Let me finish tonight with this.
This weekend, I saw for the third time the best play about politics — today's politics — ever written. It's called The Best Man.
It's about a candidate for president who has to choose between his ambition and his principles. His opponent is about to dump a bad story on him, that he had a nervous breakdown years ago. He knows the story would destroy him as a candidate, especially right there at the opening of his party's national convention.
An aide comes to the rescue. He's dug up a witness who says his rival engaged in a gay relationship back during World War II. It's a murky account and may well not be true, but our hero knows that it is good enough to do considerable damage on his rival. He knows it could stop him in his tracks.
There's the dilemma. Does someone who wants to be president get down in the mud and play dirt-against-dirt politics? Does the end justify the means? Does doing something nasty just come with the business of running for high office? Does it?
I just saw the play in its new production with John Larroquette and James Earl Jones as the stars. Larroquette's performance reminded me why I was drawn to politics as a teenager. His is the noble politician we'd all like to have leading our country: the person who does the right thing when nobody's watching.
I just learned today that the playwright who created The Best Man has died.
I met Gore Vidal back in my college days. He'd come to Holy Cross to give one of those great mid-week lectures we used to have.
Well, just let it be said that if Vidal is known for one thing, let it be The Best Man, a play that reminds us — even now up on Broadway — of the kind of person we'd like in our public life: someone not willing to eat the crap politics urges you to eat all the while saying, "Don't worry, you're not what you eat."
Well, I've noticed that you are. And nothing benefits a great country like ours than to remind ourselves every so often what the gold standard is. It's in this play called The Best Man and it means just about everything to those of us who love politics — great politics.
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Well, next to at least half of Shakespeare's plays.
Author of "The Best Man" also later wrote "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace: How We Got to Be So Hated". And why I am not surprised that much ado about nothing story from ancient history is conveniently chosen for subliminal propaganda message and last soul shout of this extraordinary man is all but censored.
Prophecy about 9/11 by Mario Puzo "The Fourth K" is ignored by liberal Hollywood in favor gangster epos. They are also for gun control, liberals.
How propaganda masters can live with themselves? I bet Chris will retire in 2013. So much lies for man with natural conscious... I hope he got his price in decent monetary equivalent and it was in advance independent from failure his client.
Interesting references Leo but as far as I know Puzo's novels have never been made into plays. Nor have they been made into movies. I believe Chris had noted that "The Best Man" was the best Play he had seen about politics and had in fact seen it three times.
If you had made the argument that perhaps you liked the movie "Bulworth," for example I could see your point because it is still in the visual medium and still a political story, however even that would fail to meet the definition of a play.
Since propaganda is aimed at influencing an attitude of a community towards a certain opinion usually by quibbling and emotional argument I think you have achieved your goal here.
HA!
Actually "The Best Man" was a Great movie starring Henry Fonda , Cliff Robertson and Shelly Berman from the mid sixties. It came out close to the time of another good political drama "Advice and Consent".
Saddly, I have yet to read the play - but I have seen the Henry Fonda movie. Excellent!