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A Further Perspective
The General and The West Wing
Remembering to be skeptical of government again.
It’s been less than a week since General David Petraeus resigned from the CIA for having an affair with his biographer. And the scandal won’t stop metastasizing.
Questions are being raised over whether the general’s mistress, Paula Broadwell, was exposed to classified information. An FBI search revealed that Broadwell was storing classified information in her home. She also sent threatening e-mails to a Florida socialite who was so frightened that she contacted the FBI. General John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is being investigated for allegedly sending inappropriate messages to the same socialite.
And in this eye of this hurricane stands Petraeus himself, former CIA director, former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, former commander of coalition forces in Iraq, and formerly the most respected military figure in the United States of America.
Petraeus was a hero, the superlative public servant. Now, watching his vertiginous fall from grace, it’s hard not to lose a little idealism.
And maybe we should.
Here in Washington, many people (and especially many young people) stand in awe of the television show The West Wing. The drama about a Democratic White House, created by screenwriting superstar Aaron Sorkin, features government staffers flinging around witty lines while they solve the nation’s problems without sacrificing their values.
Public service is portrayed as uniquely noble on The West Wing. President Josiah Bartlet and his aides are occasionally tempted by Washington’s vices. But almost always, and usually within the span of one episode, they double down on their principles. When the technocratic polymaths get in trouble, it’s usually because they cling to their idealism in spite of outside pressure.
The West Wing’s characters are flesh-and-blood humans like the rest of us. But they never seem to do anything wrong.
Normally it would be foolish to compare a television show and a real-world scandal. We watch TV dramas for thrills and escapism, after all. But among Washington’s young elite, the line between The West Wing and real life is blurry. Many were inspired to come to Washington because of the show and many more use it as a backdrop for their political careers.
Vanity Fair noticed this back in April in an insightful piece titled “West Wing Babies.” VF observed, “[T]he smart, nerdy — they might prefer ‘precocious’ — kids who grew up in the early part of the last decade worshipping the cool, technocratic charm of Sorkin’s characters have today matured into the young policy prodigies and press operatives who advise, brief, and excuse the behavior of the most powerful people in the country.”
This is absolutely true. Intrude on a conversation between young Washingtonians and chances are you’ll soon hear a West Wing reference. (“She looks like CJ Cregg!” “Oh my God, you’re right, she does look like CJ Cregg!”)
Storybook idealism in young people isn’t new or dangerous. But today’s Washington twentysomethings aren’t romanticizing the American dream or the Western frontier. Their rose-tinted glasses are focused on the federal government, the only institution in the country that can exercise coercion. And that’s where West Wing worship becomes problematic.
If you believe Josiah Bartlet or Josh Lyman are typical Washingtonians, then why view government with skepticism? In fact, why not let the feds flex their muscles as much as they want? After all bureaucrats are plucky do-gooders with rock-ribbed principles. Everyone can sleep easy. As one White House staffer told Vanity Fair, The West Wing “was idealistic and so were we. Everyone hoped politics would be like that.”
But politics isn’t like that. Politics means leasing power to people who, by their natures, are corrupted by power. That’s how a genuine war hero is reduced to a tawdry affair and possible pillow-talk leaks. Petraeus isn’t a spy novel villain, as many in the press seem to think. He’s a human being.
President Josiah Bartlet, The West Wing’s fictional president, is based on another human being: Bill Clinton. Bartlett was a fast-talking, brilliant leader who was wedded to his principles and navigated his congressional censure with impeccable dignity. Bill Clinton was a fast-talking, brilliant leader who sold out nearly everyone who believed in him and navigated his congressional impeachment by smearing women, intimidating witnesses, and lying under oath. It’s rare that you’ll see the line between fiction and the real world emblazoned that brightly.
As the repercussions from Petraeus’ sins emerge, we should remember that line. We should also remember the famous quote from James Madison: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.” The second half of that aphorism is too often forgotten.
This is why conservatives are so skeptical of government power. Because Sorkin’s angels don’t exist and, at the end of the day, even General Petraeus is just human.
About the Author
Matt Purple is The American Spectator’s assistant managing editor.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (12) | Leave a comment
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 11.15.12 @ 7:17AM
I have never once watched the West Wing. I do observe the reality of many who come to Washington and either compromise their principles or get involved with women who have the skills of a hooker. Either way, they lose and everyone around them falls a little.
It's not because they are human. That's a real lame excuse. It's because they forgot about being an average guy. The elixir of power is strong and drug like, which also means addictive.
The powerful and the power hungry get involved in the game and then no game is off limits. They are the elite, not prone to fail, and when the do fail the backdrop of the media props them up with more lame excuses and hyperbole.
I worked on Capital Hill for over 30 years and one of the lines you hear up there is , "When all is said and done, more is said than done.
Von Mises Jr| 11.15.12 @ 8:35AM
I posit that it is not Washington that corrupts politicians but corrupt power-hungry people that gravitate to DC and State power.
We marvel that liberal Democrats are assumed not to have any restrictions on their corruption and greed. But most Republicans are not much better.
Papa Bush is an Agenda21 elitist. He thinks he should plan every aspect of your life. G.W. Bush expanded government and control with Medicare Part D, Patriot Act, McCain Feingold....McCain wants to let immigrants in and we get to pay for their kid’s schools and medical care. Romney passed State Health Care in MA.
As we speak, Christie is passing Agenda21 by Executive Order. He is all in with Obama whom both want to funnel tax dollars from rural and suburban neighborhoods to urban work farms. Regulations and costs will deny people the choice to live in nice mountain, farm or lake communities with the ability to work as you please and substitute a 700 ft apartment with a crony capitalist job with GE or GM.
I don't know whom these people think that they are that they can dictate my life. But I sense many are running out of patience.
Alan Brooks | 11.15.12 @ 5:48PM
Moral of the story:
mix saltpeter in the chow at the mess hall.
Martin kzovich| 11.15.12 @ 7:37AM
What did Petraeus know about Benghazi and when did he know it and will he lie under oath to save his ass from even more serious punishment. He is under black mail threat from the Obama administration so his testimony must be examine with extreme scrutiny especially if he totes the Party Line.
spike59| 11.16.12 @ 5:37AM
oh, i'm certain we can expect him to perform the ObaMao two-step...lie and act all outraged that anyone would dare to suggest that he is less than fully honest
OregonBuzz| 11.15.12 @ 11:09AM
`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"
BShep| 11.15.12 @ 12:34PM
“Petraeus was a hero, the superlative public servant.”
In 1974 David Petraeus graduated from West Point.
Almost 30 years later, “in 2003, Petraeus, then a Major General, SAW COMBAT FOR THE FIRST TIME when he commanded the 101st Airborne Division during V Corps's drive to Baghdad” (preceding quote from Wikipedia). He was a major general and, I am sure, safer during this “combat” then he would have been at home driving himself to the grocery store for bread and milk.
I reserve the term HERO for the guys in uniform who risk and, in sad cases, give their lives for their country and their families and their buddies. This term is not one that we should give to someone whose two major injuries received during his military career were when a soldier tripped and accidentally shot him and when his chute failed during a civilian sky dive.
General David Petraeus always was a political officer who never fired a shot in anger and NEVER SHOULD BE GIVEN THE TITLE OF HERO!
Bob K| 11.15.12 @ 8:59PM
"Stay close to your desk and never go to war,
And you too can dally with your private whore!"
From: "The Pirates of the Pentagon."
Apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan.
Riff Raff| 11.15.12 @ 3:44PM
Notice how all the "Media" are aghast at Petraeus' conduct. This is dominating the "Media" news-shows. This is a smokescreen. It is being used to bury the Benghazi atrocity and the culpability of OBozo and his administration of idiots.
Butch| 11.15.12 @ 5:23PM
I wonder why Obama hasn't inspired all the movies and TV programming that Clinton did. Where is the Obama version of The West Wing?Where's Michael Douglas' principled but pragmatic/coxman President? Where's Harrison Ford's kick-ass President? I thought the dude was super-inspirational.
eddieever| 11.18.12 @ 1:53PM
jeepers creepers, no one believes "Josiah Bartlet or Josh Lyman are typical Washingtonians." and no one on the show was "based on" Bill Clinton. Even remotely. The Vanity Fair piece, of which this is a merely a poor summation, was more on target.
Write better would you please?
Occam's Tool| 11.18.12 @ 11:25PM
My district sent off a good man who was unelected after 1 term by a typical Washington Libtard Weasel. We will miss the great Chip Cravaack.