Billed as the most courageous three minutes on television – this is the opening scene from the HBO series The Newsroom …

A reminder that corrupt politicians from both sides of the aisle have decimated our country and placed it in the hands of our enemies. As you watch this emotional piece, remember it sets the stage to introduce more liberal policies and ideas into the mainstream. Also, remember this is cable television which is not controlled by the Federal Communications Commission, so swearing is allowed.

The character, news anchor Will McAvoy,  played by Jeff Daniels, is speaking words written by uber-liberal  Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, American President, Charlie’s War, Moneyball, West Wing).

Thanks to GQ.com, here's a transcript of the terrific mini-speech from How to Write an Aaron Sorkin Script, by Aaron Sorkin.

A song in a musical works best when a character has to sing— when words won't do the trick anymore. The same idea applies to a long speech in a play or a movie or on television. You want to force the character out of a conversational pattern. In the pilot of The Newsroom, a new series for HBO, TV news anchor Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels) emotionally checked out years ago, and now he's sitting on a college panel, hearing the same shouting match between right and left he's been hearing forever, and the arguments have become noise. A student asks what makes America the world's greatest country, and Will dodges the question with glib answers. But the moderator keeps needling him until...snap.

Will
It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.

Moderator
[pause] You're saying—

Will
Yes.

Moderator
Let's talk about—

Start off easy. First get rid of the two noisemakers.

Will
Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!

The use of inappropriate language has a purpose—the filter's off.

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

The fact-dump that's coming now serves several purposes. It backs up his argument, it reveals him to be exceptional (what normal person has these stats at their fingertips?), but mostly it's musical. This is the allegro.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

[Cell-phone cameras are everywhere— people are tweeting and texting away.]

Now we slow down and get a glimpse into his pain. The oratorical technique is called "floating opposites"— we did, we didn't, we did, we didn't... But rhythmically you don't want this to be too on the money. You're not just testing the human ear anymore; you want people to hear what he's saying.

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

To resolve a melody, you have to end on either the tonic or the dominant. (Try humming "Mary Had a Little Lamb" right now, but leave off "snow." You'll feel like you need to sneeze.) So Will ends where he started. Then, just to acknowledge that he just sang an aria— which is unusual in the course of a normal conversation—he turns to the moderator who'd been needling him and casually asks...

Will
[to moderator] Enough?

Bottom line …

The liberals in Hollywood are talented and have mastered their craft. Whether writing gut-wrenching dialogue that resonates or acting out the words of others, they are masters of illusion, smoke and mirrors propaganda that paints a false world to either shock or delight. And, when this power is used for evil – supporting the socialism and communism that comes with a totalitarian “the end justifies the means” philosophy, they are dangerous.

When one looks at our President, Barack Hussein Obama, one sees a telegenic man, a well-spoken man, and a man of intelligence. But one must wonder, how much of this is Hollywood polish, an accomplished actor who is able to deliver the words of an accomplished wordsmith such as Aaron Sorkin with an air of feigned sincerity? Over the past five years, we have seen the façade start to fade as more and more information is made available about Obama’s lack of verifiable history, dubious associations, the appearance of a lazy man who is willing to take credit but blame others for decisions which occurred on his watch.

I wonder. How much of Obama and the liberals is real and how much is stagecraft. I personally believe that the democrat party, as well as most of our institutions, has been infiltrated by our socialist enemies; a fifth column using our own laws against us. All aided and abetted by a mainstream media which cannot separate truth from fiction as they fight peer pressure to keep the illusion whole.

In the final analysis, politics appears to have morphed into show business where the overriding commandment is to “never break the fourth wall” – or in layman’s terms never interact with the audience in a truthful manner that destroys the illusion. In essence, revealing that the character is fictional.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a peaceful world of unicorns and self-licking raspberry lollipops. Our world is dangerous and the powers that be are competing for control over national resources and amassing great fortunes. The politicians are bought by those that can afford them with the sole purpose of extending the monopolies and profits of the special interests – consumers and citizens be damned.

So as we approach the Congressional elections of 2014 and the Presidential elections of 2016, we better be able to distinguish fact from fiction. And hold the mainstream media accountable for preserving the fourth wall when it comes to our candidates.

-- steve

BTW – I am a big fan of Sorkin and believe him to be one of the best teleplay and screenplay writers of our time. His technical brilliance and prolific output is amazing. The HBO series is well-worth watching, if for no other reason than watching liberals manipulate reality for profit.

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