PJ McIlvaine: October 2008

In keeping with the election season, I got to thinking of my favorite political themed movies. There are many that I like: SEVEN DAYS IN MAY, BEST MAN, FAIL SAFE, DR. STRANGELOVE: OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (the original). But the one that resonates the most with me, the one that I lived through, is the classic ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN.

I fully remember the Watergate saga. We were living in New Hampshire at the time, and I vividly remember watching the hearings. It was better than a soap opera, except that this was real. If you think about it, the hearings were the first live reality show.

Watergate spawned so many great characters (and dare I say, eve heroes): Martha Mitchell, Sam Ervin, Elliott Richardson, Judge Sirica, John Dean. It also launched the careers of Woodward and Bernstein, who grabbed the tiger by the tail and didn't let go. And the movie perfectly captured the time, the culture, and the fear. Yes, fear in Richard Nixon's Washington.

Yep, I'm still here, still writing, still reading a pile of scripts for that contest (oh, what lovely blogs I'll have about that experience) and otherwise trying to keep warm during an unexpected cold snap and maintain my sanity in this overheated political season.

My kids are very excited about the upcoming Presidential election. My oldest called today and for over an hour we jabbered about it. Which reminds me, if you haven't yet registered to vote...DO SO!!! NOW!!! You can even register on-line.

http://www.beavoter.org/congressorg/election/register_vote/

Not sure if you're registered?

https://www.votepoke.org/index.html

They'll help you to register too.

Hey, if you're don't vote, I say you lose the right to bitch and moan about the way things are going if you don't like it.