There are three senses in which all persuasion is political: (1) persuasion seeks to restructure the organization of power; (2) persuasion itself is an exercise of power; and (3) all morally significant human conduct includes political dimensions. The comprehension of political events in dramatic terms is the burden of the author's thesis in this paper. "Drama" is a form of organizing and understanding material; the "theatrical" is what has attracted us to the material in the first place. The television series about the William C. Loud family of Santa Barbara is cited as an example to illustrate how the media fix human events in a situation which is amenable to description. Disposed to want drama and to want theatricality, our culture is prepared to sponsor the enormous economic and technical organization required for film and television. Having developed these media, we are influenced by them autonomously, and their requirements affect our politics ever more profoundly. (EE)