I don't exactly know why, but having read several diaries today and comments therein, I found myself thinking of a scene in the third season Babylon 5 episode "Voices Of Authority". In this scene, a woman named Julie Musante has been assigned to the station by the Night Watch Division of the Ministry Of Peace to be Captain Sheridan's "Political Officer" because members of the Earth government think that some of Sheridan's military decisions weren't "as politically astute as they might have been." Musante tells Sheridan that her job is to help him find "ways of doing things that will reflect more favorably on Earth Government."
They have dinner in a restaurant on the station, and there's just too much of that conversation that makes me feel exactly like how our own government's actions throughout the Bush years up to the current day make me feel. Having just been struck with the memory of that scene today, I thought I'd share it just because I like to share. It's a scene that leaves me feeling disturbed, especially because of how much of the same thought can be seen within our political leaders over the past decade or more. And if you've seen Babylon 5, you know that the faction of the Earth government that thinks like this leads Earth down a very dark road.
From the script:
INT. FRESH AIRE RESTAURANT
Just enough to get a feel of the place, it's night, the tables have candles on them, and there at table are Sheridan and Julie Musante...who is dressed far more interestingly than when we last saw her. Still severe, but in a somewhat more visually appealing fasion.
SHERIDAN
--and right now we're in the lull between storms. Unless they're stopped, the Centauri will just keep moving in on the League of Non-Aligned Worlds.
TIGHTER - ON SHERIDAN AND JULIE
JULIE MUSANTE
Well, I'm sure that's the rumor, but you know how rumors are. Earth would never ally itself with a government bent on war.
SHERIDAN
Except we have signed a treaty with the Centauri.
She picks up one of the plates, nodding enthusiastically.
JULIE MUSANTE
Exactly. So there you are. The noodles are very good, would you like some?
SHERIDAN
No, I'm fine, thanks.
JULIE MUSANTE
(spooning noodles)
This is the point I was trying to make earlier. All right, you have some concerns, but there are ways of saying things so they won't cause problems back home. Is that soy sauce?
He nods and hands it to her. She continues.
JULIE MUSANTE
Anyway, enough politics. How are things here on the station?
SHERIDAN
Fine. Status quo. We've had a few problems with the lurkers, but nothing --
JULIE MUSANTE
Lurkers?
SHERIDAN
Our version of the homeless. In some ways we have the same problems Earth does.
JULIE MUSANTE
(mouth full)
Earth doesn't have homeless.
SHERIDAN
Excuse me?
JULIE MUSANTE
We don't have the problem. Sure, there are a few... displaced people here and there, but they've chosen to be in that position. They're lazy, or criminal, or mentally unstable --
SHERIDAN
They can't get a job.
JULIE MUSANTE
Earthgov has promised a job for anyone who wants one. If someone doesn't have a job, it must be because they don't want one. Quid pro quo.
She says it with the air of a true believer, as though dropping some totally accepted fact. Sheridan is boggled.
SHERIDAN
And poverty?
JULIE MUSANTE
The same.
SHERIDAN
Crime?
JULIE MUSANTE
There's some, but it's all caused by the mentally unstable. We've just instituted correctional centers to filter them out at an early age.
SHERIDAN
Prejudice?
JULIE MUSANTE
We're just one happy planet. Well, except for the Marsies, but that won't change until they stop fighting Earth rule.
SHERIDAN
And when, exactly, did all this happen?
JULIE MUSANTE
When we rewrote the dictionary.
Captain, you're a good man. A fine soldier. A leader. You understand that before you can deal with a problem sometimes you have to...redefine it.
SHERIDAN
You don't deal with problems by pretending they don't exist.
JULIE MUSANTE
Why embarrass our leaders by pointing out flaws in society that they're aware of and dealing with in their own time, in their own way? Some people enjoy finding fault with our leaders: they're anarchists, trouble makers, or simply unpatriotic. None of which describes you. Do you want people thinking otherwise, Captain?
She puts her hand on his, trying too obviously to be casual.
JULIE MUSANTE
These are the areas I want to help you with, Captain. I want to feel that I'm needed, playing my part in bringing Earthgov back into the hands of the decent, hard-working people who created it. I'm here to protect you. I admire your honesty, your record, your attitude. And I don't want to ever see that used against you. Quite frankly, I think I could come to like you quite a bit.
And she smiles, big as daylight. Sheridan smiles back, but would at this moment probably prefer a root canal.