The West Winger

Tomorrow Never Knows

Monday Mourning: That very funny couple of minutes of Al Gore opening Saturday Night Live with a presidential address left a deep sadness afterwards, because of what should have been. Then Sunday night the final episode of The West Wing, the Bartlet administration that was our alternative presidency for seven years ended, and the Santos administration we'll never see began.

It was fun to see how quickly and bloodlessly (in both senses of the word) it does change, with the President's portrait coming down off the wall as the oath is administered to his successor, vans pull up and armies pack out the old during the ceremony. The last Bartlet appointee lingers a little too long and meets his successor coming in, and realizes he's already a nonperson.

And after seven years of ultra-sophistication, it was great to see a young dewy-eyed staffer overwhelmed with wonder as she starts her job just outside the Oval Office.

So this episode was, yes, very well done, and a fitting end to this marvellous series. Other than that, it sucks. Yes, the series had its ups and downs, but even in its lesser efforts, the political dialogue was head and shoulders above any we hear almost anywhere else. Now we're stuck with the Big Smirk and the Washington media bobbleheads. Apart from their decadence and the ruination of the human race they're idiotically leading, they're horribly dullminded, witless, ignorant, cliche-ridden, pompous poops. They're about as entertaining as a car wreck, when it's your car, and you're in it.

So let's end with excerpts from the most literate tribute I've run across, from Noel Holston in Newsday. The West Wing" not only has been better television than we usually get, it also has depicted a better presidential administration. No ordinary politician - or human, for that matter - "Jed" Bartlet is an improbable mix-and-match creation.....Pundits talk about people preferring a president they could have a beer with. Bartlet would raise a mug with you and tell you all about the hops and barley that went into the brew - and do the same for a fine Cabernet. He could talk history, philosophy, mythology, the ins and outs of baseball, turkey roasting and national parks. ..Who wouldn't want a fellow like that in the Oval Office? You might not love his politics, but you'd never have to worry about him embarrassing the nation."

Bringing a new level of intelligence and sophistication to prime-time television in itself would have distinguished "The West Wing." But it also posited an upbeat, inspiring vision of what a presidential administration could be. Bartlet was an honest, moral chief executive, and neither he nor the members of his staff were enriching their cronies, lining their own pockets or dropping their pants. "

It's a pity NBC is abandoning "The West Wing." There's plenty of life left in this series... Not only did "The West Wing" give us a glimpse, a suggestion, of what goes on behind those doors and in those hallways, it championed civility and statesmanship. Not a bad presidential legacy.