Well, it's on. As of 12.01am PT today, WGA members downed tools and formed a picket line. This could be long, and will certainly be both costly and acrimonious. But the political camps are already seizing on the strike as a platform for their own campaigns; Sen. Barack Obama, [D-Ill.,] already declared his position and seems to be friendly to the WGA's long-neglected cause...
“I stand with the Writers,” he said in a statement. “The Guild’s demand is a test of whether media corporations are going to give Writers a fair share of the wealth their work creates or continue concentrating profits in the hands of their Executives. I urge the Producers to work with the Writers so that everyone can get back to work.”
Not being a US Citizen I'm forbidden to vote here, but if that's truly anything more than empty words and political opportunism it would be very persuasive.
The strike is on, the pickets are out and the first blood is already visible - all the late-night talk shows will be re-runs tonight. It can only get worse from here. But I can almost guarantee you one thing -- Someone, somewhere is mulling the idea of making this into a Reality show.
Update: Senators Clinton and Edwards have now issued statements in support of the Writers. Still not a word from any Republican candidate...And that speaks volumes!
