The Ides of March

Directed, written, and starring George Clooney, I have to wonder why he made this movie? Some commenters on IMDb suggested the vicarious experience of running for office without the interminable stress. Maybe. Big payday without having to worry about winning or losing in the real world. God knows we couldn't survive if Clooney did not make Ocean's Fourteen.

I will not bore you with details about the plot. Suffice it to say that it made Democrats look bad enough that my republican father-in-law raved about this movie. Moral quandries, ethical dilemmas, betrayal, extortion, ambition, and finally revenge feature prominently in The Ides of March. There was also enough jaded cynicism to float a boat.

That final point seems to be the moral lesson presented to the audience. Or at least the one I picked up. Perhaps I have absorbed so much cynicism that I gravitate toward the rot it produces. The question must be asked though. Why are sexual indiscretions such kryptonite for Democrats? Bill Clinton gets impeached for a blowjob, Anthony Weiner gets squeezed out for sending dumb pictures on his phone, John Edwards became Public Enemy No. 1 practically on par with obl for his stupidity, while newt gingrich was actually in contention for a while to get the republican nomination despite serial marriages to his mistresses.

There are plenty of horny old men in both parties. Why is it only Democrats who suffer for dumb lust? And why is the "guilt by association" slander from mouth-breathing wingnuts such an easy sell? Simple self-righteousness in the electorate? For whatever reason, women are drawn to men with power, or are more easily seduced by them. I wish that wasn't the case and am open to alternate explanations. Do women voters see Democrats with penis-parking misdirection as preying on innocent female interns and punish them for it? Do male voters suffer envy that pretty young interns are not throwing themselves at regular beer-bellied and balding men? Is there cognitive dissonance that Democrats, who campaign for helping people, would cheat on their wives?

These are questions I am in no position to answer but are important nonetheless. What Ides does do extremely well is illustrate how to cure the awful disease of idealism. First, have a respected leader do something bad, then have his trusted advisor set you up for failure. This will lance the blister of clear, clean fluid protecting the idealist's moral core, to be replaced with the black bile of jaded cynicism. The moral core loosens, opportunity arises, and before you know it the tables are turned. Vengence is mine! Saith the campaign advisor.

Well, it was still an excellently made film, even if I felt like I needed a shower and an enema after watching it.