THE JOHNSON TREATMENT.

When Lyndon Baines Johnson became president on November 22, 1963, he was considered by many in the beltway establishment to be a boorish hick--bossy, uncouth, and larger than life. Not only did he have the grief of a nation mourning the loss of their first handsome president on his shoulders, but his Great Society, a program seeking to advance social causes, racial equality, and a full-fledged war on poverty, was hopelessly sidelined by a minor disturbance in Southeast Asia that ballooned into the most divisive event in 20th century US history. To maintain stability, push through his progressive programs and desperately try and establish his place in the history books, he used what became known as "The Johnson Treatment"--a cocktail of charming persuasion, heavy-handed needling and, often times, downright intimidation. In the most extreme cases, it's reported the 36th president was not above dragging junior senators and staffers into bathroom stalls with him so that he might use the incredibly uncomfortable e xperience of facing the leader of the free world mid-bowel movement as further leverage in bringing them around to his way of thinking. There are also well-documented cases of Johnson whipping out his johnson to make a point.

Though he ultimately admitted defeat by not pursuing re-election in 1969, LBJ's Johnson Treatment--his willingness to try all angles and take no prisoners in pursuit of his goals--should be an inspiration to all skaters (another group not exactly getting hugs and kisses from the establishment); even those skaters born under that son of a bitch Reagan.