Twenty Five Years Later...

I've been torturing myself with reruns of Dynasty on DVD. When the program first came out (January 12, 1981) I was seventeen. I remember it being the raciest show on TV - of course I had nothing to compare it to as the only channel we could receive back then was ABC - so I had never seen Dallas (which was on CBS). Cable television technology had not yet reached my home in Maple Valley.

This time around, being "a few years older" and aware (and a conservative), I noticed things in the story lines that I hadn't thought about before. I'm only to Season 3, but I can say that so far I'm amazed at how some things today really haven't changed that much, and some things have done a complete 360.

Consider this:

The pilot program aired Jan. 12, 1981, which means the story lines were written a minimum of a year prior to air - deep within the Carter administration and prior to President Ronald Reagan assuming office.

One of the opening scenes depicts Americans being evacuated from "somewhere in the Middle East" due to oil wars and anti-American riots. One of the characters (played by John Saxon rather poorly by the way) was portrayed as an oil-rich Saudi tycoon with nothing but money and revenge on his mind. This was years prior to the Gulf War, mind you - and the first World Trade Center bombing.

An episode in the third season has Blake pleading with the government to extend his funding for his shale-oil extraction and processing research project (over 25 years later, we'll still debating this subject - that, and drilling, of which Blake was obviously in favor). He hooks up with his seemingly wimpy, paid-for congressman and demands that the congressman use political contacts to be sure the bail-out goes through - or the congressman can write off Blake's generous campaign contributions. But during their initial meeting, the congressman clearly tells Blake several times that his party was outnumbered in congress and not to count on the funding. (I also noticed that during the program they called him congressman but his title in the credits was senator - oops.)

In just two years (1981 - 1983 so far) this show covered many other social subjects that we still are still struggling with: homosexuality (remember, AIDS hadn't surfaced yet and homosexuality was still very much in the closet. Rock Hudson appeared a couple of seasons later, ironically dying of AIDS in real life causing a major scandel when he kissed Linda Evans on screen); abortion; divorce; adoption; mental illness; child-parent kidnaping; drug abuse; alcoholism; domestic violence; and even a perv/rapist family member.

I hope everyone reading this will stop and take stock of (or research) the differences, similarities, and stalemates of the issues above, and if we have failed as Republicans, WHY? What can we do to preserve our Constitution?

I've had several people in the past week that have said to me, "there's nothing I can do about it". I called their BS. I'M doing something about it. YOU the PCRP are doing something about it. All over the country, people are beginning to do something about it. So whatever your own personal "it" subject is, there most certainly is something you can do about it.

*****

I want to wish everybody a very happy Easter Sunday. May God bless the children, America, and ALL Americans.

Breezie