I have been re-watching the first series of The West Wing …

“I’m sleeping better. And when I sleep, I dream about a great discussion with experts and ideas and diction and energy and honesty. And when I wake up I think: ‘I can sell that’”

– President Bartlet.

Doesn’t this sound so utterly quaint and old-fashioned? But you know what? I prefer that 2000-era West Wing naïveté to today’s political cynicism and negativity.

I can’t even imagine a current politician wanting to engage in that kind of intelligent debate.

Everything still is possible; there’s such a huge amount of untapped positive capability in the world. But nothing good will happen while politicians believe that the only way to remain in power is to manipulate peoples’ fears that things will inevitably get worse.

Time to contemplate a world where Martin Sheen really does get to be President … “Right. What’s next?”