Cry Freedom!

While people in Taiwan and Darfur are still living difficult lives without some of their most basic rights as human beings, I'm experiencing a bit of the pain here on my side of the pond. My liberties are threatened by a political sandstorm, and I'm beginning to fear that my future will soon look as bleak as that of my brothers and sisters in South Africa.

I refer, of course, to the Hollywood writers' strike which has darkened the halls of the Ed Sullivan theatre (where Letterman's late night is taped), cut off my supply of Stephen Colbert, and seeks to stop new episode airings of "Chuck" as soon as December.

I really don't have a side in this squabble except for my own. Lost in the great debate on Capitol Hill about national health insurance, is the fact that millions are still uninsured (and in poor health) while the policy fight is going forth. So is the case here. Who's looking out for my best interests, while the two sides are deciding (or currently, not deciding) how to split their billions?

Some out there are saying, "Look, how hard can it really be to script a television show?", and in response I only need point in the direction of Bionic Woman. It is a rare gift exhibited by those in the WGA (Writer's Guild of America), and we should not expect to have any sort of meaningful existence until this dispute is resolved. For America, Hollywood! For America, WGA! Cease this bloodletting!

Sidenote: Another consequence of this great disaster will be a sharp increase in reality programming, the longer the strike goes on. Apparently "writers" aren't needed to film a strong reality show (that phrase seems like a contradiction in terms), so the networks are upping the orders for more unscripted, boring-as-hell reality drivel.