I am an inveterate liberal...

...and yet, I have mostly shied away from politics on my blog (which is to say this blog). The only exceptions are, I like to think, mostly where politics and culture intersect: religious crazies, David Brooks' sharp down turn as a writer, and the fact that "red" and "blue" are facile media descriptions of the complexities of American cultural norms. Also, as you know: Alexis de Tocqueville is all about democracy (and foxy). This is because my liberalism is largely due to my cultural allignment and opinions (environmentalist fan of belles lettres from a family of Detroit/Toledo union workers and WWII vets/Roosevelt voters--the liberal Democrat perfect storm.) And so I think what follows is still quite apropos.

The West Wing totally sucks now.

I just re-watched the season finale, and I can say with absolute certainty that the slide off since Aaron Sorkin left is now complete. Yeah, the plots have sucked, and the odd twists are completely implausible. But lets focus on the presidential politics of the West Wing universe primaries. They are silly. The Republican wins the nomination despite the fact that he is pro-choice and agnostic? That is the dumbest shit I ever heard. And now that he is the nominee, he is going to run to the right on abortion? All of this is literally the opposite of real life. Likewise the Democratic convention. Some Pennsylvania governor (who not only doesn't enter the primaries, but was an early candidate and bowed out) gets enough floor support to potentially crowd out the front running nominees? This is the next dumbest shit I ever heard. DNC conventioneers are selected for loyalty above all else. And besides, primary voters are pretty political (to the extreme ends of their respective parties) and close votes just don't happen anymore--witness the Bush '00 and Kerry '04 nominations, they beat all the competition within the first few weeks of primary season...the losers know they lost and angle for more power within the party afterward comiserate with their higher national profiles (McCain '00 and Dean '04).

Now many of you will say that I am missing the point. That this is televised darama, and we should expect the unexpected for entertainment's sake. Well I think you are missing the point. The thing that made the first five years of the show so great was their willingness to use the ramifications and policy issues of a Mexican Peso bail-out or an attempted Medicare compromise in the House as plot points. The fans watched for these reasons. If I want to see 30-40 something professionals negotiate complex love lives or personal crises I can rent DVDs of "Sex in the City". Which I will not do, because I don't like that show. I'm just saying.