider changing the names.

The first video below is brilliantly funny. Watch it, it won’t disappoint. It pokes fun at the Clinton campaign for invoking race while rejecting it. After watching I started thinking if such a thing were even possible.

First, the racial highlights of the campaign: (1) There was Bill Clinton’s Jesse Jackson remark in S. Carolina. (2) The whole which candidate can own MLK day fiasco. (3) The recent comments made by Clinton supporter and former VP candidate, Geraldine Ferraro. If you haven’t read the quote, here it is: If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position…. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept. What sticks out here is its grammatical incorrectness. Was should be were. Just kidding. To be fair, I posted a video of Ferraro defending herself. It’s the link at the bottom of the page. It’s also worth noting that HRC said that she disagreed with the statement. And by now we know, Ferraro resigned from Clinton’s finance committee.

I’m skeptical of all those who say that Hillary has “played the race card.” Obviously, to do it overtly, would be political suicide. I think Bill Clinton’s Jesse Jackson comment was taken out of context as was Hillary’s MLK blunder. Watch Ferraro defend herself. She does a decent job but I have to admit that her explanation left me a little unsatisfied. So if Hillary were to play the race card, it would have to be so subtle as to be undetectable…. or…. she would have to invoke race passively while rejecting it as the first video suggests. But if Clinton thinks there’s any truth to what Ferraro said, it would only help Obama to passively paint him as the black candidate.

Clinton Campaign Racial Parody

Ferraro Defending Her Statement

Eliot Spitzer could not be more busted… Is the moral standard changing or do we not just know exactly when political leaders have sexual affairs…. whereas in the past we wouldn’t find out for decades. Alexander Hamilton for example. Even Thomas Jefferson. What about JFK who famously said, “If I don’t have a woman every three days or so I get a terrible headache.”

But in keeping with the theme of the day, former Gov Eliot Spitzer, many in recent years have resigned for similar reasons. (It’s worth noting that most political sex scandals do not involve prostitution, but regular ol’ affairs… which complicates Spitzer’s life a bit, no?) What about the more obscure names like Bob Packwood, Bob Livingston and David Vitter. Then there are the more famous Mark Foley and Larry Craig. But perhaps Foley and Craig are only more “famous” because they’re more recent…. Am I just not remembering Packwood and Vitter well, or did politicians involved in sordid sexual affairs fold quietly into the ether of namelessness without the 21st century brouhaha that we love so much…

By now the news has spread like wildfire. NY Governor Eliot Spitzer was involved in a prostitution ring. His apology was vague and unsatisfying… but making up for this inadequacy are the colorful commenters (over 1,800 of them) at the New York Times.

Commenters at The Issue Blog are encouraged to add their own and good ones they’ve seen but here are some highlights:

What’s the big deal? He already prostituted himself for Clinton.
— Posted by Eric

Well.. at least he is NOT gay!!!
— Posted by John Smith

If you make as many enemies as Spitzer does, you’d think you’d know enough to keep your nose clean. Not very smart, Spitzo. Game over. I voted for this dufus because I’m an idiot.
— Posted by Jim Lax

Someone was out to get him, and succeeded.
— Posted by Ben

I consider the presence of drugs in our drinking water to be more scandalous than this.
— Posted by jane doe

men and politics. what changes remains the same. it’s time for women to stand up and take charge, in the home, in the office, in leadership and the White House
— Posted by carole

This actually makes the Clinton/ Lewinski scandal look better. At least Bill Clinton didn’t have to pay to have an affair.
— Posted by EJ

$5500 an hour. Once again the state overpays for services.
— Posted by Jonathan Drezner

All men holding public office should be forced to wear an estrogen patch.
— Posted by Addie Pray

The difference between a patriot and a nationalist is subtle but important. Here’s the dictionary speaking:

Patriot: A person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies and detractors
Nationalist: A person with strong patriotic feelings, especially one who believes in the superiority of their country over others

Of course we never use nationalist or nationalism because of their nasty connotations, but I suspect that a lot of what we call patriotism is closer to nationalism.

I can’t omit the inspiration for this post…. Here’s an excerpt from 2Pac’s Changes: “Instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs / so the police can bother me.”

I’m not sure if I give 2Pac too much credit for his lyrics, imposing unintended meaning, or perhaps he wasn’t paid due diligence by the majority of listeners….. but I think the excerpt is critically relevant.

To what extent do we approach problems by addressing symptoms instead of causes? You could argue (and some have) that drug usage is a cause and a symptom, but I’d say it falls much more to the side of symptom. If you fixed poverty, the drug problem would make more progress than poverty would if you fixed the drug problem. In other words, 2Pac’s lyrics are well received, and if he’s saying what I think he is, then I whole heartedly agree.

So other examples….. teen pregnancy, Islamic culture clash, obesity. Others?

First allow me to introduce myself [this is my first post on The Issue blog, and I think it only appropriate]. My name is Stephen, I’m a Co-founder & editor of The Issue. I can always be reached directly at Stephen@TheIssue.com. I look forward to the creative process of writing, but mostly to the interaction with readers-so introduce yourself and comment at will.

If the purpose of this venue is to interact with our readers by [idealistically?] creating a human being with typed/read words, I’ll start with a confession…. I just watched an episode of ER. Few things are better than DVD on TV, but this guilty pleasure is particularly guilty - I mean, George Clooney threw in the towel years ago. After a particularly nail-biting and seat-edge inducing episode in which myriad medical miracles saved daughters, mothers and grandmothers, I started thinking about how pop culture [and the glorification of medicine therein] defines our perceptions of the health industry.

A decent number of cases in ER are dramatic GSW’s [gun-shot wounds] and MVA’s [motor vehicle accidents]. [I’m down with the lingo] There’s yelling, O neg transfusions and applause. The pupil-dilating traumas are inter-dispersed with the occasional foot-stuck-in-toilet and accidental bee swallow. The critical and anecdotal cases are fun to watch but ignore the the vast majority of ER patients, and in doing so contribute to damaging misconceptions about the health industry. Most people who walk into a hospital emergency room do so because they don’t have a regular doctor or insurance. There’s no other place to go……

No matter your political persuasion, you probably agree that a lack of coverage afflicts the whole system…. but with the way shows like ER portray hospitals and healthcare, it’s pretty difficult for people to understand how and why.