E Pluribus Unum

Yea, twas soothing to watch Fmr Secretaries Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell educate and enlighten us on the dangers of nationalism, and on the need for us to embrace...diversity and inclusion as is evident in the speech of their fictional successor, Madam Elizabeth McCord, played by Ms Tea Leoni.

"Nationalism is the existential threat of our time. I wanna be clear: nationalism is not the same as patriotism. It's a perversion of patriotism. Nationalism is the belief system held by those who attacked us. Promotes the idea that inclusion and diversity represent weakness. That the only way to succeed is to give blind allegiance to the supremacy of one race over all others. Nothing could be less human. Patriotism on the other hand is about building each other up. And embracing our diversity is the source of our human strength."

Lots of negative reviews for this episode but I really enjoyed the drama of it.

Judging from some of the reviews it seems some folks either didn't pay attention during the episode or have trouble grasping the values this country was founded on. Nationalism is not patriotism. To be honest I can't believe these folks ever really watched this show in the first place. Every episode has more nuance than they could handle.

I really liked this show - especially the 1st 2 seasons. Now, like most entertainment, we get our weekly dose of "this is how you should view the world". When the last episode ended with Elizabeth announcing she was going to run for president and Henry responding "I'm with you" as in I'm with her, I knew what we would be in for. I know this is a political show, but must it hit the viewer over the head with the Hollywood version of what is good and right?

I have watched a lot of TV in my life, but never before I have found a single episode of a TV show become so political within seconds. When "Madam Secretray" talks to the advisory council of her predecessors, Colin Powell, Madleine Albright and Hillary Clinton, the tone set send shivers down my spine. No, the three are not notewothy actors, but they need not be. They are former politicians who shaped an America that was a trusted Partner and Power in the world. To see a TV show stand up and act out against trupism, against white supremacist feels good. The speech at the end, hailing Nuclear Weapons the second biggest threat to humanity, was right on point. I do not mind American Patrotism. Americans should be proud of their country. I do mind the stupid and cringeworthy nationalistic doctrine of "America First", which aims to alienate the world from the US... Thank you for going beyond entertainment,this time round.