HBO's "Game Change": Inside Sarah's Brain, There's A 'There' There Somewhere

Lot of brouhaha surrounds the HBO film 'Game Change' starring Julianne Moore and Ed Harris as Sarah Palin and John McCain respectively.

Opinions on the show vary with complaints coming from Republican John McCain who says the film continues "to attack her person" referring of course to Sarah Palin. In an e-mail to ABC News, even Palin herself has weighed in saying "I believe my family has the right priorities and knows what really matters." Typically, I suppose, her comments are oblique and one cannot tell if she has seen the show and loves or hates it. Which has kind of been her problem all along. When asked a simple question, her ability to give a coherent, informed, direct answer simply eludes her.

"Game Change" is based on a book by John Hellemann and Mark Halperin. Palin is not portrayed as evil, just a woman under extraordinary pressure and prone to making ignorant statements, something which was immediately apparent to anybody paying attention to her in 2008. Unfortunately, once her statements put the campaign in crisis mode, McCain and campaign strategists had to support her and get her to memorize correct answers and pivot direct questions to predetermined statements of partisan rhetoric - something she still does to this day.

I recommend watching the show which runs 118 minutes but speeds along thanks to the fine direction of Jay Roach that it feels like it has a running time of only an hour. It is well written (kudos to the ultra-talented Danny Strong), well acted and informative. Also, according to Steve Schmidt, McCain's former campaign strategist (and played with great gusto by Woody Harrelson), it is a "very accurate" depiction of the Presidential campaign of 2008. I found the internal, strategic machinations of the Presidential campaign fascinating, and certainly propelled the drama forward making for a fast sixty minutes.

To comment on the phenomena of the existence of Palin on the national scene is to recognize the foisting of someone that any thinking American knew was simply unqualified to hold the office of Vice President of the United States of America, much less the Presidency, only a heartbeat away.

Lesson to take away from this show? A Vice-President without a working knowledge of the economy, foreign policy, or even basic geography is not what is needed in this country at this or any time. Also, in 2008, it seems the Republicans were willing to compromise the quality of leadership at the top in order to win an election. It was akin to concentrating on fixing a symptom instead of curing the illness. Unfortunately, to capitalize on modern political celebrity became the overriding concern, something they felt Obama had but their candidate (McCain) did not.

A convincing argument could be made that the American people were insulted by having presented and supported before them a representative person who fell very short on basic knowledge in critical areas. Blind support from their constituents was sought setting aside a true and accurate understanding in the name of popularity. This in retrospect proved to be a kind of superficial, short-sighted goal - and at the very least displayed a kind of sliding-scale value system which hurt their party then, and continues to hurt them to this day, every time Palin's name is held in high regard and every time her opinions are held as thoughtful and relevant.

Bush War Crimes?

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There has been talk lately about trying Bush for war crimes, crimes against humanity and/or failure to adhere to the agreed upon tenets of the Geneva Conventions. Several books have been written, outlining in detail easily over 250 instances where war crimes were commited by Bush and his Administration. At the very least, there is a movement that promotes investigating the crimes of our political leaders by the International Criminal Court.

One book, written by Vincent Bugliosi (famous Charles Manson murders prosecutor) entitled 'The Prosecution of George W Bush for Murder', argues that because Bush misled the country into war with Iraq, he should be criminally held responsible for the deaths of American soldiers.



I believe that the war crimes should at least be investigated as Jonathan Turley suggests in the video, as a matter of principle during Obama's term as president. And the sooner, the better. I mean, the statement 'When Clinton lied, nobody died' holds true. Bush avoided impeachment during his terms in office, but he should be held accountable if he broke the law, which it appears he has, numerous times.



Cheney, too.

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The past eight years represents to me a kind of 'Dark Ages' from which we, as Americans, are about to emerge. Yes, let's all step into the light! I am grateful and looking forward to a President of which we can all be proud, who represents what is right and fair and true about the best that America has to offer. Over the years, I stood in abject disbelief as pro-Bush politicos defended his idiocy with partisan rhetoric which was neither thoughtful or truthful. Unbelievable! All it did was drive me away from political discussion because somehow it always led to anger and derision. Plus, I was made to think less of my family and friends who spouted that rhetoric and those feelings disgusted me.
The frustrating thing was - I got really, really tired of being represented by an inarticulate, close-minded buffoon. Hopefully, better times are around the corner (we just have to get through a few wars and a global financial crisis) but with an intelligent man like Obama at the helm, I can't wait for the inauguration. It'll be truly the 'End of an Error'.

Hatespeak: Damage To The American Psyche

The cultivation of hate and fear on the part of the Republican Party during this election season cannot AT ALL be equaled by what the Democrats are doing/have done. McCain should be ashamed of himself for letting whomever is responsible (and I fear it's McCain himself) drag his campaign into the negative for almost all of the time he has been running. Shameful and very beneath him.

To say it's distasteful is an understatement. To say it entirely underestimates the intelligence of any voter who is not blinded by unhealthy partisanship is more apt. To say it is reckless and damages the American psyche is to the point.

When those McCain and Palin supporters yelled 'kill him' and 'terrorist' after having been urged into destructive and blind mob rage, my eyes were opened. No longer could I trust that responsible politicians were at the helm. It was sad and made me very angry.

We recently saw the movie 'Bobby' which despite its faults, is a dramatically powerful film. It has a thought-provoking ending sequence which features real audio of a speech made by Bobby Kennedy on the 'mindless menace of violence in America' and bears closer scrutiny for its relevance today. The text of that speech in its entirety is here.

The film makes clear that here was a man who inspired thousands of American youth to act in accordance with their better selves for the good of society as a whole, and who was snuffed out before the good that he could accomplish would be fully realized.

In brief, I remember as a child being deeply affected by watching my grade school teacher cry when JFK was killed. We were sent home early, much to my pleasure and confusion. A few years later, I was still too young to digest what the killing of Malcolm X, RFK and Martin Luther King meant to society and in particular those whom they inspired.

Regardless of whether or not you agree with the politics, the utter disregard for the American psyche that political hatespeak engenders is long lasting, slow to heal and crosses party lines. Partisan political strategies should not include inciting fringe elements to kill. The ends DO NOT justify the means no matter what.

The irresponsible parties - and I'm citing McCain and Palin here - at the very least need to fess up to their reckless strategies, show some real leadership and get into healing the divide. They need to re-align the nutcases out there.

You know, there was a time in 1968 when I remember that Sonny Liston was going to fight Cassius Clay - a thoroughly worldwide publicized event - and I thought, 'wonder if someone's going to get shot?'

The America I want to encourage to flourish is free from engendering such thoughts. The fact that Bobby Kennedy's speech is so very relevant today speaks to how far we've come as a society in that regard. Hate, fear, division. These are destructive tactics which are very difficult if not near impossible to contain once they are unleashed. That's what makes their rise to the surface so unbelievable, especially encouraged by those who are in a position of leadership!

I don't wish to be pulled some forty odd years back to those days, by politicians whose bad choices and dum-dum strategies make them so desperate as to incite assassination as an acceptable strategic alternative.