Let me preface this by saying that if you’ve talked to me in the past few months that, among many other things, I have been on somewhat of an Aaron Sorkin binge. I’ve always liked the man’s writing, but it has since become an almost unhealthy obsession. The following may be a knee-jerk reaction to the idealism and unrelenting optimism that his television work is filled with, but who cares? The man did his job with this viewer. For the record I’ve watched 4 complete seasons of the West Wing in the last couple of months and am halfway through re-watching season one of The Newsroom along with being caught up with season two as it has been airing this summer.
What has all this Sorkin-binge watching done to me?
Yeah, I don’t care if this isn’t a cool sentiment, but from here on out I’m resolving to be a more well informed member of the electorate.
— Myke Ladiona (@onemyke) August 29, 2013
That. This new overwhelming sense of civic duty has fallen over me. Well, civic duty might not be the best term for it. Maybe it’s civic responsibility? I basically feel the sudden urge to participate it a much bigger way than I ever have before. I went ahead and signed up on govtrack.us and opted in for email alerts on Congressional bills. I’ve bookmarked Politico, The Hill, and Roll Call as news sources. I binged on harsh reviews of the 112th Congress and am just starting to get up on the 113th. I’m over the “coolness” of being disenfranchised and jaded. I’m starting to reject the notion of needing overly idealistic changes. If I’m going to join a rally, I’m going to make sure that there’s one clear objective, one clear set of leaders or organizers, and for damn sure I’m going to expect them to be open to communicating with Congressional leaders.
I feel a little intimidated and scared by the daunting task of suddenly immersing myself in the issues, but whatever. I’m going to try. It’ll be a process, and it will be one thing at a time, but I’m going to wake up and pay attention. I feel that romantic sheen of Gen-X detachment wearing off. I’m ready to dress for the game. I might just be a bench warmer for now but I’m willing to be involved in the huddles.
These metaphors are getting really messy.
I do need help though, if anyone out there is willing to give it. I want to find the best sources of information, read and listen to journalists who pursue the fact and avoid as much logical fallacy as they can. I want to find the outlets of information that can approach a topic intelligently without overusing six dollar words. Is that the expression? I think it is. Forgive me.
Sadly, I come with the disadvantage of only having four years of just film classes for my post-high school education. I didn’t take enough liberal arts, and if I did it was only in classes that had something to do with creative writing and film. I basically feel like one of the uneducated who suddenly wants to play with the intellectual elite, but I swear to you, coach, that I’m going to work even harder in conditioning camps, at practices, and when at the gym in the off season.
So that’s that. I know at least two of you that have read my blogs on WordPress actually live in D.C, but hopefully my tagging will reach a lot of you that don’t know me and are willing to help someone get in the game. I don’t care if you come from the right or the left – as long as you make sense, are rational, and argue logically. Until then I’m starting with the three news sources above, then I’ll try and pay more attention when Congress is out of recess. I hope I can find someone that will keep me accountable, and someone else who can be my guide. Please. It’s my first year on the team.
Michael Ladiona 