Sorkin Quote/Thing

There is a line in the original script for the Studio 60 pilot which Sorkin also used in the West Wing I believe:

"When did it become bad to be the elite?"

I just love that line. I love the idea behind it. The idea that being intelligent and the best at what you do has become a bad thing in our country. We praise mediocrity from the President down to kids in school.

The lazy or stupid ones are the ones who are given the breaks. They are the ones we push forward now. Instead of pandering to those who are the most accomplished or the most gifted, we vilify them and say what they want doesn't matter and isn't what the rest of society should have.

It is one thing for everyone to be equal in the eyes of the law, it is another thing for everyone to be forced into being the same or for those who have excelled or have natural advantages to be told, sorry, your progress has to be slowed down because you are better than the rest.

There is nothing wrong with being the best at what you do. There is nothing wrong with being intelligent and being able to think.

Sorkin had another piece in West Wing about raising the level of debate in the country. I wish we had leaders like that. Instead we get leaders who twist language around to mean nothing anymore. We have leaders on both sides who don't have the guts to say what they mean and stand by it.

Maybe more on this later. Maybe not.