In the Age of Chaos, I Turn to The West Wing

Escaping our current reality by watching TV fiction

My television viewing habits these days generally consists of binge watching spy/action themed shows while waiting for the next season of Slow Horses to drop. Recently, I made a switch to political dramas which give me comfort as I try not to think too much about the damage caused by the current Trump administration. I completed Madam Secretary and now I’m into the West Wing once again. I’m finding the themes and topics covered in this series to be timeless and educative in the context of our current political climate. The dialogue is excellent; the writers did not write for the lowest common denominator. It’s definitely a show for thinking people.

At any rate, the episode I viewed tonight focused on Senator Stackhouse holding a filibuster in order to get more funding for autism put into a bill. How timely in light of Senator Cory Booker’s speech this week! I’m not the only one thinking about this particular episode; here’s a Reddit thread referencing Booker and the Stackhouse Filibuster. I highly recommend revisiting this series as a form of escapism, but also as a reminder of the possibilities of the U.S Presidency. Hopefully, we will be able to recover from everything that’s currently going on.

A couple of questions for anyone out there… if you are a West Wing fan, who were your favorite characters and why? Do you have favorite episodes? Which ones? Finally, where can I find a complete transcript of Cory Booker’s speech? A basic search has not turned up the full speech for me.