Meanwhile, Jack has his own celebrity to recruit. He's organizing a banquet for John McCain and the Committee to Re-invade Vietnam. Since he's now on non-speaking terms with Chuck Norris after switching dojos, the biggest conservative name Jack can come up with is forgotten '50s TV icon, Bucky Bright (Tim Conway). Bucky's idea of conservatism isn't exactly modern, nor is it the old-fashioned type depicted in shows like Mad Men. Wandering the halls of 30 Rock with Kenneth, he reminisces about amorous and adventurous ''sandwich girls,'' the Jew Room, and a bygone era when two men could just celebrate each other's strength... and not be gay.
In a bind, Jack turns to an apolitical Tracy, who defies Dotcom's liberal guilt-trip [Hey, where was Grizz? Speed-dating?] after a near-death experience lands him in purgatory with Richard Nixon and Sammy Davis Jr. His anti-tax, pro-gun awakening inspires him to film a commercial urging all ''Blackmericans'' to vote Republican: ''Dr. King once had a dream. A dream that we all share,'' began Tracy. ''To build a 200 foot-high wall to keep Mexico out. And he also hated the Estate Tax.''
Historians and political commentators, no doubt, will have a field day with these inaccuracies: King never lobbied for anything higher than a 12 foot-high wall, and right-thinking Americans call the Estate Tax by its proper name, the Death Tax. In the end, Jack and Tracy decide the best tactic is to encourage black voters to skip voting altogether and play another few games of pool instead.
Even for the always politically astute 30 Rock, last night's episode was unusually so. In addition to McCain's ''sausagefest'' rally to re-invade Vietnam, New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg did a cameo in which he honored Dennis' heroics. The MSNBC crawl captured the news that ''40 percent of Democrats excited about upcoming depression'' and ''NORAD puts cyborgs in charge of Skynet.'' Jack calls Dennis' Dateline flap a silly misunderstanding, ''like the Guiliani campaign,'' and while Bucky waits in Jack's office, he admires a picture of Jack greeting wacky North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il. And you know Alec Baldwin could barely contain his glee when he played Nixon in Tracy's brush-with-death dream. I loved all of it, but you put me in a quandary, Tina Fey — a quandary. How will 30 Rock play in 10 years? Will future audiences chuckle and appreciate references to today's political players, or will the show feel like washed-up Bucky Bright, wandering the corporate halls with a sad lesbian named Conan O'Brien? But maybe I shouldn't overanalyze this. As Jack Donaghy says, ''Not thinking is what makes America great.''
What do you think about the timeliness versus timelessness of 30 Rock? And what are we to make of Grizz's absence? And most importantly, where can I get cologne distilled from the bilge water off Rupert Murdoch's yacht?
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