One voice applauded, one not heard?

Man, oh man, that James Spader, what a mighty, mighty man. So manly.

Is that what it takes to get attention?

While Spader's character gave a very fine speech on Boston Legal, there were two other statements made by TV characters last week.

The one we expected everyone to catch occurred on Thursday's ER.

Parminder Nagra's Dr. Neela Rasgotra is married to a man serving in Iraq (Michael). Near the end of the episode, she met up with the spouses of others serving. In that gathering, as talk of Iraq floated around endlessly, Neela made it clear that she wasn't for the war in Iraq. She stated that she supported the troops but not the war. Much to the shock of some assembled.

Attempts to press her into altering her statement only resulted in her firm statement that she was pacifist. Futhermore, she said she refused "to be brainwashed into falling in line with some psuedo-patrictic vision."

In the jingo-jingo land of corporate entertainment, very few voices of resistance break through. Thursday night, one did. But does it break through if no one notices?

Is that too much like "If a tree falls when no one's around . . ."?

Neela may not be "manly" but we found her voice more than strong enough. Especially at a time when war games and war continue to be the main meals served up the networks.