The Wisdom and Strength of Charles Krauthammer
"Take all your dukes and marquesses and earls and viscounts, pack them into one chamber, call it the House of Lords to satisfy their pride and then strip it of all political power. It's a solution so perfectly elegant and preposterous that only the British could have managed it." Charles Krauthammer.My favorite news show on television is "Special Report," which is on from 6:00 to 7:00 pm on the Fox News Channel. For years the show was hosted by Brit Hume, and now the chair is manned by Bret Baier.
And my favorite part of that show occurs around 6:40 every night, in a segment called the Fox All-Stars. This is when a panel of guests across the political spectrum bandy about the hot topics of the day. The panel usually includes the likes of Fred Barnes, Maura Liason, Mort Krondracke, Nina Easton, and Juan Williams.
And it frequently includes the smartest of the bunch - Charles Krauthammer, M.D. I read his columns every week and always enjoy his insights that he offers on television. I think he is brilliant.
Charles Krauthammer went from being a Commonwealth Scholar at Oxford to being a top student at Harvard Medical School. He became a board certified psychiatrist and later went on to be the Chief Resident of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital. He even is credited with "discovering" a form of mania that is common in people who have Bipolar Disorder, before he gradually turned his attention to politics.
Krauthammer was in charge of psychiatric research in the Carter administration and later became a speechwriter for Vice President Mondale during his campaign for the Presidency in 1980. He later became a contributing editor to The New Republic and the Weekly Standard, and he writes a weekly column for the Washington Post that is read in over 200 newspapers across the country. In 2006, the Financial Times described him as the "most influential commentator in America."
Yesterday I found out that Charles Krauthammer is person with a disability. You could have knocked me over with a feather; not because a person with disability could accomplish so much - but that I could work in the disability field and be such a fan of his, and not know that he has done all of this from his vantage point in a wheelchair.
Charles Krauthammer became paralyzed in a diving accident during Medical School in 1972. Despite this drastic change to his life, he graduated with his class and went on to his career in medicine and politics.
I just didn't know it. I've never been at a speech of his. I've never heard him mention his disability even once. (He may have, for he has weighed in on stem cell research - against it). But the fact that Charles Krauthammer has accomplished so much in his life - and given his respected place in the world of politics - he is one of the most prominent Americans with a disability. Ever.
I didn't know he was in a wheelchair -- I just knew of his work. And in being such a leader in his field, he is providing a tremendous gift to Americans with disabilities. Not only can they be productive - they can be the best.
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