To run or not to run?

A few friends of mine have recently asked me if I've ever considered running for political office. In addition to being too far to the left to be elected so much as dogcatcher in this country, there are other reasons why such a career move is not in the cards for me. I do not have the stomach for it. It is commonplace to acknowledge that politics "ain't bean bag."  It is brutal, bare-knuckle combat, for which I have no taste. These days, it seems an absolute requirement to check one's integrity and dignity at the door. (Just look at how Obama was received in his first few months in the White House - he offered the Republicans an olive branch and was met with scorn, outright combativeness and even catcalls at his first State of the Union address).

Nor do I possess the patience or the temperament to be an effective politician. Notice I say "effective" - all sorts of politicians have tempers and as a result are rarely able to accomplish anything other than stoking the fury of their base. The naked ambition so many display, along with blatant hypocrisy, would cause me to a) vomit and b) punch someone in the face. The following must also be said: I think an alarming number of American citizens are lazy and unthinking. Some may criticize me for saying this; after all, I do not have children to take care of and therefore have more time to read and engage with different sources of information regarding the issues of the day. I understand that argument but I find it specious. Having children does not absolve one of the responsibility to stay informed about pressing matters affecting this country. After all, those issues and their outcomes affect the younger generations and their futures just as much as they do the present. (A friend of mine recently suggested that everyone should be required to pass a basic civics exam in order to vote. I could not agree more! If you cannot name the branches of government; if you cannot identify at least 5 cabinet posts; if you cannot provide the year in which the Declaration of Independence was signed; if you cannot answer the question regarding who is third in line to the presidency then you do not deserve the right to vote. Period).

This country's political environment has always been acrimonious. Read any decent history of the pre- and post-revolutionary periods in the US and you will find that our founding fathers routinely fought with one another. Nevertheless, they were still willing to work together in order to do what they thought was best for the sake of the Union. What do we see now? Hyper, aggressive partisanship and an inability - no, an unwillingness - to get anything accomplished. Has Congress reached the apotheosis of pettiness, dysfunction and corruption? I am tempted to say yes and yet I fear that it could get even worse! I fantasize about telling off members of Congress. John Boehner, Bart Stupak, Ben Nelson, Mitch McConnell, Eric Cantor, even Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, moderates who could once be depended upon to work across the aisle and put country ahead of party. I long to tell them the following:

I believe that most current members of both houses of Congress care little, if at all, for public service. Your concern is maintaining your power, wealth, and influence. While you claim to care deeply for this country and its citizens, your actions expose the cynicism, selfishness, and disdain with which you operate. You are dogmatic, mean-spirited, hypocritical, and consistently put party ahead of your country. Political maneuvering is your raison d'etre. Had you any conscience, were you able to experience empathy,  you would be ashamed of yourselves.

Hip hip hooray!

A book is making news.  Not just any book, mind you, a work of fiction.  One that has nothing to do with muggles and magic wands and a boy named Harry.  It is commonplace these days for those involved in politics to create a stir with their books, frequently written by former insiders exposing secrets and buried truths.  But Jonathan Franzen’s new novel Freedom is having an impact that is all the more thrilling for being rare.  This is a nakedly adult novel, not one written primarily for children but that also captures adult imaginations (although I found that phenomenon exhilarating as well because young and old were excited about reading). Freedom is naturally making an enormous splash in the literary and publishing worlds, since Mr. Franzen is already a celebrated author.  But in the past few days, several Op-Ed columnists and other reporters have mentioned the novel in their columns.  Having not yet read it, I cannot comment on its merits or deficits.  But I can comment on the fact that it is being referenced in articles on matters political, social, and economic.  It is making its way into the national conversation.  That is cause for joy.  A huge, 500-plus page book is getting people talking!  For those of us out there who love books, who rue the fact that readers of complex, layered, challenging literature are becoming a rare breed in our fast-food culture, this is a development worthy of applause. 

FALL!

Ah... autumn!  My favorite time of year.  Now that I'm in LA it means fewer chilly temperatures and the absence of colorful foliage - which I will miss.  But it includes three of my favorite things about fall:

1) A new theatre season

2) A new TV season

3) Oscar-bait arthouse movies

Yay!  Rejoice!  Storytelling returns! 

The summer months are always difficult for me.  First off, I'm not a beach gal so all the talk of sun and surf falls on deaf ears.  Second, but for True Blood there's virtually nothing good on television!  And do I really need to say anything about summer movies?  I didn't think so.

Fringe, Modern Family, Glee, 30 Rock, Community, Parks & Rec, Boardwalk Empire... I'm so excited! 

So many movies to see: Never Let Me Go, The Town, 127 Hours, Buried, Casino Jack, The King's Speech... I'm so excited, part two!

As for theatre, I will miss the latest and greatest to open Off B'way and on B'way, but there's plenty of wonderful regional theatre around: South Coast Rep, The Old Globe, La Jolla Playhouse, Colony Theatre, A Noise Within... I'm so exci -- you get it.

And we haven't even talked book releases!!

Twitter is evil.

I think Twitter is ruining us, or hastening the ruin already well under way.  Politicians have twitter accounts!  News organizations tweet all day long!  Appalling.  It is a profound example of our shamefully short attention spans, our lack of curiosity, our refusal to embrace complex thought, our impatience and our fast-food drive-thru way of seeing the world.  140 characters.  That's all.  That is one of the methods that politicians and their staffs are now enthusiastically using to communicate with their constituents.  Who cares about clearly articulating the specifics of a complicated issue when you can tweet a pithy soundbite intended to foment rage?  Who cares about intellectual honesty?  Why bother with shades of gray when you can send a quick 140 characters (not words, characters!) into the universe and demonize your opponent?  Granted, twitter did not birth the sound-bite atmosphere we find ourselves in.  But it is a particularly egregious tool when used by anyone other than a 12-year old snickering about attending a Miley Cyrus concert.