ABC's much ballyhooed prime time series "Commander In Chief" debuted last night at 9 PM. It was truly awful. This will come as a relief to conservatives who saw this as media brainwashing to soften up the electorate as a prelude to a Hilary Clinton presidential bid.

The show opened with a scenario that was completely illogical on several counts. First, as the story began, there was a black Republican president with a white female vice-president, a highly unlikely two-fer combination. Next we learned that this president had chosen for a running mate a person that he did not want to assume the presidency to succeed him -- what a crock! When the dying president asked the female veep to resign and let the Speaker of the House replace him, she appeared to give his request some consideration, which would never happen with a person who had the political experience to get as far as the vice-presidency.

After the "willing suspension of disbelief" needed to enjoy fiction had been utterly exhausted in the opening sequences, the show went rapidly downhill from there. You could imagine the protagonist saying, "Is this really little old me behind this great big desk?" as she stood in the oval office for the first time as the new CINC. Anyone qualified for the job would see that desk as a piece of furniture, no more. Meanwhile, her husband was being shown into an atrocious hot pink office suite in the most grotesque of gender cliches.

The newly minted female president continued through this terrible hour-long program vacillating between too uncertain and too hardheaded, in a pathetic portrayal of a ditzy airhead with hugely collagened lips trying to wear the nation's pants. Goldie Hawn would have been more credible. The stereotypical children were even worse, right down to the unbelievable premise that the prez would travel to her first important speech with her little girl sitting beside her in the car with an open cup of juice to splash all over the presidential blouse.

In only sixty minutes the plot devolved from improbable to ridiculous. The series will likely be cancelled. There are many who have suggested that Democratic interests put up the funding to launch this new series. That may well be, but if so, they were from the Kerry faction of the party.

Professional women everywhere will be disgusted by Hollywood's condescending portrayal of feminine intelligence and capability. From the days of Rosie the Riveter, women have been in the work force long enough to develop the insight and balance to function with confidence and clarity in management roles.

There is no question that the newest pseudo-White House offering suffers from comparison to the still running "The West Wing." With its believable situations, well-developed characters, skillfully scripted dialog, tight choreography, and excellent casting choices, West Wing sets a higher bar.

From Boston to Hollywood, Democratic feminists were hosting premiere parties to watch the first episode of Geena Davis' newest flop. Former Democratic gubernatorial nominee Shannon O'Brien was the hostess at a party held at the University of Massachusetts at Boston. Democratic insider Susan Estrich threw the definitive do in California, a "Commander in Chief" house party with a celebrity guest list. We wonder if these folk were savvy enough to realize, about fifteen minutes in, that they were attending a wake.

Related articles:
U.S. TV makes way for two White House dramas
Tuning in Mrs. President (written before the disaster)
A likable president, but not quite credible (written after the disaster)

[American Daughter]

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