A Wee Bit on Reboot Alberta and Some Lighter Moments with the West Wing

I am feeling really sick of politics this week.

Fuck debating the anthem; I agree that it was a smokescreen to distract from the bigger issues raised by the budget, including sustained (increased?) military spending.

Don't even get me started on Reboot Alberta...I mean Renew Alberta...err...The Alberta Party?

Actually, I will include one of my favourite comments on the issue which comes courtesy of Matt Grant in response to a blog entry at Daveberta. 

Oh how the post-partisan rhetoric is so much different from the usual lambast-your-opponents fare:

“Fortunately for you, there is a party (in which you apparently hold an official position) which will accommodate your narrow minded, old-school political perspective.” - Charles Relland, President, Alberta Party

“Every other political party has a completely different model, and one that creates distrust and barriers for the disengaged to participate.” - Chris LaBossier, Director of the Alberta Party

“The traditional political parties have proven that they are uninterested or incapable of renewing themselves beyond what is politically most convenient in the short-term - and that is not good enough.” - Dave Cournoyer

A rose by any other name, my friends... In short, welcome back to partisanship. (:

Excellent analyzes of the matter can also be found here and here.

For now, I offer some scenes from The West Wing for those political bloggers and readers who might also be feeling like lighter moments away from smokescreens, nonsense, rhetoric and other deception.

The first moment that I offer up is the dialogue between Toby and Andy when he tries to propose to her a second time while she is pregnant with their twin babies:

ANDY
This is your house now.

Andy walks into the DINING ROOM. Toby follows her.

TOBY
Well, as a matter of fact, it'll...

Toby walks into the chandelier that is hanging from the roof.

TOBY
...it'll be your house if... if... if you say yes to this.

They walk down a step into the SUN ROOM at the back of the house.

TOBY
Um... will you marry me?

ANDY
Oh, Toby, you gotta tell me you didn't buy this house to...

TOBY
No, no. I mean...

ANDY
I thought you were just moving out of the apartment and wanted a...

TOBY
If we could just get back to the original question.

ANDY
Can you get the down payment back?

TOBY
You're saying no?

ANDY
Yeah, Toby. I said no many times. I mean this... is an incredible gesture, but...

TOBY
I don't think you've noticed the things I've done to alter the behavior that's troubled
you in the past. Giving up what you felt was a bachelor apartment is only the most recent
of gestures which included eating salads.

ANDY
I have no problem with where we've lived or what you ate. I do, but I don't care that much.

TOBY
Then why aren't you remarrying me?

ANDY
You don't really want to talk about this, do you?

TOBY
Yeah, I do. I thought you were just being cute. I just thought you were making me
chase you as a punishment for the first marriage, and that was okay with me.

ANDY
I wasn't being cute, no.

TOBY
Why?

ANDY
You're just too sad for me, Toby.

TOBY
What?

ANDY
You're too sad for me. You're just sad. You bring the sadness home with you, and
you're sad.

TOBY
I'm not sad.

ANDY
You are. I don't know if anything can change that, but I can't.

TOBY
I'm not sad. I take things seriously.

ANDY
I take things seriously, too.

TOBY
I'm not comparing myself to anyone. I'm saying...

ANDY
You're sad, and you're angry, and you're not warm. You take forever to trust someone.

TOBY
Well... My father used to kill people for a living, so, generationally, the Zieglers
are making lots of progress. I wouldn't worry about the kids.

ANDY
I do worry about the kids.

TOBY
Don't.

ANDY
Because instead of showing them that the world is for them, you're going to be telling
them that they have to work hard in school so they can bone up for a life of hopelessness
and despair.

TOBY
Wouldn't it be ironic if our kids were the only ones who were properly prepared?

ANDY
Toby, I'm as serious as a person as you are, and I'm able to see the glass as half full.

TOBY

Great! Half full, half empty? Can we at least agree it's not full yet?

I love how even in the face of getting his heart broken, Toby is compelled to defend his views. I love that line: Great! Half full, half empty? Can we at least agree it's not full yet?

Toby may be my favourite television character. He is definitely the funniest character in The West Wing as seen in this YouTube clip:

Enjoy, mes amis.