Aaron Sorkin’s tales of politics may be the stuff of fairy tales, but it helps bring out of the cynicism by reminding us what we should want in a leader. No real President will ever meet an Andrew Shepherd or a Josiah Bartlett, but they should inspire us rather than disappoint us. President Obama has not been the president we hoped he would be. He has offered no substantive change in our politics, only in our president. I shudder to think what a John McCain presidency would look like, but Obama has been a letdown in a big way. We need to remind him what we voted for. It’s not enough to just bitch about it. You have to write a letter, donate to a cause you believe in, educate yourself about the discussion rather than just echo talking points. We should always hope for Shepherds and Bartletts, but we can already make ourselves better citizens.
