Just wondering-would Frank Underwood on HOUSE OF CARDS be considered "Third Way"?

[Ken Burch]

[BainsBane]

1. I'd say he's an all out right winger

I've only watched a few episodes, but he's anti-union and anti-collective bargaining.

[TDale313]

3. Yes, but on the show he is a Dem.

I'd probably say yes. He's also for gutting "entitlements"

[Cha]

4. He's a freaking muderous monster.. I don't care what they call him on the show.

[TDale313]

6. Yes, he's a murderous monster.

Last edited Wed Mar 4, 2015, 04:30 AM - Edit history (1)

He's also a fictional politician with a party affiliation. He's a conservative Southern Democrat. On the original British Series the character was a Tory.

Edit to add: if your point is that he really doesn't give a damn about issues or policies or governing, I'd agree with that. It's all about the power for him.

[pnwmom]

9. Just a guess, but I bet he's switching parties. That will be how he'll run in 2016,

since the Dems are running someone else. So he's positioning himself to make himself popular with the right.

He'll say anything or do anything to get elected.

[TDale313]

10. Oh. I can see that- totally.

Or run as an Independant. And yes, he'll do absolutely anything to gain power.

[Cha]

5. Exactly, he's a cold heartless murdering dino monster.. calling him "third way" would be ignorant.

[Warren DeMontague]

7. I don't think he actually has a political philosophy other than obtain power for the sake of power.

He'd probably support anything as a means to that end. It's pretty clear he doesn't give a shit about anything else.

[TDale313]

11. True.

[HereSince1628]

14. Francis philosophy seems Kantian in that the end defines the means

Although for me that's all based on the old episodes...

As such seems to make it a form of elite utilitarianism/pragmatism, that recognizes that success requires sacrifice but that sacrifice is made by others.

[Warren DeMontague]

15. It's hard to glean what is at the center of the considerable drive he has

but it seems to me it's more about proving something personal, pride or the like- getting revenge, of a sort, or "showing them"-- than about effecting any specific change in the world. The noise about doing so seems to be posturing at best.

But, then, I only just started in with Season 3, myself, so I don't know either. No spoilers!

[HereSince1628]

17. I agree, and it's an interesting question... driven by his past or pulled by the future?

[Warren DeMontague]

19. Yep

I think you're on to something.

[Fumesucker]

16. You just described the vast majority of the Republican politicians

The real question is how many Democratic politicians you also described.

[Warren DeMontague]

18. Its depressing in real life, but it's also one of the things that makes the show pretty compelling.

Although so far Ive found Season 3 to be a snore-fest. Its gotta pick up, though.

[elleng]

2. More like, WORST way!!!

[Warren DeMontague]

8. Tyrion Lannister would probably be considered Left-Libertarian

....what's your point?

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[wyldwolf]

12. More like a Blue Dog or longtime insider. What would Bruce Wayne be?

[RiverLover]

13. Well, they did use a Third Way corporate dem as a consultant

...The greatest betrayals on “House of Cards” can be found in the misleading arguments, presented as “truth,” that suggest that cutting “entitlements” is a necessity and raising taxes isn’t even an option.

The fact that Netflix has insisted upon heavy tax breaks for filming the show in Maryland may be merely coincidental. Here’s what’s not: We have learned that the series hired a leading “new Democrat” (read, “corporate Democrat”) as a consultant for the show’s most misleading episode.

The audience loves watching Frank Underwood deceive other characters. It’s less likely to appreciate being deceived itself, especially as some real-life Frank Underwoods are launching an attack against the party’s populist wing.

The Spoiler

If you’re like me, “House of Cards” has been a binge-watching guilty pleasure, a chance to set aside the burden of idealism for a dark but engaging worldview that is half Machiavelli and half telenovela.

But who knew that the show itself – not the characters, but the show – had a hidden agenda? It’s already taken on teachers. Now comes the anti-“entitlement” tirade from Frank Underwood in Episode One of the new season. Frank, despite his evil ways and means, has an ambitious dream, which is introduced during a lengthy scene in which he lectures his staff, and the audience, on some highly misleading “facts.”

How did that happen? How did the “AmericaWorks” fictional plot point come to be built on real-world lies?

Here’s a clue: Episode One’s credits list Jim Kessler as a consultant. Kessler is, as his IMDB biography notes, the co-founder of Third Way. That’s a Wall Street-funded, so-called “centrist” Democratic organization with a mission: to promote neoliberal economics and make the world safe (at least financially) for its wealthy patrons.

Third Way has consistently misrepresented the financial condition of Social Security, misdirected the public debate about Medicare, and generally promoted the socially liberal but fiscally conservative worldview of its patrons....

http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/eskow20150303