By Deborah
Previously on The West Wing: Josh, Toby, and Donna missed their ride out of Indiana; Leo liked his lawyer, Jordan Kendall; a pipe bomb was set off at a university swim meet killing forty-four people; Toby met a man named Matt Kelley in a bar in Indiana; Leo informs POTUS that Qumar appears to be ready to frame Israel for Shareef's assassination.
Shout-out to flg8or. Also: there's a great deal of pedeconferencing and whirling camera work in this episode. If you're a little prone to motion sickness, you might want to fetch the dimenhydrinate now. I'm just saying. We'll wait.
We're in the Situation Room. The map display shows Qumar; as the displays shifts and the camera moves, it looks to me like it's supposed to be northeast of Saudi Arabia, placing it where the actual country of Iran is. Leo, Fitz, and Jed come in; Jed explains Nancy's absence by saying she's making some calls at his behest. Leo says he's told POTUS about the alleged parachute. It's established that Israel does in fact manufacture parachutes. Good ones. Jed speaks: "Listen, I know we're here for a serious purpose, for a sober purpose..." Why do I have the feeling that what he's about to say will totally belie that? He continues, "But I wanted to say I've never been a part of a street gang before, and that's basically what we are -- a pretty well-financed one -- but anyway, I wanted to say, it feels good. And I think when we're done with this meeting, I think we should go out and get girls, and I don't know, maybe knock over a fruit stand or something." Wow, that's incredibly humorous, except for the part where it's not at all. I don't know if I can adequately express how much I hope this isn't how any actual Presidents conduct themselves in this sort of situation. Fitz and Leo have exchanged brief glances by this point and Leo just says, "Okay," as they all sit down. Jed adds, "We're going to need to learn to sing and dance." Yeah, the whole thing is just like West Side Story, when you think about it.
Leo wisely ignores Jed and tells another guy, "The information's basically coming from the NSC Operations Unit." That guy reads what he says is a cell phone intercept between the Sultan and Habib: "'The Butcher of Kafr will have no choice but to resign.'" We've never been told, if I recall correctly, who Habib is. Also: the closed captioning renders it "Kafr" but the actor delivers the word as "Kaffar." I guess it's supposed to represent an actual place name (kafr means "small village"), but I can't help wondering if they were perhaps driving at the Arabic word kufr, which means "ingratitude to God and manifest disbelief in Him and His religion." One form of this word, meaning "disbeliever," is kafir, which many Muslims use to describe all non-Muslims (something I take issue with). It's a little confusing, because it's not clear (to me anyway) exactly who the "Butcher" is (Israeli? American? Arab of some stripe?), and of who/what exactly he is the Butcher. The kafr/kufr possibilities only add to the confusion. Another guy asks if they're sure that he's talking about Israel. The first guy repeats the message. Someone comes in with a message for POTUS as Leo says, "Well, the B-movie dialogue aside..."
Jed interrupts to announce that Toby and Josh are back. He explains to the posse what happened yesterday, with them missing their ride. I can imagine Jed asking to be notified about this, but I can't imagine why he thinks the posse would need to know or would care. Leo glares at Jed and says, "Doesn't matter." Turning back to the business at hand, Leo suggests assuming the Sultan goes to Al-Jazeera and claims that Shareef's plane didn't go down accidentally, and that it was brought down by the Israelis. He wants to know what options they've come up with so far. One guy: "Do nothing." Another guy says they can't do that. A third guy says they could call Qumar's bluff. Fitz points out they can't do that either, because Qumar's calling their bluff. He says that their option is to defend Israel. Jed -- who's apparently way more interested in the hapless wanderings of the DC Three than he is in the machinations of international crime that are going on around him -- asks Leo softly, "You're not curious why they're walking into DC?" Leo firmly says he isn't. Second Guy wonders what happens if Hezbollah launches a missile at Israel. Jed -- suffering from a pretty poorly-timed bout of attention deficit -- persists: "Walking into DC from where, I guess you gotta ask yourself." Leo, with quiet force: "You wanna hunker down?" Jed's reply: "Okay, just for that, when it comes down to give out gang nicknames, you're going to be...I don't know, but you're not going to have a good nickname." Oh, I think Leo will. He can either be Mack Daddy or Mos Def Con. Fitz is stuck with Admiral Sissy-Mary until I come up with something else. Master Killa J stands up (forcing everyone else to, of course), and launches into a typical anecdote about his daughter, Ellie, who had a teacher (Mr. Pordy) who had no interest in nuance. When he asked his class why there's always been conflict in the Middle East, Ellie said it was "'a centuries-old religious conflict involving land and suspicion and culture and...'" Her teacher cut her off: "'Wrong,' Mr. Pordy said. 'It's because it's incredibly hot. And there's no water.'" Jed starts to walk out as Mack Daddy thinks to himself that his story about the guy in the hole is a lot better than that one. As Jed leaves, he pauses and tells Leo, "I'm hunkered down. I'm going to East Lansing. We're going to need a lawyer." And credits.
C.J.'s talking to the press on Air Force One. It's 6:45 AM and they're over Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. She tells them there are over 120 news outlets covering POTUS's every move, but that only the cream of the crop rides with her: "The rest are consigned to the zoo plane where they do not have moist towelettes. This is why I'm so disappointed that with the exceptions of Terry, Mike, Mark, and Rachel, you all misspelled Muhziriabolah." That's how it's rendered in the closed captioning. That sounds like a pseudo-Arabic piece of nonsense if ever I heard any. Frink laughed when I repeated the name to him over the phone. There's just not even any point in getting into it. One reporter objects: "I'm on television." C.J. says she could tell it was misspelled in his copy. Nothing gets past her, man. Another reporter asks for an advance on the speech to the teachers. C.J.: "An advance copy of text? You must be new." Another one wants to know what POTUS will say about the pipe bombing. C.J. says that obviously he'll talk about it, but that she doesn't know what he'll say. She tells them they'll have fifty minutes to file stories while POTUS has a meeting with the Executive Board. She also tells them that he's spoken twice to Chancellor Bayliss, the president of the university, and has accepted an invitation to speak at the memorial service at KSU on Saturday. Another reporter wants to know if there's anything new from the FBI. C.J.'s still referring those questions to a rep at the FBI, but she does want to underline the initial finding that it doesn't appear to have been an act of foreign terrorism, based on the nature of the explosive. She says their flight is an hour and forty-five minutes, and then they have a forty-five minute ride to Michigan State, where the President is addressing delegates from the NEA for about twenty-five minutes. A reporter mentions that he notices Josh and Toby aren't on the plane: "Are they still at a gas station in Unionville?" Everyone laughs. C.J.: "No, they made it home and their mothers are very relieved. They've been given a four-hour vacation." She starts to leave the cabin area and then stops and says, "M-U-H-Z-I-R-I-A-B-O-L-A-H."
As C.J. walks though the plane, Bruno catches up with her and says they might get asked about Title IX; Writchie said yesterday it was worth re-examining, so Bartlet will get asked for a reaction. He suggests that C.J. may want to talk to Josh for "first thoughts." C.J. asks Bruno's. He claims to have none and to be indifferent. She says he can't be. He says he has to be: "I have only so much RAM in my head. I have to prioritize. I have to throw some things overboard. So I've chosen, for instance, not to care whether or not Purdue has a fencing team." Maybe if you offloaded some of your more idiotic and antiquated attitudes toward women you could make some room. Quite a lot, I'll bet.
Bruno takes off and runs into Sam, who introduces Bruno to Debbie Fiderer. Bruno gives her a warm and enthusiastic greeting. Chyeah. Bruno starts pedeconferencing as Sam follows and Debbie trails along. Bruno asks Sam whether he knows anything about the ruling that's about to come down today from the DC District Court regarding a debate case. Sam: "Yeah, I think it's Sullivan v. Commission on Presidential Debates, ABC, CBS, NBC News et al." Bruno: "This is the third-party rule? Fifteen percent?" Sam replies, "Happens every four years." Bruno sighs. Sam says there are, like, 500 citizen lawsuits trying to get their guy in the debate, and it never goes anywhere. Bruno says makes a compliant noise and turns around to face Debbie, who's been standing silently behind him. Bruno: "Fiderer's a funny name." She smiles and says nothing. He continues, "It's not ha-ha funny, it's just, you know..." Still she says nothing. Bruno gives up and leaves. Seems like she's found the way to make him very uncomfortable. I like her more and more.
Sam tells a staffer in the room to stay on the Sullivan decision. Sam explains to Debbie that it's a guy suing so that Stackhouse can be in the debate. Debbie thought Stackhouse was supposed to be endorsing POTUS. Sam says he will. She asks why he would be in the debate. Sam: "Presumably he's endorsing the President because he knew he wouldn't be." She asks how bad it would be. Sam: "It'd be bad." He adds, as they start pedeconferencing, "Which is why, even if he was allowed into the debate, he wouldn't do it. Stackhouse isn't trying to hurt the President." Think again. He wants to get back to her orientation, and tells her that Josh is going to brief her on security and ethics, and Charlie's going to tell her some things. He says she has provisional clearance now, pending the successful completion of the SF-86 and GC-1 background check. She asks what it is, and he says it's an extensive questionnaire on her background: personal, professional, financial, pharmaceutical, etc. She knows what the form is, but she asks what the GC-1 is. Sam explains that they contact family, friends, neighbours, and so forth to corroborate their findings. She says that's fine, but that she's worked at the White House before, and at her last job, the background check wasn't nearly as extensive. Yes, well, you weren't working on POTUS's doorstep before, either, and I would think the difference would be obvious to you. Sam interrupts: "You have a button on your phone -- a crash button." He explains that it's a button that will bring the Secret Service in and immediately turn her office into a live microphone in the event that someone tries to take the Oval Office: "This isn't your last job." C.J. calls Sam away, and he leaves her to ponder that.
Sam follows C.J. and enters a meeting room where Bruno and other staffers are already talking with POTUS. C.J. says that Bruno thinks they "dump the whole thing." Bruno: "I think forty-four people are dead and we can't give a speech on education." Sam is concerned that they'll look opportunistic if they talk about the Iowa bombing at a campaign event: "Plus, we're using the teachers like props." C.J. says that POTUS has to mention it. Sam agrees. Bruno: "There are dead children, and then you segue to what?" They don't know. They ask Jed's feelings. He says it's a seven-ten split, and asks them to work on it for a while. They will. He's going to his office to call Leo.
Back at the White House, Leo comes out to the security desk in the lobby -- where Jordan Kendall is signing in -- and instructs the guard to "let her on in." Jordan greets Leo; he says, "You look sensational in your Gabriella Something thing there." It's basically a nice suit. I love her necklace, though. She thanks him. He gripes: "'Cloak and dagger.'" They pedeconference as she counters that it was a single sentence in a two-page note. He's also irritated that she sent him a note. She says she was asked here on business which she usually conducts at her office. He says he was going to come there, but explains just how indiscreet he thought it would be for the Chief of Staff to be seen at her law firm. She just meant that she doesn't feel she's cut out for high-security, back-room secretive shenanigans: "It's like you're in the Mafia." Leo says it may be like that, but he's not in the Mafia: "I work for the good guys." Isn't it interesting how no matter who you are, or what crimes you commit, you always think you're the good guy? Jordan complains Leo was never available by phone. He says that's a whole other "kettle of beans," adding, "And we can have that discussion, but history's shown that if you just wait and tell it to a divorce lawyer, you can have half my stuff." Jordan doesn't want half his stuff. I'll take it, if she's not interested. Leo: "You don't know -- some of it's good stuff." For one thing, he's got all of Nigella's incredibly expensive cookbooks.
Leo and Jordan have been walking all over the building; she wants to know where they're going. He says it's someplace quiet where they can talk. He doesn't tell her it's the secret love nest he and Fitz steal away to when they think no one's looking. Jordan sees it: "The White House Situation Room?" Leo put his palm on a handprint scanner and opens the door, saying, "We just call it that." They enter, Jordan wondering aloud whether she's even allowed to be in there: "Look at this stuff." Leo glances at the map display and says, "It's a map of North America." He asks her where she's from; she says, "Lincoln, Nebraska." He asks someone via intercom to "throw an Opal Drill up on the wall" for Lincoln. The map display illustrates a first strike nuclear attack from Beijing and North Korea. The state of Nebraska is blown up (visually enlarged, I mean; not bombed), and you can see that various cities are directly hit. Lincoln isn't, so Leo starts to comment on how it survives the first strike, but then it gets hit, so he says, "Aw...no, not so much." I really don't care for how manipulative this is. Jordan seems to want to get on with things, too. At nine zillion dollars an hour or whatever she bills, I would think he would, too. He stands on one side of the table, she on the other. He says that they have to go beyond normal attorney-client privilege. Jordan says there are no degrees of attorney-client privilege. Leo's talking about state secrets with the highest degree of classification: "If you told anyone, you'd be convicted of treason and sent to prison, probably for life." Jordan: "No, I wouldn't." Leo admits that it's nothing like treason, but says that if she told anyone, it'd be bad. She wants to know what is going on. He pulls out a chair for her;she comes around the table to sit down, as he asks if she remembers that in May, Shareef's private plane went down in Bermuda, and all passengers were dead. She doesn't. He seems surprised. He explains that Qumar is investigating "the accident" because they suspect foul play. Leo states that they know Qumar is planning to frame Israel and is producing phony evidence. She asks how they know. He does that "I'm sorry?" thing that forces the questioner to repeat his or her comment ,which is done way more on this show than I ever bother to mention any more because it's getting so incredibly tired, but I'm going to mention it here because it just seemed more gratuitous than ever. He says: "Because we do." She starts to argue about that, but he states very clearly and evenly: "Jordan, we know any evidence of assassination is manufactured." She asks, "How?" For a brilliant legal mind she's a wee bit slow on the uptake here. Leo says, "'Cause we destroyed all the evidence." At that moment, someone interrupts him on the intercom saying she has POTUS on the line. Leo takes the call. "Yes, sir?"
Jed's calling on his way from the limo into the building where he'll make his speech. He asks Leo if "she's there." Leo says she is. Fortunately, Jed doesn't ask what she's wearing. Leo asks what Jed knows. Jed says that Casper (you remember Casper, the Unfriendly FBI Agent, of such swell episodes as "Somebody's Going To Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail" and "Bartlet for America") is with him and is going to talk to him; Jed will send him to Leo . Leo wonders what Jed's about to say; Jed doesn't know. He still has two minutes. They hang up. Jed reads from a letter Casper's handed him as they walk along: "'The bullying nature of the intrusive and invasive government of the United States has to be rendered quickly and decisively a wake-up call. And this opportunity...' What do you think of this letter?" Casper: "He's not Tom Paine." No matter how weak some of the writing and speeches by the "good guys" can sometimes be on this show, the bad guys' writing is always worse. Jed agrees about the Tom Paine thing. Casper says, "It's rhetoric common to separatists. They're telling us that English is his first language but that he's not very well-educated." I don't know. I encounter plenty of supposedly highly educated people who write that badly every day. Jed asks if it's credible. Casper says yes. Jed: "You guys think it was sent by the bomber?" Casper: "Or his group." They're not sure if there's a group. Jed says the end of the letter promises more. Casper acknowledges that the letter indicates "more" (violence, one presumes) in the forty-eight hours which, according to Casper, is what they always say. Jed stops and asks, "Unless what? That's where I'm confused." Casper: "They didn't make any demands, sir. This letter isn't a threat. It's an announcement." The camera is swirling around the two of them and I'm getting dizzy. Casper takes off.
Jed walks over to the table where Bruno and Sam and other staffers are doing some last-minute strategizing. He asks what they have. Bruno says, "'We will catch the perpetrators, we will track them down, we will punish them...' along those lines." Yeah, that's some great oratory, there. Jed looks at a paper -- the speech, I presume. Bruno ventures that it's too early for Rocky. Jed thinks so, and comments, "Plus, once you catch a perpetrator, you don't need to track him down." Sam says, "I told you, he likes the rhythm." They start walking, and Bruno says it was Sam's line. Sam says it's a dummy phrase -- a placeholder. Jed decides he's just going to talk a little bit. As he hustles up a flight of stairs with SS guys and staffers all around him, we can hear him being announced in the background. Sam says, "'Joy cometh in the morning,' sir." Jed thanks him.
Jed enters the auditorium, where people are standing, clapping, cheering, and waving miniature American flags. It's not an enormous crowd of people, though, and the amount of noise they're making seems out of proportion to their numbers. Jed makes his way through the crowd to the stage and positions himself at the podium, in front of the NEA banner that reads, "Making public schools great for every child." That's one ripping good slogan. He begins: "'Joy cometh in the morning,' Scripture tells us. I hope so. I don't know if life would be worth living if it didn't. And I don't yet know who set off the bomb at Kennison State. I don't know if it's one person or ten, and I don't know what they want. All I know for sure -- all I know for certain -- is that they weren't born wanting to do this. There's evil in the world, there'll always be, and we can't do anything about that. But there's violence in our schools, too much mayhem in our culture. And we can do something about that. There's not enough character, discipline, and depth in our classrooms. There aren't enough teachers in our classrooms." Lots of applause for that, naturally. "There isn't nearly enough, not nearly enough, not nearly enough money in our classrooms, and we can do something about that. We're not doing nearly enough, not nearly enough to teach our children well. And we can do better, and we must do better, and we will do better, and we will start this moment today! They weren't born wanting to do this." Some of the crowd's already on its feet again cheering and applauding, as the usual suspects (C.J., Sam, Charlie) watch from the perimeter of the room with the usual serious expressions of approval, inspiration, motivation, and/or pride on their faces. Yeah, I think that's nearly enough already. What an empty and incredibly redundant pile of poo. There's oratorical rhythm, and then there's a place where you've crossed the line into the chorus of "Rock and Roll All Night." I can't believe these overworked, underpaid educators could get so whipped up about a speech that makes absolutely no specific promises, contains no details of any policies or plans whatsoever, and doesn't amount to much more than "tut, tut" and "rah, rah." Rating on the Credulity Strain-o-Meter: 5 out of 10.
After the commercials, we're back in the Situation Room. It's 11:45 AM. Leo is ordering an egg salad sandwich on a Kaiser roll, unless it's Milos making the potato salad, in which case he wants some potato salad, too, and if not, any other form of potato is fine. He pauses, and Jordan asks, "Why did you tell me that?" Well, it's clearly top-secret code for "Jordan, you're really foxy, but I'm sorry, I can no longer deny my love for Fitzy." And you better start learning the lingo, sister. Leo says he was talking to Margaret. We hear Margaret on the intercom saying, "She knows that, sir. She meant..." Leo turns the intercom off. Leo then rhapsodizes about the secret ingredient Milos puts in the potato salad that makes one crave it beyond what's normally reasonable: "I'm like, two, three forkfuls away from the final piece of the puzzle and then this monkey's off my back."
Jordan's not interested in potato salad. She wants to know why Leo told her about the assassination. Well, I would think it would be pretty clear at this point that they're trying to lawyer up. Leo says that POTUS ordered him to. He presses the intercom button and says, "Commander, Jordan Kendall, please." Suddenly on the screen behind her, a profile on Jordan Elaine Kendall appears, along with a picture. Leo says, "First of all, that's a nice picture. Sometimes these pictures aren't that nice." Jordan turns to see what he's talking about. He continues: "But look at that smile. You could light up Chicago." I bet she could do wonders for the Situation Room. Jordan asks, "You just have this at the push of a button?" Leo says no, but if he gives "these guys" some warning, they can put on a show. He asks for the second page, and wanders over to the screen. He discusses her educational background, mentioning the "Maxwell School of Diplomacy and International Relations," which I guess is standing in for the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. She was counsel in several capacities for delegations to the UN and to the UN itself: "Which is when you found out you could buy stuff with money." Jordan stands, looking slightly embarrassed. Leo asks for page three. "Partner, Whitcomb, Wiley, Hawking, Harrison and Kendall. Was there a Burt Kendall at the firm? Maybe his portrait's hanging up in the partner's dining room?" She says no, but it wasn't her idea to add her name to the firm; they needed to raise the profile of their international law department. Why the hell not add your name? Isn't that one of the brass rings you like to grab as a lawyer? Leo: "A specialty in international law, you say? Interesting. Have you any experience dealing in matters that receive wide media coverage? Let's take a trip to page four." Jordan: "You have a good time doing this, right?" Leo, with a cute smirk: "You don't even know." He mentions cases she's worked on including the citizenship case of a Cuban ball player named Orlando Ruiz and the defense of a CEO and his chemical company in a wrongful death suit. Jordan quickly says she has no experience with the kind of thing he's talking about. Leo: "Nobody does. And we're talking about, we killed Shareef. We put fourteen bullets in his chest on an airstrip in Bermuda." Sounds more like you overkilled him. Leo says, "It's helpful to start saying it out loud." Margaret interrupts at that point to say she has a message from Harold Harrison about the Sullivan decision, and that it's not what he thinks. Leo instructs her, "Come down here and show Ms. Kendall out." He excuses himself and takes off.
Toby arrives at work and starts calling out for Donna and Josh. Neither one is there yet. Josh arrives through a different door, and Toby catches sight of him. They both rush toward each other, saying, "I have to talk to you." Josh: "Me first." Toby: "Why's that?" Josh: "Because it's important." Toby agrees. Josh suddenly changes his mind and says that Toby should go ahead. Toby says that Josh should go. Josh: "I'm perfectly fine waiting. I have the patience of an adult." Heh. Toby says he has twenty seconds. They start pedeconferencing to Toby's office as Josh says it came to him in his sleep this morning, because when he got home, the paper was already there. There was a story in the business section about a company called Redstar and a $35 million retention bonus they gave to some guy named Wadkins. Josh says we all know that CEOs get bonuses that workers don't. That's for damn sure. Any workers lucky enough to get bonuses usually find that they aren't enough to buy whole islands in the Pacific Ocean. Josh says the story talked about Congress ending the deductibility of salaries over a million dollars, and that this measure excluded items deemed by the IRS to be incentive-based. Josh: "In other words, the bonuses are tax-deductible! In other words, Wadkins gets $35 million for crashing the company, and the company gets a deduction." Josh tells Toby that college costs are much better use of capital than writing off bonuses. Josh refers to Plot Device Matt Kelley, reminding viewers that he's the guy from the bar last night who's taking his daughter to colleges (for those who haven't been paying attention and don't know who Toby's new best friend is), further reminding us that Mr. Kelley wanted it to be just a little easier -- not a lot -- to pay for college. Josh makes his pitch: "Toby, every nickel spent on college tuition should be 100% tax-deductible. Not capped, and indexed, and bracketed. Every nickel, 100%." ["As if Americans can't deduct enough already. Hi, mortgages? Stupid Canada." -- Wing Chun] Toby smiles a wee smile and says, "That's exactly what I was going to tell you." Josh doesn't believe him. Toby insists. Josh resists. Toby shows Josh his newspaper, folded open to the news story Josh mentioned, which is circled, and has this note written in marker, in capital letters above it: "We can make college cheaper!" Is it just me, or is the Exposition Fairy phoning it in for this episode? Also: they're presenting this as if they've discovered plutonium, and frankly, it's a swell idea, but pretty obvious and sensible and long overdue and hasn't it already maybe been suggested a few hundred times? I'm not sure it takes 300 IQ points to come up with something like this. Josh says he's going to make some time with Leo. Toby says, "And figure out a way to pay for it." Josh: "Yeah." He takes off and Toby says, "Good." Josh turns at the door, holds up a fist by his chest in a kind of "right on" gesture, and leaves.
Out in the hall, Josh runs into Donna, who's just arriving at work. We already knew she cleaned up well, but she also cleans up quickly, too: she looks way less rough around the edges than the guys do. She asks, "Did you sleep all right?" He says he did, but then he read this thing..." Donna's caught up to him at this point and is standing in front of him; she makes a subtle, impatient gesture that reminds him to at least act as if he gives a damn about her welfare. Josh gets it: "How are you doing?" She says she's well. As they walk to her desk, Josh asks what's on for tonight. Donna says he's having a meeting with the state party chair and saying energizing things to the staff. Josh: "Are we in any danger at all of losing Massachusetts?" She says no. He wants to know why he's doing this. She says, "Because." Josh: "I can't just go straight to the event?" Donna says, "'Cause everybody's going to the campaign first and we just spent twenty hours trying to get out of Indiana." Josh: "Who's at Rock the Vote?" Donna: "Aimee Mann, the Barenaked Ladies, Chrissie Hynde, Sixpence None The Richer, Aaron Neville, Diamondback Whale, Daisy Chain, Big Thing, The Cruel Shoes, and Single-Cell Paramecium." Josh: "You've just been practicing for when I asked the question, right?" Donna: "Yes." Josh: "And you made up 'Cruel Shoes'?" Donna: "No. 'Single-Cell Paramecium.'" We hear the sirens of the motorcade arriving outside and see C.J. arriving through a doorway down the hall. Donna starts waving her arms, jumping up and down, and hollering, "We're here! We're here!" just like Josh did in Indiana. Josh asks her, "Woul
d you stop?" She doesn't. Josh: "You know, everybody's really over that now." Behind him, C.J. calls out: "Admiral Scott! Your expedition's returned." Josh mutters "All right" to himself as he turns to face her. C.J.: "Let me take a look at you, Don Quixote de la Mancha." Josh says Don Quixote wasn't an explorer. C.J.: "No, but he rode around on a horse. You sleep?" Josh: "I did better than that." C.J. jokes: "Well, keep it to yourself." As she walks toward her office she says, "I need you to weigh in on Ritchie and Title IX." Josh says he wrote a memo. C.J. thanks him.Josh wanders off back toward Donna's cubicle and starts to tell her his tuition idea, but just then Toby comes up and calls out to him. Josh walks over to him and says, "They're back." Toby: "Are they being funny?" Josh thinks it over. Just then, Bruno rounds the corner calling out, "Barnum! Bailey! And their sister Sue." Josh, quietly to Toby: "They're almost over it." Josh tells Bruno that they want to talk to him about an issue that should be put into play in the campaign immediately. Bruno asks whether they know that the Sullivan ruling is coming down today. They all pedeconference as Toby says they'll never rule for Sullivan, and this suit gets brought all the time. Bruno says he normally wouldn't be concerned, but Justice Wingding's hearing the case. Josh: "Wengland?" Eh, I like Wingding. We'll go with that. Toby says he's not so crazy. As they turn the corner, Sam's way down the hall and sees them: "Hey!" Josh: "We're back! And we're never leaving again." Sam: "Your mother and I were very worried." Josh asks Sam to tell Bruno that he doesn't have to worry about the Sullivan thing. Sam says he already did, and tells Bruno again, adding that Wingding's not that crazy. Bruno says he's not that comfortable with a federal judge being even a little bit crazy. Josh says he's going back to his office. Bruno: "The speech to the teachers this morning? Twenty-four years in professional politics. I have never seen anything like it. You would have been proud. We're going to win this election, you know?" Leo's come up behind Bruno, although it's so dark in this scene you could be forgiven for using deductive reasoning as opposed to eye power to make him out. Leo says: "They ruled for Sullivan." He walks away. The four guys silently follow.
After the commercial, it's 2:00 PM. Josh, Leo, Bruno, Sam, Toby, Larry, and Ed are all reading the decision in the Roosevelt Room. I want to know exactly what Larry's and Ed's job titles are. C.J. comes in and asks, "They ruled for Sullivan?" Bruno says, "Yeah. C.J., when you vet your judicial candidates, do you go so far as to meet them and speak with them?" She asks to see a copy of the decision. She reads: "'The Commission, tax-exempt entity, is legally precluded from partisan politics of any kind. The 15% rule, benefiting the two major parties, is partisan politics of the worst kind --regulatory duopoly, democracy by favoristic fiat, a bureaucratic junta that is clearly prohibited under federal law." Toby: "There's no way 'favoristic's a word." I'll say. But how would we know who the bad guys were if they didn't write wretched prose? Sam: "We all agree with you, Toby; we just don't think it's grounds for an appeal." Josh says, "It's not like we're going to have to search high and low for that." Ed asks, "This means what I think it means, right?" Yup. Bruno: "No one can be excluded from the debates." Josh says that candidates can be excluded, but that the bar is set much higher. Bruno: "The Libertarian Party, Natural Law, Right to Life, Right to Left." C.J.: "The Republicans; we're probably going to have to let in." Hee. Leo says that the appeals process will take too long, and that they'll have to go to the Supreme Court. He asks, "Sam, they can stay the effect of the trial court in advance of appeal, right?" Sam says they can. Leo tells Bruno he's got to get Writchie's people to join them in the motion. The meeting breaks up.
As everyone leaves, Josh tells Sam that he had an idea before, adding, "And Toby claims, at any rate, to have had the same thought." Toby, hot on their heels, says, "I showed you, like, DNA evidence." Josh says that when Congress put the million-dollar cap on deducting salary, they left a loophole for incentive-based bonuses. Sam: "Are not all bonuses incentive-based? Are there any bonuses you get just automatically, and isn't that called 'salary'? Which is also incentive-based. By the way, I don't think a lot of people go to work without one." Toby: "Sam." Sam: "Come back to the pack?" Toby: "Yes." Josh asks why college tuition isn't 100% tax-deductible. Sam doesn't know: "Why do flammable and inflammable mean the same thing?" Toby wonders, "What if we capped it at $80,000?" Sam seems surprised to hear that they're really talking about this. Toby says they are. Sam: "And pay for it by closing the loophole for bonuses?" Josh: "Nobody's talked to the OMB, but I think it costs $50 billion. Closing the loophole is about $35 billion. Am I close?" Sam: "Yeah, and the $15 billion's gettable through...?" Offscreen, C.J. calls out to Josh. Josh: "She's talking to me, right?"
C.J. appears at the door, saying, "I'm reading your memo." Josh: "Memo?" C.J.: "Machismo manifesto?" Josh says that Bruno asked him to weigh in on Title IX. And they're off pedeconferencing. I bet the camera people on this show are incredibly fit. C.J. says she can't imagine why Bruno called on him. Josh explains that he was asked whether, as a campaign issue, they should re-examine Title IX: "Which is, by the way, a wedge with male voters in Ohio, Michigan, and North Carolina." C.J.: "So are a lot of things." Maybe they're still struggling with blacks using the same drinking fountains? Josh: "There's something fair but dumb about a fifty-fifty split when more men are interested in sports than women. And don't cite the WNBA and soccer. More men are interested in sports than women. We don't need a study to tell us that, but if we did, there's about 493 of them." Apart from pointing out the speciousness of this argument, is it even worth mentioning that Title IX isn't just about sports? Apparently not. C.J. asks whether Josh is going to talk to someone in Stackhouse's camp about the Sullivan decision. She thinks he should just "make sure." Josh says that the court will stay the judgment, and even if not, Stackhouse won't participate in the debate: "He's not out to kill the President. He just wants to keep him honest." C.J. wants Josh to make a courtesy call anyway, so they're not taking Stackhouse for granted. Josh shrugs and says he'll call. They're at the door to C.J.'s office, and C.J. says, "Since Title IX, women's participation in sport has increased 800%. That's not a typo -- it worked." Josh, indifferently: "Okay."
Charlie comes into the Mural Room, where Debbie's waiting, and sits down with her. He asks how her day's been so far. Debbie: "Very exciting." She's had her security briefing. Charlie wants to go through some of her answers on the SF-86: "Three years ago, you were asked, 'Have you ever been an officer or a member or made a contribution to an organization dedicated to the violent overthrow of the government?' You answered 'Yes.'" She readily admits this and says, "I see where you're going with this." Charlie: "Do you? Because while we respect your right to overthrow the government, we don't respect your right to do it violently, nor from inside the Oval Office." She says she worked in the Personnel Office when she said that, and that she did it to demonstrate a problem with the form: "If the FBI wants people to admit to extremist tendencies, they've got to tailor a more subtle question than that. Like, 'Have you ever participated in organizations that seek radical solutions to egregious social problems?' I've had some experience with this." Charlie: "So has the FBI." Debbie: "Is this going to screw me up?" Charlie: "Not this probably as much as when you suggested killing the President." Debbie: "I did not." Charlie says she did. Debbie: "No, sir." Charlie reads an excerpt from some letter she apparently wrote: "'Let's stick some arsenic in President Bartlet's drinking water and see if he delegates the responsibility to the World Bank then.'" Debbie: "Okay, um, where it says 'arsenic' that should read 'Schweppes Bitter Lemon.' I don't know how that..." Charlie: "Debbie!" She says, "Come on, thirty-five million people in Bangladesh were drinking contaminated water, and the White House issued a statement saying they supported the World Bank's efforts to address the problem, but made no move to intervene independently? I wrote a letter." Charlie says that the FBI read it as a threat. Well, if they took it as a threat, why wasn't she investigated at the time? She says it wasn't a threat, and that Charlie should not be ridiculous. Charlie, pointing the file at her: "I'm not being ridiculous, Debbie! I was, however, four feet away from him when the guns started firing." Debbie says nothing for a moment, and then says she knows, and she apologizes: "Who can I talk to? I want this job, Charlie. I didn't before and I do now. Who can I talk to?" Charlie says he'll find out. He leaves. You know, I love Charlie and all, but it's quite unbelievable to me that he would be conducting this interview. It's even more unbelievable that she would even be under serious consideration. Rating on the Credulity Strain-o-Meter: 7.9 out of 10.
Jed and C.J. are pedeconferencing. She tells him she's heard that Writchie called the Chancellor's office, angling for an invitation to the KSU memorial. He wants to speak. Jed: "Oh, for the love of Mike." C.J. explains, "The Chancellor was with us in Iowa, and the Writchie people are quietly saying that allowing you to be National Healer-in-Chief..." Jed: "Look, win or lose on the 5th, I'm the President right now, right?" C.J.'s almost sure he is. Jed: "Six -- look, six of the girls were exactly Zoey's age. Tell the Chancellor's office that if it'll make his life easier, I'll sit in row 19 and you'll keep out the press. This has to be about the students and the families, and Writchie and I are simply going to have to summon the humanity to keep this from being a political event." C.J. and Jed are in the Oval Office now, and Master Killa J's homeys Mos Def Con and Admiral Sissy-Mary have just come in. Fitz greets POTUS and "Claudia Jean." C.J.: "Sailor." Hee. Leo, not finding it as funny as the rest of us, glares at her: "In the Oval Office, you..." She gets it and takes off.
Jed asks Leo how he did with Jordan. Leo: "She's a little wary, but I think she might be willing to go out with me again." Jed: "Yeah?" Leo: "But you meant the other problem." Lee indicates that she's a little wary. He says she's gone home to think. Jed wants to know what they've got in the way of stalling tactics. Leo: "A misinformation campaign." POTUS: "We oughta be good at that." Fitz : "Sir, State feels the Shareef was never comfortable with the Sultan's friendly relationship with the West." Jed: "State thinks he has a friendly relationship with the West?" Fitz replies: "The one-eyed man is king in a world of...whatever. We leak that Shareef used his U.S. trip as an opportunity to fly to Libya." Jed: "Shareef is now alive and well and living in Libya?" Fitz continues: "And planning to overthrow his brother, and install a fundamentalist regime." Jed's prepared to buy this: "Come back and tell me how we do it." They all get up. Jed walks to his desk and says, "Blind men. 'The one-eyed man is king in a world of blind men.'" Fitz thanks him and leaves. Charlie, exactly on cue, brings in Special Agent Casper.
Jed asks Casper what he knows. Casper: "We're ready to say the manuscript was credible. We ran a search using some more of the unique rhetoric or catchphrases and we found a match. A lot of it was lifted straight off the website of a separatist group called the Liberationist Cause, which is a splinter of the Patriot Brotherhood." Jed: "The internet has been a phenomenal tool for hate groups." What a clunky line, however true. ["I know my time on the internet has made me hate people a lot more." -- Wing Chun] Casper says they're working on some good leads. As he starts to leave, Jed asks, "Don't pipe bombs usually kill just two or three people?" Casper explains that so many people were killed because the bombs were set off indoors and there was a huge fire. Casper leaves. Jed walks around his desk to where Leo is standing and says, "Ten of those things under the bleachers at a baseball game?" Leo says they've got good leads. Jed says, "Okay." Leo goes back to his office. Jed calls Charlie in and says, "In ascending order of age, would you get my daughters on the phone, please?" Who talks like that? I guess I can puzzle over that during the break.
We hear the strains of the Barenaked Ladies's "One Week" as titles inform us that they're at the House of Blues in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's a Rock the Vote concert, and lots of kids are screaming and bouncing up and down along with the band. ["To Barenaked Ladies? Kids, and not thirtysomethings in their Carlsberg years? Rating on the Credulity Strain-o-Meter: 6 out of 10." -- Wing Chun] Josh brings a couple of beers to the table where Toby's sitting and sits down. He shouts over the music that he just tried Stackhouse again. He's not returning the calls. Toby waves it off, saying it'll be fine. Josh says he's called twice. Toby waves it away some more. He says, "At $55,000, Matt Kelley's in the 27.5% bracket. Let's assume he takes the standard deductions and let's forget for a moment mortgage payments." His tax liability would be $13,300. Toby says that tuition at Notre Dame is $25,850: "Let's throw in books, room and board, and it's $34,000." Josh: "We're saying books are tax-deductible, too, right?" I know he's talking about books for college, but I can't even begin to tell you how perfect my life would be if all book purchases were tax-deductible, especially if the deduction could be used to create a refund. The government would owe me so much freaking money. Man, that'd be sweet. Toby says he personally thinks that beer should be tax-deductible: "But we'll live to fight another day." Josh: "So with one kid in college, Matt Kelley's tax liability just dropped from $13,300 to $3,800?" This comment is timed to coincide with the end of the song and the resultant whooping and cheering. Josh says, "If we can get this done, it'll be a good day's work." Toby says, "Let's take it to C.J. when she gets off."
We hear C.J.'s voice in the background announcing the Barenaked Ladies. We see her onstage, wearing the hell out of jeans and a "Rock the Vote" t-shirt. You can see a little scrap of her midriff, although the outfit's certainly no Paige Davis special. C.J. describes the band as "helping out in the labour/delivery room of American democracy, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts." ["Which is good of them considering they're all CANADIAN. Shut up, Barenaked Ladies." -- Wing Chun] The crowd cheers. C.J.: "Twenty-five years ago, half of all eighteen to twenty-four-year-olds voted. Today it's 25%. Eighteen- to twenty-four-year-olds represent 33% of the population but only account for 7% of the voters. Think government isn't about you? How many of you have student loans to pay?" The crowd responds enthusiastically. "How many have credit-card debt? How many want clean air and clean water and civil liberties? How many want jobs? How many want kids? How many want their kids to go to good schools and walk on safe streets?" The crowd goes wild. But...how many people don't want that? C.J. continues: "Decisions are made by those who show up! You gotta rock the vote!" Her hands have been getting higher and higher in the air, exposing more of her abdomen. While I'm sure the audience is enjoying it, I can't believe any White House press secretary would appear at a public event and expose his or her midriff. Do you even want to see Ari Fleischer's midriff? Moreover, is Rock the Vote supposed to be a partisan organization? Obviously, it seems to attract and seek out Democratic supporters and benefactors. But would it really happen that the Press Secretary for the existing administration would get to take the stage and basically do a generic commercial for her side? Whatever.
Jed and Leo are walking on the portico. Leo tells him, "Casper's got something." They meet him outside, where Casper tells them, "Three hours ago, Sheriff's deputies in Johnson County, Iowa, surrounded a house when they were tipped off that several men in their twenties had been buying all the pseudoephedrine they could get their hands on. Three of the stores they went to were owned by the same man." Jed: "Allergy medicine?" Casper explains, "Allergy medicine with tractor starter fluid strained through a coffee filter is methamphetamine." Jed: "Tractor starter fluid doesn't kill you?" Casper: "No, it'll definitely kill you, but first you'll get pretty high." Leo says the deputies were shot at from the house, and that the address and names of the occupants match some names they've linked to the Patriot Brotherhood. Jed asks Casper, "We have reason to believe they're connected to KSU?" Casper says, "They're telling us they are. They're also telling us they have Mac-10s, MP-5s, and Car-15s." Jed: "Are there kids inside?" There are. Jed: "All right. Let's get the Director and the Attorney General. We only go in on my order, okay? It'll be my order." Casper leaves.
Jed and Leo start walking as Jed says, "You just knew it was going to end up like this." They enter the Oval Office where Funkmaster Funky Fitz (Triple F) is waiting for them. Jed: "Allergy medicine and tractor fluid, we're getting high on now." Unflappable, Triple F asks, "All right...you guys getting strippers or something?" Mos Def Con asks, "How do we do it?" Meaning Qumar, not get strippers. Triple F: "Basically, Langley manufactures documents, photographs, audio messages, even a body double if necessary." Master Killa J wants to know: "Is this going to get ridiculous?" The Funkmaster: "Absolutely." Master Killa J shoots Mack Daddy a look. Triple F: "We make sure agents in Iraq, Syria, and Iran get a whiff of the story, and word inside and outside of the palace spreads." Master Killa J asks, "We'll see it on Al-Jazeera?" Triple F: "If we do our jobs." Master Killa J: "No disinformation to U.S. press, right? We don't give disinformation to American press?" No, they'll just get the whole unvarnished truth. He adds, "Unless it's about my medical history?" Triple F says, "Yes, sir." Master Killa J gives him the go-ahead. The Funkmaster leaves. Master Killa J stares ahead of himself and says, "All this posturing is a preamble to something." Leo asks, gesturing with his head toward his office, "You ready to say hello?" Jed: "Why not?"
Jordan is sitting soberly in Leo's office. Jed comes in and asks her, "What do you think?" She does the "I'm sorry?" thing, and then says she doesn't know. She states that she's very uncomfortable with this new knowledge. Jed: "That makes three of us." Jordan starts to say that she hasn't really had enough time to think about it, and Jed gestures, saying, "Take all the time you want." He walks halfway around the chair behind which he was standing and asks, "You done yet?" She's not amused by the Flip Wilson routine and asks, "You understand domestically you're looking at possible injury to separation of powers; internationally, a possible war-crimes charge? At the very least, we'd be wading up to our necks into unprecedented legal waters, exposing the Presidency to culpability undreamed-of by the creators of the UN and the U.S. Constitution?" Jed: "Well, that makes us groundbreaking, doesn't it?" Feel free to abdicate your throne as the King of De Nile anytime and come back to the Presidency. Jordan: "Mr. President, I've defended guilty people before, but I've never had a client that was willing to admit the crime, but didn't expect to go to trial." Jed: "More groundbreaking." Jordan: "Due respect, Mr. President, this isn't funny." Jed: "Due respect, Ms. Kendall: I'm the last person to whom that needs to be pointed out." Then try acting like it. He says, "And Article 51 of the United Nations Charter says every nation has a right to wage war to defend itself." Jordan counters, "The article's incumbent on wars being declared." Jed snorts softly and hesitates before saying, "Wars don't work like that anymore." He gets up. She does, too and says, "Laws work like that." Jed: "Forty-four people are dead in Iowa, and most them college kids. Shareef has murdered Americans in uniform. He's murdered Americans out of uniform. He was trying to blow up the Golden Gate Bridge, and I didn't have time to file an amicus brief." She asks, "How can justice that has to be served in secret be justice?" His answer: "I don't know. I'm working on that." Jordan says that, at the moment, she's having trouble foreseeing the exact legal consequences on the international stage. Jed asks why. She replies, "Because most of international law doesn't exist yet." He says, "That's what I was hoping you'd say." As he heads back to his office, he says, "I want there to be justice. That's why I'm talking to a lawyer. Anyway, I just came in to say hello." He leaves, and Leo kind of twists his mouth at Jordan.
Jed calls for Charlie and tells him he's heading back to the residence. Charlie asks whether he has a moment for Debbie. Jed: "Oh, God. Yeah." She comes in and stands before his desk. Jed: "Arsenic?" Debbie: "You gotta give me points for...nothing. There's nothing you can give me points for. I don't get any points." Jed, packing his briefcase: "No." She says, "I sincerely apologize. It was a higher environmental cancer risk than Chernobyl. We spend $20 million a year on strategic milk reserves, we can't toss..." Jed asks, "Why couldn't you have stopped with 'I sincerely apologize'?" She sees now that she should have. He contends, "Your argument is totally farkakteh, by the way. The World bank has a $17 billion budget contributed by a hundred...ah, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it." Debbie says, "'Don't worry about it,' huh? I don't know what that means." Jed heads for the door as he says she can keep her job. She replies, "Great. Why?" Jed stops at the door and says unenthusiastically, "Why? Because you knock me out, that's why." She asks how she did that. Maybe he's a sucker for an arsenic-laced threat. He sets his briefcase down at the door, comes back to his desk, and picks up her letter, reading the sentence about the arsenic. He then says, "'President Bartlet.' You referred to me and the office with respect. You're a class act." He walks out as she thanks him. As he picks up his briefcase, he mutters, "Whackjob," loudly enough for her to hear. After the SS agent closes the door, we see her throw up her hands in celebration. Oh, for crying out loud. As if this would ever take place even in a pre-September 11th White House, never mind the post-September 11th one. Yeah, I know September 11th never officially "happened" on this show, but every word since has been written as if it did. I'm pretty sure "whackjobs" don't get hired to assist the President. They get into the House and Senate, sure. But they don't get to be secretaries. Rating on the Credulity Strain-o-Meter: 9.9 out of 10.
Aimee Mann sings James Taylor's "Shed a Little Light" at the concert: "Let us turn our thoughts today/ To Martin Luther King/ And recognize that there are ties between us/ All men and women/ Living on the Earth/ Ties of hope and love/ Sister and brotherhood..." ["In light of Bartlet's NEA speech, I should think her 'Enough' would be a better choice." -- Wing Chun] Donna's talking to Josh at a table. It's not as dark as in the other concert scenes. She says, "It's not the fault of women's sports; it's the fault of football." Josh thinks not: "Football pays for all the other sports." Donna, who seems a tad drunk: "There are fifty-three players on an NFL team." There are? Holy...what the hell do they all do? Wait, I just remembered that I don't care. But had you asked me to guess I would have said...I don't know, half that. Donna continues: "The University of Colorado has 130, eighty-five of whom are on full scholarship." Criminy. "I'm all for backups and substitutes, but can't the guy who's fourth from the depth chart at right outside linebacker also be fourth from the depth chart at left outside linebacker?" I got the gist of that sentence, but even if you held a gun to my head I couldn't tell you what "fourth from the depth chart at right outside linebacker" and "fourth from the depth chart at left outside linebacker" mean. Donna: "If a college football cut back to seventy scholarships, they'd still be three deep at every position and have a fourth string punter and a place kicker. Fifteen scholarships -- that's a wrestling team." She takes a drink of beer.
Josh is sort of listening, but he's spotted Amy coming into the concert across the room, so he excuses himself and makes his way toward her as Aimee Mann sings, "There is a feeling like the clenching of a fist/ There is a hunger in the center of the chest." Amy too, is wearing jeans and a Rock the Vote t-shirt, although she's seen fit, for reasons best known to herself and God, to make hers all "punked out" with a strategic V-neck rip and the sleeves torn off and the shoulder fabric pinched together in some fashion. She and Josh meet; she smiles and says hi. Josh: "What are you doing up here?" She says she does some work for Rock the Vote. Josh says it's a great event. She says he looks good. Josh: "Yeah?" She says no; he looks tired. Josh: "Well, you look good." Amy: "Yes, I know." She heard about the motorcade thing. He says it took them twenty hours to get out of Indiana, but that they met the coolest Plot Device, so it was totally worth it. "You should have been with us. You'd have had fun." Yeah, I bet she'd have been super-impressed with your time-zone freakout. They seem very uncomfortable together. I mean, more than usual. Obviously, they haven't been seeing each other. Amy says she doesn't know what to say about the pipe bombing. Josh says there's nothing to say. They both talk at the same time, Josh saying he was trying to call Stackhouse at the same time as Amy says softly, "I miss you." They both try to figure out what the other one said. Amy wins: "You said you called Howard?" Josh says he hasn't heard back. She asks if he was calling about Sullivan. Josh says they're not returning his calls and asks, "I shouldn't be nervous, right?" Amy says he should, and smiles at him. Josh: "Did you say you missed me?" Amy: "Josh..." Josh: "What do you mean, I should be nervous?" Amy: "We're considering..." Josh: "'We'?" Amy: "Stackhouse..." Josh says that the District Court said Stackhouse can appear in the debates: "Is Stackhouse...under new management?" Amy says that debate prep has been offered to her. I hope she can come up with some better arguments than we've heard out of her in the last year. Josh is getting pissed: "This is not, not the deal we made with them. In one week he is supposed to endorse the President." Amy says Stackhouse never thought he'd get in the debate. Josh: "He's not!" Josh struggles to understand what Stackhouse is doing with Amy's position. She snaps, "I don't know! It's all happening fast! It's just today! I'm considering it." She sighs. Josh repeats that it wasn't the deal they had. He walks away. Amy says in a quiet, miserable way: "I miss you." Well, for those who don't like her -- and I know your numbers are legion -- at least that was brief, and the line delivery wasn't as typically tetanoid. And hey, she seems unhappy, so here's a big steaming serving of Schadenfreude. Dig in.
Back at the table, Sam, C.J., and Toby are talking. Everybody is a dark, glowing red. Sam is saying, "You gotta ask yourself, multi-million-dollar bonuses are deductible and not tuition?" C.J. says it's because corporations donate to all the members of the tax-writing committees. Sam says it was a rhetorical question: "I knew you knew the answer." C.J. says that Writchie's already coming after them for politicizing the budget: "Plus, Leo hates to make policy through tax code because then we can't do any kind of reform without unravelling it." Josh returns to the table. Sam asks, "Was that Amy?" Josh says it was, and tells them that if the Sullivan decision is upheld, Stackhouse wants to get into the debate and isn't going to endorse the President. Sam: "Had to see that coming." Well, apparently they didn't. Josh gets up to call Bruno. Sam insists that the court will stay the effect and that Stackhouse won't be in the debate: "Josh'll take care of it. Anyway, college tuition." C.J. says: "Another reason not to do it." Toby says there are lots of reasons not to do it, and then begins waxing on about Matt Kelley and tells them the whole story. He concludes: "There are a lot of reasons not to do it, but during the first campaign, the President said there are two kinds of politicians." Sam: "The ones who try to say 'yes,' and the ones who try to say 'no.'" Toby: "We're going to throw these guys out, 'cause they want to say 'no.'" C.J.: "Well, I guess if we're going to get thrown out, I don't want it to be for that. Let's take it to Leo." Sam looks across the room at Josh, who's on the phone, and gives him a thumb up. Josh returns the gesture. Toby wanders off.
We hear a phone ringing as a camera looks down from above a roof into the window of a house. A woman answers and says, "Matt? Matt, it's for you. A man named Toby Ziegler. Do you know him?" Matt takes the phone. Toby says, "Matt? It's me, from last night." Matt growls that if Toby doesn't stop bothering him, he's going to get a restraining order. No, we don't hear what he says, but based on Toby's reply, we can tell he asks if they got home okay. Toby then says, "Let me tell you what we're working on..." as the picture fades to black and Aimee Mann sings, " Oh, let us turn our thoughts today/ To Martin Luther King..." Yes, let's.