Aaron Sorkin's 'Newsroom' Takes Last Shot at Conservatives, Dubs Them Homophobic, Anti-Science

Writers are taught to avoid cliches in their art, but Oscar-nominated scribe Aaron Sorkin simply can’t help himself.

Sorkin’s HBO drama The Newsroom packs plenty of overt, and obvious, anti-conservative cliches in an average episode. Sunday’s season finale stuffed as many as Sorkin and his writing team could rally, proving he cares more about scoring political points than crafting solid stories.

Will McAvoy, the alleged Republican anchor played by Jeff Daniels, let loose with another monologue that sounded like Rachel Maddow was using him like a ventriloquist’s dummy. Here’s McAvoy summing up his own party in terms even an MSNBC host might consider too cruel.

…Now I have to be homophobic. I have to count the number of times people go to church. I have to deny facts and think scientific research is a long con.” Talking on-air with a fictional Republican operative, Daniels’s character lectured, “And I have to have such a stunning inferiority complex that I fear education and intellect in the 21st century. But most of all, the biggest new requirement, really the only requirement, is that I have to hate Democrats.

The sense of projection is stunning. So, too, is Sorkin’s inability to separate his rage for conservatives from his duties on his very own show.

The show’s viewers have noticed, apparently.

Ratings for the second season finale were down from last year. While a third season of the show is likely, HBO has yet to fully commit to more conservative bashing from a man who once called Sarah Palin and her hunter friends “faux-macho shitheads” and much, much worse.