It's About Ideals

I was late coming to The West Wing, but it's one of my favorite things.  So much so that I invested in the whole series on DVD.  I decided that at some point I would start at the beginning and, one episode a week, I'd do it all over again.

This January was when I began to do it all over again.

Sadly, it's so many of the same issues.  Gun control, campaign finance reform.  Gays in the military, and in America in general, was the one bright exception.

Today I watched the episode called, "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet." It is fraught with frustration, as poll numbers drop and the press corps, the military chiefs and Congress let Jeb Bartlet know in no uncertain terms that he is just not going to make a difference.

Turns out that he hasn't been trying that hard.  It turns out that winning a second term has become more important than any of the issues that made it worth running for President in the first place.

And by the end of the episode there is a rousing turning point, wherein the President and the staff of the West Wing determine that the most important thing is fighting for those ideals.

I think we're all pretty sick of politics.  Of politicians saying what they think we want to hear.  President Obama's poll ratings go up when he speaks his mind.  The trick is not to pay attention to the poll ratings, but to keep paying attention to what is on his mind, and to keep speaking to it.

Gun control, campaign finance reform, violence against women, protecting the environment, educating our children, raising taxes to fund what our citizens need.  We have seen our president step up every so often, and he gets beaten down by scandalmongers, and sometimes by his own questionable secret agendas.

Maybe it's time for that moment, where he asks himself, why am I here after all?  Maybe he needs to go back and rerun those old speeches, just as I have been rerunning those episodes of West Wing.  I think he too would find inspiration in those ideals spoken back when he was first running to change the country.

Model Senators

I've been listening to the Don't Ask Don't Tell hearings on C-SPAN.  I was impressed with the spirit of honor and pride shown by all the military officials giving testimony.  Basically, the consensus of our military is that implementing the repeal of DADT can and will be done, with little disruption of the military.

John McCain, who appears to grow crazier by the day, was the one holdout of the committee members, grabbing onto the few statements indicating support of not repealing the policy at this time, even though there was agreement that it would be repealed with little fanfare at some future time.

McCain is an angry man, the more impotent he becomes, the angrier he gets, and I'm not talking about his sex life, because he has excellent, government provided health care.  It amazes me that he continues to get reelected, although he is from Arizona, and I believe he ran on the same ticket as Jan Brewer, the Crazy Hate Ticket.  It was an ideal match:  paranoid delusions of headless Mexicans crossing the border with drugs hidden in unmentionable places, which must have excited McCain's homophobic fantasies.

I wonder what it must feel like to be John McCain, hearing your old words played back to back with your new words every day.  I imagine the need for rigid denial must be great, so that it has become ever easier to ignore reality in order to appease his crazy voices.

I could go on forever, but that would be mean and pointless.  The point is, however, that a crazy and mean person, with fragile psychological defenses, has the power to prevent our government from functioning.  He has the power to make our legislators waste valuable time and resources on debating whether we should maintain a ban on gays in the military that other civilized countries have long abandoned.

In short, he has caused our military to suffer through painful ambiguity that could easily and professionally be resolved, with a stronger military as a result.

So, as I listened to each member of the military brass, in turn, state that they are positive that they could effect the transformation to including gays in the military with little negative effect, and in fact that our servicemen and women would act honorably and professionally, I had two reactions.

I was filled with pride, and

I wished it were possible to allow these men to serve as adjunct members of the Senate, where they could model grown-up behavior to our current legislators.

Only that Simple

During a moment of frustration at work today, actually, as the frustration built up, as I learned more and more dicta and policy changes that were coming down from on high, I imagined a day when I wasn't dependent on my job.  I imagined walking up to the director and saying, simply, "You know, you're really kind of creepy."

I got just enough pleasure from that thought to make it through the day.

And as I was catching up on news a little while ago, as Rachel Maddow was talking about the DADT perpetual state of idiocy, I imagined having the opportunity to walk up to John McCain, and just as he was about to shake my hand (thinking I was a voter of course), looking him in the eye and saying, "You know, you really are a jerk."

Then I thought about John Boehner, who has apparently in solidarity to those of us who are not millionaires given up the tanning beds, and what I would say to him:  "You know, you really are a whiny spoiled brat."

Jim Demint:  "You know, you really are dumber than dirt."

I know, that last one wasn't as constructive a criticism as the others, but why toss your pearls before swine, if you know what I mean.

Well, I feel a lot better now, even though we still have all those self-absorbed idiots in high places.