The West Wing

My son introduced me to this show during Christmas break and I can’t stop watching it, which might seem paradoxical since I’m about as Conservative, politically, as anyone you’ll ever meet. When in doubt, I vote a straight Republican ticket and there are many current Liberal Democratic platforms which I strongly oppose.

On the other hand, I take issue with extremists at either end of the political arena, Republican or Democratic. There are Conservative Republicans who are as divorced from reality as Liberal Democrats. Both sides attempt to force others into their way of thinking—“my way or the highway”—which results in hostility and mounting divisiveness, but worst of all, nothing gets resolved. Too many Americans buy into the media’s decades-old drumbeat of “you deserve,” you’re worth it,” mindset. That slogan sells product, but it also encourages selfishness to the extreme.

Back to the show, The West Wing, and why I’m captivated by it. Does it idealize politics and Democrats? You bet. Isn’t that why we watch TV and movies? Who wants to watch drama which exactly mirrors reality with all its lousy dialogue and inept scripting? While I don’t agree with every opinion supported by the show’s characters, it appears to honestly reach for truth. Since it’s written, produced, and performed primarily by Liberal Democrats, that fact is refreshingly hopeful and confirms my belief that most of us want the same things in the end—truth, justice, safety and liberty for all. We simply disagree on how to get there.

Here we all are at the beginning of another presidential election year. Most of my Democratic friends and family members are disappointed in our current administration. I know that’s not true for all, but most. My Republican friends and family—well, there’s no mystery as to their views on the Obama administration. Quite frankly, I delete forwards because I don’t have time to read them, but I particularly dislike bashing of all kinds, especially when it becomes repetitious. A “clever” dig at a public figure can have cathartic value, but it’s counter productive when it becomes a regular form of expression. Even worse, I think it fosters the pettiest side of our natures and ham strings our ability to reason, which is the only reason I can conceive of for the blind opposition practiced by so many toward our best candidate to defeat the incumbent administration.

I’ve been following Mitt Romney for about 6 years. My son served a mission for our church in the Boston, MA area, so you can imagine how supportive he was of the man 4 years ago. I still remember how eager he was for his mom to get on board with his level of enthusiasm. I waited, read, and watched, because I really couldn’t care less what his religious affiliations are—it’s what he does and has done, what he says and has said, that matters. What I see is a brilliant man who’s able to deal with a wide spectrum of ideologies and financial messes, who expresses himself truthfully and openly, which means that he has adjusted his views periodically in order to more fully embrace his fundamental beliefs and serve his constituents. To those who call this a weakness I say, “to live is to change and to become perfect is to have changed often” (author unknown). Heaven help us if we think strength lies in never changing, because to do so is to stagnate and become irrelevant.

So, please, for the sake of our country and the planet we influence, consider what matters most and I think you’ll find Romney is the brightest hope we have. He has a proven track record for cleaning up messes, so let’s give him a chance to do the same with this country.