Digi-Scene

I watched at least part of the faux live debate that was part of the West Wing episode on Monday night. I was impressed and depressed at the same time.

I was impressed with the quality of the writing for the debate segment and equally if not more impressed by the skills of the actors Jimmy Smits and Alan Alda. Because I was able to forget about the delivery and concentrate on the message, I actually HEARD what these fake politicians positions were on some real issues. These few minutes of lively interchange had a bigger impact on helping clarify my own views than the hundreds of TV ads I've seen by Arnold Schwarzenegger over the last 2 months.

The reason I'm depressed is because I will never see a live debate like this between actual candidates for President of the United States. Does anybody remember what Richard Nixon said in the Kennedy debate, or is the only thing that is remembered is his sweaty upper lip?

I'm not sure what the answer is. Here in California we've tried electing actors as politicians and we've all seen how well that has worked. San Diego as a city is in a hell of a mess, and we've got the opportunity to try to get new people in place to try to correct it. I'm glad there are people who are willing to at least try.

I couldn't avoid all of the political ads on TV, but I tried not to let them influence what I thought of the initiatives. I tried to find objective information as well as informed position statements both for and against and then I made up my own mind. That's what a democracy is all about. I take my responsibility as a citizen seriously, especially as I've seen what other people in the world will go through just to be able to vote.

I voted today. Did you?