Things Fall Apart

Monday, June 2, 2008

I'm a Republican. Let's get that straight. I don't say that with a whole lot of pride because I feel that--since about 1994 or so and definitely since 2000--the Republican party has been hijacked by a sub-group that doesn't REALLY care about the principles of the Republican party (small government) as much as it cares about making the really rich really richer. Also, the fact that we started a war in Iraq that we had no business starting is also a problem. So like I said, I don't say I'm a Republican with a whole lot of pride.

That is, until Saturday. I sat Saturday and watched perhaps a grand total of 2 hours of the Democrats' Rules and Bylaws Committee. It was (seriously!) riveting drama, especially the last hour when the voting happened. It also made the Democratic Party look absolutely ridiculous! And disorganized! And moronic!

I'm a HUGE fan of the television show THE WEST WING. In fact, I would rank it the best, most consistent television show I've ever seen, especially the first four seasons when Aaron Sorkin was writing the show. I didn't watch the show when it first aired on TV but instead watched all seven seasons on DVD in about 10 months time in 2005-2006. I would watch the shows while I worked out on my elliptical, and I would come upstairs after some episodes and tell Lisa that I felt Sorkin was a prophet because episodes written in 2000 would sound eerily like they'd been written after September 11, 2001 (In fact, if someone had played for George Bush the ending of the episode entitled "A Proportional Response" from Season One, then perhaps the whole Iraq War could have been averted).

The show stumbled a bit after Sorkin left. Actually, let's be honest here: It out and out stunk during Season Five and I almost stopped watching it. But it found its footing again in the Middle of Season Six when the show was about--you guessed it--the election of a new Democratic candidate for the U.S. Presidency. The second half of Season Six was all about that, and I enjoyed it, but as I watched it I thought to myself, "This is fun, but it's also completely ludicrous. There is no way that any political party in the 21st century is going to fight all the way to the convention to determine a candidate! Everything is pretty much wrapped up by Super Tuesday. The whole storyline is absurd!"

Boy, was I wrong. On the 6th season DVD, one episode entitled "Things Fall Apart" is summarized in this way: "The success of the impeccably organized Republican Convention contrasts with the Democrats who look in disarray as the candidates continue to battle to become the Democratic Party presidential nominee."

Talk about prophetic!