Things That Tumble Out of Eric's Brain

Because I am sick and tired of working for candidates who make me think I should be embarrassed to believe what I believe, Sam. I’m tired of getting them elected. We all need some therapy. Because somebody came along and said ‘liberal means soft on crime, soft on drugs, soft on communism, soft on defence, and we’re going to tax you back to the Stone Age because people shouldn’t have to go to work if they don’t want to’.

And instead of saying ‘Excuse me, you right-wing reactionary xenophobic, homophobic, anti-education, anti-choice, pro-gun, Leave It To Beaver trip back to the 50s’, we cowered in the corner and said ‘Please, don’t hurt me.’

No more.

Today is May 13th and today you graduate and the rules are about to change, and one of them is this: Decisions are made by those who show up. Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world.

Don’t ever forget that you’re a citizen of this world, and there are things you can do to lift the human spirit, things that are easy, things that are free, things that you can do every day. Civility, respect, kindness, character. You’re too good for schadenfreude, you’re too good for gossip and snark, you’re too good for intolerance—and since you’re walking into the middle of a presidential election, it’s worth mentioning that you’re too good to think people who disagree with you are your enemy. (Unless they went to Georgetown, in which case, they can go to hell.)

Don’t ever forget that a small group of thoughtful people can change the world. It’s the only thing that ever has.

Rehearsal’s over. You’re going out there now, you’re going to do this thing. How you live matters. You’re going to fall down, but the world doesn’t care how many times you fall down, as long as it’s one fewer than the number of times you get back up.

No Washington-based series has had longer cultural coattails than Aaron Sorkin’s “The West Wing,” with Toby, Josh, C.J. and, most of all, President Josiah Bartlet played by Martin Sheen, who possessed all of Bill Clinton’s intellect and good intentions, purged of the pettiness, excess and puerility. Young Hill staffers who were slurping juice boxes when the series premiered in 1999 pattern their behavior after the idealistic, rapid-fire patter perfected by Sorkin and his writers.

“The West Wing” has become a sort of Rosetta stone for the uninitiated to understand the workings of the White House. When former Obama body man Reggie Love took the Scottish-born creator of “Veep” on a tour of the real West Wing, according to The New Yorker, he dipped into the historic Roosevelt Room and declared, “This would be where Josh and C.J.” worked — to the surprise of his guest, who was expecting to hear about real events.