Everything I Need to Know About American Civics, I Learned from Watching The West Wing

Or: hey, the government isn't going to shut down. Sweet. 

 So, watching CNN like a hawk for the past week has put me in a West Wing mood. I watched the entire first run way back when I was a wee one. I have seasons 1-3 on DVD and my brother has 4-7.

FYI: We were painfully uncool twelve-year-olds. 



I remember reading an article in (possibly) TV Guide in response to the first season finale. We're talking about an article that ran twelve, maybe thirteen years ago, but every time I haul my DVDs out, I remember a line from it that said something along the lines of "...former White House workers have praised the show for it's honesty, realism, and accuracy...blah blah blah...you want to hear that the real West Wing is like this because you want to believe that the people in the White House are just as passionate, idealistic, and altruistic as their fictional counterparts. You want to believe that art imitates life in this case. These are the people you want watching over you as you sleep."

 

I paraphrased like whoa. We're talking about an article I read a decade ago, remember?

 

But that's the gist of it and it's pretty true. Honestly, I'm alot more cynical than I was when I was twelve, so I'm not about to sit around all googly-eyed and think that there was some epic romantic moment that saved us from an all-out shutdown. But it's nice to pretend. And you know what? When I woke up this morning, I jumped on CNN.com honestly expecting the headline to say we were at a stand-still, that all of our social programs were shut down, education was decimated, etc etc etc. I try to avoid pulling out my soapbox here because it tends to get nasty, so bear with me. This probably won't happen again.  Owen and I have a strict no-political discussion rule in effect. He thinks I'm a communist and I think he's naive. I'm an unapologetic Democrat, and he registered Independent to avoid giving his father the satisfaction of knowing that he registered Republican, but he's quick to jump to his dad's defense when I call him a corporate blowhard. 

 

I say that affectionately. Owen's dad is a great guy. He just needs to lay off the talk radio. 

 

I don't mind paying taxes if the money is well-spent. I firmly believe that the government has a responsibility to look out for it's most marginalized citizens. I support Planned Parenthood and WIC and I know they are abused, I know this, but everything is abused, really. Look at outsourcing. And if you make more money, I believe you should pay more taxes. If you are making enough money that you can pay your bills and support your family and go to the Bahamas and send your kids to a good college and retire to Florida...and you are bitching about your taxes, taxes that will go towards better education, technological advancements, etc etc etc and sure, even the military...I have no respect for you. None whatsoever. "With great power comes great responsibility." Life lessons from Marvel Comics, kids. 

 

Ok. I'm done. And if you now think I'm a crazy lesbo liberal anti-America commie, I'm sorry. But please to be not picking a fight with me. It'll get nasty and I will be sad. I respect your opinion. I mean, I'm dating a guy who, just last night, informed me that he would be okay with living in a world where Donald Trump was the President of the United States. Honestly, if you aren't Glenn Beck...I don't long for your disembowelment. 

 

/rant

 

So, I was shocked and pleasantly surprised to see the headline say that the government wasn't shutting down. That's the moral of the story. 

 

And I'm totally geeking out to one of my oldest fandom loves. I called Gabe earlier. One of our cracky plans is that he will run for President one day. That's not entirely cracky, actually. The cracky part is that I will be his speech-writer when I grow up. So, I called Gabe and I was like, "I'm watching West Wing. Can I still be your Sam when I grow up?"

 

"I thought you were going to be my Toby."

 

"Toby is too important. You know I'll inevitably get inappropriately drunk at some state function and call your opponent a fascist. Or the press will get a hold of someone I went to college with and run a story about that time I drank a bottle of wine and peed in an alley while at a party full of underagers. No. I'd rather be your Sam."

 

"Okay. You can be my Sam."

"I'd even settle for being your Donna."

 

"No. You're going to be my Sam."

 

Hee. I leave you with my favorite moment from The West Wing. I ship Donna/Josh so hard. SO. HARD.