Political Pollyanna Principle

Right before disconnecting from work for the holidays, a very dear friend of mine mentioned in passing that a cable network was playing every episode of Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing from Christmas to New Year’s Day. So I began watching it. Then I binge watched it for most of the week. While watching, I began to remember my life when the show first aired. I was an hourly temp employee. I had just undergone cranial surgery and seizures were different than prior, but still significant and I had just become engaged to my fiancé, who is still my husband. We were in New York City and both of us were intrigued by the dramedy Sorkin was creating for us. Little did either of us know at the time, that both of our lives would take several random turns leading us to working for the federal government and while we watched it again this year, it was daunting how different a perspective I have on the show in 2023. 

The show held up amazingly well overall considering almost a quarter century had passed. Martin Sheen, Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, Janel Moloney, Dulé Hill, John Spencer and all the rest achieved an amazing look into the day to day reality of a White House administration (with Sorkin’s altruistic and somewhat fairytale idealistic perspective). The discussions in almost every episode indicated a deep knowledge that he must have received from consultants like Lawrence O'Donnell and Eli Attie, both of whom were in White House administrations themselves and could provide inside knowledge of the nuts and bolts of being a presidential administration from top to bottom. 

Re-watching it for the first time in many years and having experienced four presidential administrations myself since then, it is easy to see why the vision Sorkin conveyed is still key today. If the goals of an executive branch of government are to speak for and put action to what the people who voted you into office want, and not simply to join the three-pronged fork of a machine to make money for lobbyists and keep the status quo rolling on with no end, then Sorkin’s message is still needed. 

The West Wing lasted for seven seasons and gained an intense following. It received a few Emmy's and is quite iconic, but it also provides a good reminder to the Gen-Xers around us who are around the same age as the cast (then and now) of what the messages and goals for our government were and hopefully are. 

The desire to make the country better for our children who are moving into these roles themselves now and who will be making upcoming decisions about direction appear to also hope our country goes toward the ideals often encouraged in The West Wing. We shall see whether or not the ideals hold up in the long run, or whether the political machine has metaphorically taken all control away from the people and become its own advocate rather than valuing any political party or voter or ethic.  

Watching the tragically hilarious inability of the incoming House of Representatives to elect a Speaker seems to demonstrate that the ideals we consider are almost obliterated and that the two pseudo-party systems.  "We the people" are currently experiencing a reality where no one holds enough power to impact change or even clear decisions. 

Generation X watched this unfold throughout our lives, where everything political turned on its head. The Republicans went from pragmatic and financially conservative to managing wars and only caring about frugality or controlled spending when they were not in charge. On the other hand, the Democrats care about services but are continuously too terrified about keeping their elected roles to do what needs to be done. The continuous battle they are having in the funding sandbox is that they cannot communicate their point of view past a population that are living by the American Way of preparing for the day they may win the lottery and not considering the taxes they pay now go to services they need in the real world. 

It has been several years since I overheard someone yelling, “Keep your government hands off my Medicare!” but today many still do not see the irony in that. The political polls supporting farmers (Monsanto) and manufacturers (a far lower percentage of our GDP than support ever used to be. That they still top the polls on voter priorities may never end unless some education comes back to the masses. Perhaps if our children get a chance to watch The West Wing in the upcoming years, things may improve.  

There is a bit of good news though. The whole reason our country works to the degree it does is because of the overall dream that we have to improve, be better, smarter (more experienced), be altruistic as donors and/or volunteers or simply to “be”. Because of this, hope, while beaten up and very tired, is still alive and strong enough to withstand what America is currently experiencing. From domestic terrorists and deeply damaged Americans who believe their only solution is violence, to fear that is downright rampant as we mark the two-year milestone of the Attack on the Capitol today; the vision of The West Wing reminds us of the desire we the people have to form a more perfect union, establish justice and ensure domestic tranquility—and despite all the years since Sorkin created it, his accomplishment helps us (at least me) to remember that desire.