Free Republic

Among the worst disasters for progressivism in recent decades has been the work of Aaron Sorkin, whose impossibly articulate ratatat dialogue made it way too easy to imagine sexy technocrats saving the world. It’s great entertainment, but normalized unreasonable expectations of the flawed human beings who happen to have high IQs and impeccable credentials. As a child of the New Left, I never missed The West Wing: it was irresistible catnip for my adolescent hopes and dreams, and so much more satisfying than whatever was on the news—except for the eloquent public intellectuals on the Bill Moyers show on PBS....

A close friend (who shares my affinity for selective anonymity) sent me this youtube clip and his comments, along with a request for my take on the excerpt from an episode of the program 'Newsroom', which is up for Emmy nominations. I will pass along the advisory note that he issued, as to the modest profanity employed by the lead character, because I always want to be up front about any content that might not be personally acceptable to any of my readers. Here's his question, the video and my reply: http://blastedfools.wordpress.com/2012/07/24/aaron-sorkin-the-crack-tv-writer/

President Bartlett despaired over his political predicament and the mere platitudes his aides were telling him he had no choice but to emphasize in his State of the Union address. He happened to have dinner with doctor friends of his wife, a doctor herself. He was excited to hear them talk about the viable prospect of cancer cures. He assembled his speech writers and told them to plug in a section whereby he'd call for a Kennedy-to-the-moon goal to cure cancer in a decade. Let's simply take a look at it, he said. He would remove it, of course. It...

NEW YORK - Who won the debate?

<p>BURBANK, California (CNN) -- Actor Rob Lowe will be leaving NBC's popular TV show "The West Wing" after the end of the coming season because, a top trade magazine reports, he isn't pleased with his salary.</p> <p>Although an official statement from John Wells Productions and Warner Brothers Television said the move was made "amicably," Daily Variety is reporting that Lowe was disenchanted over the unwillingness of producers to raise his $75,000-an-episode salary, even as they hiked co-star Martin Sheen's pay to $300,000 an episode.</p>