I’ve long been a fan of “The West Wing,” which follows the drama of fictional president Josiah Bartlet and his senior staff. The series launched well before the privacy debates that are now the norm.
But series creator Aaron Sorkin was way ahead of his time all those years ago when he focused on Internet privacy in the season one episode “The Short List.”
In the episode, Bartlet has nominated a man for the Supreme Court whose writings suggest a lack of regard for Americans’ right to privacy. During a heated Oval Office discussion, presidential advisor Sam Seaborn explains why their candidate’s views will be dangerous in the first part of the 21st century.
Seaborn says:
It’s not just about abortion, it’s about the next twenty years. The twenties and thirties it was the role of government, the fifties and sixties it was civil rights, the next two decades are going to be privacy. I’m talking about the internet. I’m talking about cell phones. I’m talking about health records and who’s gay and who’s not. Moreover, in a country born on the will to the free, what could be more fundamental than this?
Yup.
