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Six Feet Under Buries Socialist Lies

by John F. Tamburo, Editor in Chief, Publisher
Originally Posted: 8/15/2005 12:09:34 PM
Last Updated: 8/15/2005 12:11:07 PM

I have been a fan of the HBO television show Six Feet Under for its entire run as a TV series.  The show ends its run this coming Sunday, the 21st.  There was no way I was going to miss last night’s second-to-last episode.  When I watched it, however, I was upset by it.  Why?  Even though Six Feet Under has never taken any political stance in the past, there has been  more than a little this year.  One character, Claire Fisher, has been attracted to, and seeing, an attorney named "Ted."  One bone of contention between the two is the fact that Ted is Republican, and Claire, being a California artiste, is a leftist.

Last night’s episode saw the most disgusting exchange I’ve seen portrayed on the show.  Claire had been fired from her job for using drugs and showing up to work either high or drunk.  She was drinking and using apparently in despondency from the death of her brother, the series’ main character, Nate.  Well, Ted took Claire home after she was fired, and was acting out loudly as she left.  When she arrived at the funeral home, she saw a SUV with a "Support our Troops" bumper sticker.  Claire viciously attacked these people for supporting the troops, for driving a SUV and in general for not being leftist.  What Claire did not know is that these two people were a mother and sister arranging a funeral for a soldier who killed himself after losing an arm and both legs in the war.

"At first, I looked at the entire episode as a politically-motivated tirade by another Hollywood socialist with a show to use as a platform.  Then I rethought the issue."

At first, I looked at the entire episode as a politically-motivated tirade by another Hollywood socialist with a show to use as a platform.  Then I rethought the issue.  Claire, the leftist, viciously attacked someone who she thought to be conservative.  The "tolerant" leftist was wholly intolerant -- just like real life.  After Ted got Claire into her apartment, she viciously attacked Ted as a "fascist Republican" and viciously rejected him.  But, this entire time, Ted has been nothing but kind and gentlemanly and respectful and respectable.  He did not stare down his nose at her drug abuse; he tried to be kind to her in her grief.  Again, this is typical conservative behavior.

The more I reviewed the episode in my head, the more I saw it as a positive statement -- for conservatism.  It shows the truth about us:  Compassionate, even when attacked without reason.  Respectful, even when the target of our respect acts in a manner unworthy of said respect.  It was also coldly analytical of liberals and leftists.  Claire, the leftist icon, unable to cope with the loss of a family member, turned to riotous behavior.  She was judgmental and snobbish and uncaring.  The woman lived in a funeral home and could not figure out that the two people exiting to their SUV were bereaved?  Then she attacked these bereaved people, including kicking their car more than once and swearing up a storm, because of the car they drove and because they apparently did not agree with her socialism!

"I congratulate Alan Ball, the producer of this show.  He took a chance.  I don’t know if the message I got was the one he sent.  If it was, all the better."

I congratulate Alan Ball, the producer of this show.  He took a chance.  I don’t know if the message I got was the one he sent.  If it was, all the better.  People need to see that the left, for all their self-proclaimed "tolerance," are the most intolerant people in this country.  They need to see the truth of compassion, as expressed most ably by conservatism.  Of course, this message has not been lost on a majority of the people, as their poll behavior shows so beautifully.

The only end-of-series development that would make me happier would be Ted revisiting Clair and continuing his kindness and compassion.  It would continue the object lesson of Six Feet Under’s August 14 episode.  We’ll see what is in store for us in the series finale.  But, for now, Alan Ball and Six Feet Under deserve our compliments!