CenterFeud

Life imitates Bart

A live-action Simpsons intro. Not to be missed.

I saw this when I came into work this morning so I have no doubt that it's all over the Internet by now. Whoever the genius is who came up with this inspired piece, my hat's off to him.

Best. Tribute. Ever.

Jed Bartlet is my President, but not Martin Sheen

Martin Sheen visits Cindy Sheehan:

Actor Martin Sheen, who portrays the president of the United States on "The West Wing," was among those who made their way to the Crawford, Texas, camp of Cindy Sheehan, the peace activist demanding a second meeting with President Bush as she blasts America's ongoing presence in Iraq.

"At least you've got the acting president of the United States," Sheen said. "I think you know what I do for a living, but this is what I do to stay alive."

Sheen gave a speech to the crowd estimated at 300, as he provided a brief history of vigils.

"It is in the old Irish tradition that goes back centuries that when you had a rift with the landlord or an authority, you vigiled in front of their homes until they came out and confronted you," Sheen noted. "And that's what this is all about in that that great tradition."

At least that last bit sounded like the Jed Bartlet I know, the sagacious Democratic President Sheen portrays on "The West Wing". But President Josiah "Jed" Bartlet is a Bible-quoting liberal Democrat from New Hampshire, not a left-wing activist from Hollywood, and would never be seen sharing a stage with a figure whose extreme rhetoric about America being a terrorist nation that is sending its sons to die for oil and Israel has drawn support from the likes of David Duke and neo-Nazis. The Jed Bartlet I know would have a thing or two to say to a fellow American who considers the people killing our soliders in Iraq "freedom fighters". But Martin Sheen is happy to gloss over these issues because he is against the Iraq war. And he is not Jed Bartlet.

Sheen is a fine actor, and he brings the character of Jed Bartlet to life vividly, with all his quirks, passions and country wisdom. You see, I haved loved watching "The West Wing" since I began catching up to it in reruns on Bravo, and am sucked in from its stirring theme music to its closing credits. It is simply one of the best written dramas on television --notwithstanding a couple of bad seasons -- with gripping story lines, well-written dialogue and likable characters who are all the more so because they are flawed and human. Conservatives often dismiss the program as a liberal Hollywood fantasy, and mock Democrats whose cars sport bumper stickers proclaiming "Jed Bartlet is my President". Well why not? The West Wing portrays Democrats the way they'd like to be portrayed: smart, compassionate, glib, principled, committed, uncomprising -- and in the area of foreign policy, far tougher than real Democrats.

For example, when the Bartlet administration found out that a diplomat from the fictional Middle Eastern country of Qumar was complicit in a terrorist plot to blow up the Golden Gate bridge, and realized he was being shielded by his government, President Bartlet sanctioned a covert assassination to remove the threat and send a message to the government of Qumar that we will not tolerate state sponsors of terrorism. When the Qumaris (in a realistic twist) decided that they could score points by publicly implicating Israel and letting the Bartlet administration squirm, Chief of Staff Leo McGarry (brilliantly played by John Spencer) summoned Qumar's UN amassador to the White House for a tense conversation.

When the Qumari ambassador silkily insinuated that of course it would be embarrassing for the President to be seen as being too closely aligned with Israel, especially with an upcoming election, McGarry told him: "Mr Ambassador. If President Bartlet wanted to win reelection with overwhelming support from the American people, all he would need to do is blow your Sultan's brains out in Times Square and then go across the street to Nathan's for a hot dog. Now here's what you're going to do. You are going to cease and desist any disinformation campaign that links the death of Shareef to Israel. And sometime next year, the Sultan is going to propose a Middle East peace plan --- the Qumar plan --- and win the Nobel Peace Prize. Go make the call."

Gunboat diplomacy? Absolutely. But we cheer when the Democrats of the Bartlet administration play hardball, even as we criticize GOP leaders for bing neocon bullies. Nonethless The West Wing doesn't shy away from the moral implications of assassinating foreign leaders; it draws its stories directly from the headlines and although it sometimes takes its plot lines in a very different direction than history (e.g. the 9/11 attacks didn't happen in the West Wing's universe), the parallels with current events and policy debates are intentional and skillfully rendered.

The West Wing's fantasy Democrats also occasionally have to concede points to their Republican foes (this doesn't happen often, being that the writers admit that they do not know how to write Republican characters, and mostly don't even try, though they are making an effort by having liberal icon Alan Alda portray a moderate Republican candidate for President). In one show, Jed Bartlet was determined to veto a school voucher program for DC's schools, which had the backing of the mayor. Bartlet huddles with the mayor to try to talk him out of his position, and also seeks perspective from his personal aide Charlie Young, played by Dule Wilson, an African-American who grew up in DC and admits that he would have taken advantage of a voucher program to go to a better school. Both men tell Bartlet that the black communty is tired of being pawns in a political battle over educational funding philosophy while schools continue to fail; if Republicans want to provide vouchers so that some kids can escape failing schools and get a better education, they will take it. Bartlet ultimately climbs down from his position and does not veto the bill.

If the Democrats acted in real life the way they do in The West Wing, they'd be a force to be reckoned with instead of a party on the ropes. If Martin Sheen adopted Jed Bartlet's principles instead of those of Michael Moore, he'd visit Cindy Sheehan and tell her to speak out against the war but cool the inflammatory rhetoric and distance herself from fringe elements. Maybe both need to get West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin to write their lines.

UPDATE: Power Line has an interesting report from a conservative flying under the radar inside Camp Casey.

"Like talking to a character from another time and place"

David Frum, in his blog on National Review, has some genuinely nice things to say in memory of Peter Jennings.

NR lauds PBS Castro bio

No, that's not a misprint. Cathy Seipp of National Review takes a look at PBS' upcoming biography of Fidel Castro and finds lots to like:

The latest sign that PBS may be indeed moving away from reflexive lefty politics is its hardheaded and compelling new documentary Fidel Castro, which premieres Jan. 31 and is the first non-American biography in the network’s American Experience series. (As executive producer Mark Samuels pointed out at the PBS news conference, an argument can be made that Castro, with his half-century-long "impact on American history," is an American experience, besides being "also a tremendous story.")

Veteran documentarian Adriana Bosch clearly shows the appeal of a charismatic revolutionary like Castro to a populace suffering from the oppressive Batista regime, but refuses to sentimentalize the cigar-smoking, iconic leader they got as a replacement. "It is the tragic story of a nation who saw a messiah in just a man," she says of her film, which doesn’t flinch from detailing the brutal reality beneath Castro’s charm: 500 Bastistianos tried and executed in less than three months, 20,000 people arrested after the Bay of Pigs, and so on.

Even after his death, Castro is sure to remain an enduring icon of the 20th century. Charismatic, ruthless, and so ideologically driven that it turns out that during the Cuban Missile Crisis even the Soviets thought he was crazy, as Seipp notes:

Timothy Naftali, a University of Virginia professor and co-author of One Hell of a Gamble: Khrushchev, Castro and Kennedy, 1958-1964, describes in the film just why Khrushchev thought Castro, who’d sent him a letter during those tense days in 1962, was crazy.

"Ultimately, what the letter says is, ‘Nikita, if you have to use nuclear weapons against the United States to defend my country, and even if that means the Americans will retaliate by blowing up my country, do it for the sake of international socialism," Naftali said at the news conference. "It's a remarkable document. It scared the hell out of the Soviets...and we only learned this a few years ago."

To many people in the world Castro is a heroic figure, especially in Latin America and Europe where leftist politics are more mainstream than they are in the US (I expect many of these countries would have a somewhat different take had Cuba pointed nukes in their direction). But Cuba under Castro's socialist regime is essentially frozen in a holding pattern, and people who have visited Cuba note that it's like travelling back to the 1950's or early '60s. When Castro finally dies, or is too old to lead, it's widely expected that his brother Raul will assume power, which will not represent any significant ideological change. But as with the passing of Yasser Arafat, the mere departure of Fidel and his associated baggage could provide the impetus to start down a new path to normalized US relations with an emerging 21st century Cuba that may yet find its own way to democracy.

Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah!

Finally, an all-inclusive holiday message, in the form of a hilarious ad from Virgin Mobile. Happy Chrismahanukwanzakah to all of us! (QuickTime required) Whatever your religious tradition, you're sure to be either offended or in hysterics.

(Hat tip: Scott Favreau)

UPDATE: You've seen the Virgin Mobile commercial, so now here's mine - click to the main page and have a look around. Or check out the recent posts or essays to your immediate left! As with Chrismahanukwanzakah, there's a little something for everyone!

Eminem's dystopian vision

If you haven't seen the new Eminem video, "Mosh", you owe it to yourself to see it now. It's a fascinating look at how a portion of the hip-hop electorate sees the stakes on November 2.

The video, featuring a herky-jerky live action Eminem inserted into an animated setting, depicts America as a dark, gloomy nightmarish police state, where war is splashed across the headlines, fascist cops roam the streets looking to put down dissent, and a Hitleresque Bush appears on telescreens dominating the public square. Eminem is the self-appointed messiah, leading the masses to rise up from their oppression to take back the country. One by one, black victims of racism, soldiers returned from Iraq, poor working families and others don hooded black sweatshirts and enlist in the movement (which resembles nothing so much as an angry mob), determined to end W's misguided reign. The video appears to promise revolution in the streets, but the punchline goes in a different direction, amounting to a civics lesson and an exhortation to come out on November 2nd.

To Bush supporters: Please see this video, even if you are not big Eminem fans (I am not, and I doubt many of you are). But it's worth seeing as an insight into the minds of the Bush-haters and the way they see the direction of the country under his administration. It's a descent into a world even more fevered than the one depicted by Michael Moore, but it obviously resonates with a portion of the electorate. So, ask yourselves: is it possible that at least some portion of the critique here has a scintilla of validity? Tax cuts are stimulative, but they disproportionately benefit the upper income brackets (based on dollars not percentages) and aren't a comprehensive solution for every economic problem, especially in a jobless recovery. Our volunteer military is second-to-none, but requires the utmost consideration of the people doing the fighting and sacrifice on the part of those of us at home. And African-Americans and other minorities continue to suffer real discrimination and thoroughly distrust the Republican party, even though this administration has more high-ranking black cabinet members than any in history; you have to ask yourselves why. Anyway, for your consideration.

To Kerry supporters: I'm sure The Boss is really more your style, but take a look at this video and ask yourselves if this is really the country you see. No, it's not always "morning in America" and certainly a dash of poetic license is inherent in any artistic work, whatever its merits. But does the majority of the electorate really buy into the Bush-as-fascist-dictator meme? If you agree that it doesn't, for God's sake, however the election goes, please join with other sane voices and reaffirm that we live in a democracy, where we can agree to disagree. And criticize. And protest. But not paint the opposition as fascist thugs. If you allow yourselves to be co-opted by the mindset of your showbiz activist wing (and this election has shown you are well on your way to doing so), don't be surprised if the other side increasingly views the Democratic left as not just wrong on policy but radical and subversive to boot. Let's bring back the days of the loyal opposition.

To Eminem fans: If the nation we lived in were the one depicted here, this video would not be a mass-media hit; it would never even have been made. And if it were, the people associated with it would be in prison or dead at the hands of the secret police. That's how totalitarian societies really operate. The reality is that on November 2nd you have a decent shot at voting this Bush guy out and replacing him with a guy you will probably like only marginally better. But make no mistake - the war against the bin Ladens of the world will go on because it's real, not some lurid fantasy of the Bushies. It is you who live in the world of illusion. The children of Beslan, the refugees of Darfur, the women who lived under the Taliban - these are people who have suffered under tyranny. Your boy is just a rich poseur. And you are living in a fool's paradise and pretending it is a police state. For all our sakes, I hope you never find out what it's like to live under real fascists. In the meantime, enjoy your fantasy. And don't forget to vote.

Must-see Middle East TV

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has long been a valuable source of translations of the press from countries all over the region. Now they are launching MEMRI TV, a new venture that translates television broadcasts, subtitling them for English-speaking viewers.

It's a compelling window into the the ferment of the changing Middle East and an opportunity to see the Arab world unfiltered. Be sure to check out the video archives, which allow you to select clips by country, TV station, subject and date.

(Hat tip: Little Green Footballs)