John McCain, the New Poster Boy for Anger Management

The combination of the Jack Nicholas/Adam Sandler Movie, Anger Management, along with the tragedy of 9/11 has made anger management a daily topic in the news, comedy and sports. The current interest in John McCain’s long history of aggressive outbursts is rapidly making anger management one of the most popular topics in the media worldwide. In fact, political analysts, generals and pundits are questioning John McCain’s competence in leading the nation based on his inability to manage intense feelings of anger.

As portrayed by the mainstream media, McCain is an engaging war hero, a man of political moderation, positioned between the left and the right. But to insiders who know him, McCain has an irrational, explosive side that makes many of them question whether he is fit to serve as our president and commander-in-chief. Nowhere is this sentiment stronger than in the Senate, where McCain has few friends or supporters. In fact, when McCain ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2000, only four Republican senators endorsed him.

"I have witnessed incidents where he has used profanity at colleagues and exploded at colleagues," said former Senator Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican who served with McCain on the Senate Armed Services Committee and on Republican policy committees. "He would disagree about something and then explode. It was incidents of irrational behavior. We've all had incidents where we have gotten angry, but I've never seen anyone act like that."

This unprecedented interest in the emotional intelligence of a major political figure offers an opportunity for professional anger management facilitators to educate the public on the value of this intervention as effective for skill enhancement in recognizing anger, stress, communication and empathy.

George Anderson, MSW, BCD, CAMF, CEAP
Diplomate, American Association of Anger Management Providers
Anderson & Anderson®, The Trusted Name in Anger Management
http://www.andersonservices.com/
http://www.aaamp.org
http://www.linkedin.com/in/geoanderson
www.anger-management-resources.org