Irony is the great gift of the recent American election. I’ve been wishing for more seasons of The West Wing ever since it went off the air in 2006. My prayers have been somewhat answered: karma has granted me the real-life equivalent.
A young, non-white President-Elect, with only a small amount of Congressional experience? A new Chief of Staff, who served in the previous administration the last time the party was in power? Young idealistic staffers, chomping at the bit? A strong, no-nonsense, qualified First Lady-to-be? It could be the template for the waning days of the final season of The West Wing…right down to the man on whom the character of Josh Lyman was modeled becoming the new Chief of Staff!
But the new, real-life West Wing administration does provide an opportunity to re-assert many of the values which were trumpeted during the run of the series…values that fell by the wayside during the Bush years. Let’s hope they can make those ideals a reality…and that they live up to this BRILLIANT rant, uttered during the third season episode Gone Quiet:
I’m tired of working for candidates who make me think I should be embarassed to believe what I believe. I’m tired of getting them elected. Because somebody came along and said “liberal” means “soft-on-crime, soft-on-drugs, soft-on-Communism, soft-on-defence, and we’re gonna tax back to the Stone Age”…and instead of saying “excuse me, you right-wing, reactionary, xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave it to Beaver trip-back-to-the-50s”, we cowered in the corner and said “please don’t hurt me”. NO MORE!
Let’s hope that attitude is what emerges from the new, youthful, hopeful White House. Keep your fingers crossed…
