Obsessive TV Watching

I have been watching many, many episodes of the West Wing. In fact, I think that I have given eight hours in the past two days to this endeavor. It is one of the few times that I can turn my mind off. This is a much-needed break. One of my favorite characters, Sam Seaborn, is a speechwriter for the President. What a job, huh? When someone asked him why he had not taken credit for ghostwriting for Governors, Congressmen, Presidents, and Kings he said "Because that is not what speech writers do."

My friend, Annie, who is generously feeding my addition, says that Sam is too good. And that may be true, his character always seems to do the right thing, even when he is angry. Sometimes especially when he is angry. And I think that this is what I like about him. I like that no matter what, when the chips are down, Sam will follow his conscience. Always. Idealised character traits are one of the great gifts of fiction. No one can behave like Sam, but it is encouraging to see it played out. It is inspiring to watch him encourage the downtrodden, fight for what he believes in, go toe to toe with the President, and to confront those that he believes to be wrong. Sam encourages me to do the right thing, even when I am tired.

We all need breaks. There is always the pressure in a blog entry to say something pithy, to make a point, or to generally write an entry with at least one message. I don't have that. But I wanted to put it out there in the world that sometimes I get postive, encouraging things out of obessively watching TV.