So my colleague Mike Goldfarb calls me this afternoon and the first thing he asks is what do I make of Carmela Soprano reading Rebel-in-Chief by THE WEEKLY STANDARD's own Fred Barnes. I warned him not to read too much into this--some of us are still trying to understand the deeper significance of Gay Vito's son defecating in the shower. And why must we be subjected to it? In any event, I will try to keep my impressions short.
First, we must remember this is Hollywood and Carmela's reading Rebel-in-Chief is probably meant to reflect poorly on her and her sense of judgment. Carmela's support for this highly unpopular president (remember, she voted for him) is the same as her standing by Tony Soprano. Both are equally repugnant and, of course, murderers of hundreds or thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. Some think Carmela should leave her loutish husband. While she's at it, she ought to leave that loutish president. Her husband may be arrested any time. Her president may be arrested anytime as well, for war crimes. All in all, a bad sign.
Second, who's to say that just because Carmela is reading the book, she's actually enjoying it? For all we know, she might hate it. (Then again, who wouldn't like it? "Crackling with fine reportage and analysis. Barnes knows this subject better than anyone," said Rich Lowry. "I know Fred Barnes and I thought I knew what he knows about President Bush. Boy, was I wrong. This book is a revelation. I couldn't stop reading it," said Brit Hume. Rebel-in-Chief is also now available in paperback for just $11.86 at Amazon.)
It should also not surprise us that Carmela is a conservative. Remember in the second season when A.J. asks his mother "Why are we here?" Carmela's response: "Because of Adam and Eve." In the first episode of this season, when Bobby talks about putting up a wall between us and Mexico, Carm adds "Amen." Not that Tony Soprano thinks any different. After all, he has now joined the war on terror by providing a cell phone number of a possible terrorist to the feds. This goes back to my first point, that Tony Soprano and Bush are the same, at least in the eyes of his wife, though in some respects Tony is more like Clinton.
But like I said, we shouldn't read too much into this.
