Fin de siècle

I think I am almost speechless after I saw the video message on the website of The New Yankee Workshop. After all, I am never totally speechless. I am almost too sad to comment about it right now. More to follow ...

Random References ...

So, Bravo is rerunning "The West Wing" two hours a day, and though I should be doing useful stuff such as raking leaves or contemplating quadratic equations, I find myself draw to watching the shadow plays of Aaron Sorkin, Dee Dee Myers and Pat Caddell.

Go ahead and look those up if you need to; I can wait.

But see, here is the the thing. They are running the beginning of the second season and the assassination attempt story line. Jed Bartlett is in the hospital; the security council is meeting in the situation room and "the press" is going crazy. Nancy McNally is running down the threats faced by the country and she notes "there are several cell leaders that have disappeared, including Bin Laden."

Remember, this episode aired in October of 2000, which means it was written probably about eight months earlier during the height of the presidential campaign.

Granted, Aaron Sorkin is more plugged in than your average TV writer, but shouldn't our government have had better insight into the world than a guy who has to figure out how to fit four acts of drama around commercials for adult diapers?

Hey, its almost a decade later and we have lots of other things to talk about in the coming months, but I am just saying. If we want to know where we are, we have to know where we've been. I am just saying ...