West Wing rec :: RL politics :: icon drabble meme

[pauraque_bk]

"All I Want" by keladryb (G, gen). A short piece about CJ belonging and not belonging at the table. I love Keladry's sense of the rhythm and insistent pulse of WW, the hairsplitting semantics, ambition and ethics climbing all over each other in a desperate need to be heard. If you like the show, you'll like this ficlet.

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Yesterday, C-SPAN aired the entirety of an episode of the Dick Cavett Show from June 1971, in which a young John Kerry, representing Vietnam Veterans Against The War, debated an even younger representative of Vietnam Veterans For A Just Peace.

I watched all of it, and it was fascinating on several different levels. For one thing, this show was taped a decade before I was born, and it was extremely illuminating to hear the issues of the day discussed with the fervor of immediacy. I knew what vietnamization was before today (though I had to dig it up out of high school memories), but now I doubt I'll ever forget it.

I can't say I followed everything that was discussed, since there was so much background information I'm not familiar with, but I can say that I was impressed with young!Kerry as a debator. He made his points clearly, stuck to the issues, and kept his head when the other guy went ad hominem. That's something I respect, especially in a young person discussing a situation of tremendous political and personal importance.

I'm not as happy as I could be about having Kerry as "our" nominee (I'm not a Democrat, but I don't support Bush), but this is what I do like about him: When he talks, I know he knows what he's saying. Some politicians appear incapable of speaking extemporaneously on important issues -- without prepared statements, they're at sea. Bush, I'm afraid, strikes me as one of these.

Bill Clinton is an impressive extemporaneous speaker. So, for that matter, is Dick Cheney -- I remember when I first saw him during one of the first VP debates in 2000, coming away with a strong sense that though I disagreed with him on many things, he deeply understood the issues at hand. If I were to sit down to lunch with him and ask him to tell me about the political situation in Iraq, he could do it immediately and cogently, and answer all my follow-up questions. (I'm saying he *could*, not that he would.)

Of course that's not the *only* quality I ask for in someone I'm going to support, but it is a deal-breaker.

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In other news, double_helix wrote me an icon-drabble! Little Red Riding Hood ficlet, oh my: "Innocent" (PG). I love it to pieces.

For those who don't know, this is a meme where people request a drabble based on one of your icons. I don't know that my icons are terribly inspirational, but if anyone feels moved to make such a request, go for it.

Comments

[maidenjedi]

Interesting thoughts on Kerry and speaking skills for politicians. I've never been terribly impressed by good speakers; I can study an issue till the cows come home, get up and give a great speech, but that doesn't mean I'm the best person to represent the people who care about that issue. Obviously, it's not the sole thing I'm looking at, and I definitely think that a good speaker can woo me (you know, to this day, if I wasn't aware of his stance on the issues, John Edwards could woo me to vote for him; it's all about his passion for things unrelated to his politics, which is just strange).

If I'm rambling, blame it on the hour I spent in the sun and the lack of water today. :-)

Anyway, icon drabble request - your Hogwarts "I Hate Long Commutes" icon begs for an on-the-way-to-Hogwarts fic. :-)

[maria-futura.livejournal.com]

I saw (also on CSPAN) footage of young!Kerry speaking on the same issue before congress. It was most impressive. He was so much more passionate and lively than old!Kerry. Old!Kerry makes me think of zombies.

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

The rats! The werewolves!

[pauraque]

I wasn't really meaning "good speaker" in the sense of "charismatic speaker", which of course Dick Cheney isn't. I meant more, does he really *get* the issues, rather than just repeating what he's been told? Of course, no candidate can truly understand absolutely everything about their job, but some candidates give a better impression that they're trying.

And voilà.

[maidenjedi]

Okay, I see what you mean then. I'd prefer to listen to someone who's speaking and understands what he's talking about, as well. Well, maybe "understands" isn't the word....but I still see what you're driving at.

And the drabble?

FANTASTIC!!! (more in those comments :-)

[pauraque]

Yes indeed.