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Recapped by Deborah · Aired 11-28-2000

Previously on The West Wing: Sam had girl trouble, and lots of it; C.J. was kept out of the loop.

C.J. is accompanying POTUS as they walk along outside the White House on what seems to be, (given that it must be nearly December in TWWland, since I expect that the ep is the Christmas episode) an exceptionally warm and sunny day, surrounded by much deciduous shrubbery and foliage. Neither of them is wearing a coat; C.J. is wearing a very spring-y banana-cream-coloured shift and matching knee-length jacket. Does the President have his own personal climate just outside the White House? I mean, not to belabour my problems with geography and so forth, but doesn't D.C. typically get some pretty unpleasant winter weather? Don't they actually get some kind of winter, at least? I miss Strega. She would know. ["I'm not Strega, but I believe you're right." -- Wing Chun] Anyway, they're walking along and POTUS is waxing rhapsodic about Galileo V, and how great NASA is at naming things. As proof, he cites Mercury, Apollo, Atlantis, the Sea of Tranquility, and the Ocean of Storms. Those are pretty good names. C.J. dutifully agrees. POTUS says that when he first heard the name Galileo V, it reminded him of the way people of his generation felt when they first heard of the "Yellow Submarine." I can't decide whether POTUS inhaled. I wouldn't think so. He remarks, "We really did all want to live in a yellow submarine." So maybe he did inhale. C.J.: "I can't believe they gave you people driver's licenses." She mentions that they're going to the Mars briefing rehearsal, and POTUS asks her to say the name. C.J. protests that she already said it. POTUS commands her to say it again, declaring that her imagination, "like a child, will explode with unrestrained possibilities for adventure." I think that should be "like a child's," since most of the kids I see aren't exactly "exploding with unrestrained possibilities for adventure." Most of them seem to be sitting around playing videogames and cultivating an unpleasant mixture of doughiness and aggression. Anyway, C.J. gamely complies, giving it rather more dramatic emphasis than it needs. POTUS tells her that she didn't say it right. C.J.: "I said it fine!" POTUS: "Say it again."

We cut from POTUS and C.J. to the briefing rehearsal. Sam's head pops up on one of the monitors, and he wants to know who wrote "this intro." Sigh. His hair's still long and blow-dried. Will no one heed my cry? There's a big, goofy, very cheesy Galileo V logo on the wall in the background. Get me the art department. That has to be the cheesiest-looking thing I've ever seen on this show. Anyway, some doofus from NASA Public Affairs who's got the nerve to call himself a writer presents himself to Sam, claiming authorship. Sam wants to know whether the guy minds if he gives it a polish. Doofus wants to know if there's a problem. Sam: "No, it's great. You mind if I change it?" Doofus would prefer that Sam didn't, claiming that NASA Public Affairs has cleared the text and he would prefer that, if it's going to be changed, that the President change it. Buddy, if you let POTUS write his own speeches, none of us are ever going home. Sam's already scribbling, though, explaining that that's what the President pays him to do. Doofus attempts diplomacy, saying that they don't want to step on each other's toes, and that they're both writers. Sam interjects, "Yes, I suppose, if we broaden the definition to 'those who can spell.'" Hee! POTUS and C.J. arrive and greet everyone. C.J. starts telling him what's going to happen at the briefing, explaining that he will be flanked on either side by a group of experts from NASA and other high-falutin' scientific and educational institutions. She informs him that there is a monitor in front of him upon which he'll be able to read questions being asked by the kids in the audience. She adds, "I strongly urge you...I strongly urge you..." POTUS: "Yes...I know." C.J.: "I strongly urge you, Mr. President, to act as the moderator and pass the questions off to one of the experts on the panel rather than answer it [sic] yourself." POTUS grudgingly agrees, but has the look of a four-year-old who's been told he can't have milk and cookies. Speaking of POTUS's looks, Martin Sheen has touched up the grey in his hair and now there's a lot less of it. I kind of prefer him in this role with more grey in his hair (and that's coming from someone who generally has no interest in older men). Mind you, it's not like anyone on this show is interested in my tonsorial preferences. Not that I'm bitter or anything. She asks whether he'd like to see some of the questions, some of which they have in advance. The first one appears on-screen: a kid named Katie wants to know why Rob Lowe won't cut his hair. You and me both, Katie. No, actually she wants to know the age of the planet Mars. Jed says that Mars is four point six billion years old. C.J.: "What did I just say?" Jed: "I knew that one." C.J.: "Nobody likes a know-it-all!" Jed: "Yes, God forbid, that while talking to sixty thousand public school students, the President should appear smart." C.J. says that's fine, but "just don't show off." POTUS claims he doesn't do that. (Well, he does occasionally, but I forgive him. ["I should think most Americans enjoy imagining having a President who's really smart." -- Wing Chun]) The question is from a kid who wants to know the temperature on Mars; POTUS raises his hand and whines, "Oh, I know! Pick me! I know!" No, not really. Jed says, "Well, Stevie, if one of our expert panelists were here, they would tell you the average temperature on Mars ranges from fifteen degrees to minus one hundred and forty." C.J. can't wait to tell POTUS that he's wrong, and provides other figures: "It ranges from sixty to minus two hundred and twenty-five." Jed, smiling: "I converted it to Celsius in my head." Hee! C.J. gives up. Jed asks to see the intro, and starts reading it off the prompter: "Good morning, I'm speaking to you live from the West Wing of the White House. Today, we have a very unique opportunity to take part, live, in an extremely historic event whi...whoa, boy..." Sam waves and says, "How ya doin', Mr. President?" Jed wants to know who wrote the intro, which is Doofus's cue to step forward and introduce himself as Scott Tate. As Jed stands and shakes Scott's hand, he says, "Scott...'unique' means 'one of a kind.' Something can't be very unique." As this is one of my pet language peeves, I am so taking this as a personal shout-out and nothing anyone can say will stop me. He continues, "Nor can it be extremely historic." POTUS is my boyfriend. C.J. adds: "While we're at it, do we have to use the word 'live' twice in the first two sentences, like we just cracked the technology? We're also broadcasting in living colour, right?" Scott starts to get defensive, but before he's even got the chance, Jed indicates that Sam should get on the case with the intro. Jed tells Scott cheerfully, "He's going to make some changes." Scott asks anxiously, "You're going to clear them with me?" Sam: "I doubt it." Sam tells a flunky sitting nearby, "Write this." He launches into the following: "Good morning. Eleven months ago, a twelve-hundred-pound spacecraft blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Eighteen hours ago...is it eighteen hours ago? We're on the air at noon Eastern." C.J. confirms this and he continues, "Eighteen hours ago it landed on the planet Mars. You, me, and sixty thousand of your fellow students across the country, along with astroscientists and engineers from the Jet Propulsion Lab in southern California, NASA Houston, and right here at the White House, are going to be the first to see what it sees, and to chronicle the extraordinary voyage of an unmanned ship called Galileo V." Jed smiles and cuffs C.J. gently on the arm, and gestures toward Sam: "He said it right." C.J. sighs, and the theme music surges. Does not Aaron Sorkin write the best openings on television?

Josh and Toby are in the mess. Josh is trying to figure out how it can be 2:37 PM on Mars when it's noon Eastern and 9:00 AM Pacific time. Toby says that it's in a different time zone. Josh knows that, but doesn't get the thirty-seven minutes. Toby explains that Mars rotates on its own axis once every twenty-four hours and thirty-seven minutes. Toby's got other things on his mind, like the morning's news report which carries a story about how the President doesn't like green beans. The Milwaukee Journal cites an unnamed White House source for this information. Josh remarks, "That's a pretty slow news day in Milwaukee," and adds that he doesn't think it will be a "thing." Leo comes up, asking if they're done, and tells them to walk him out. Josh says, "Leo, ask me how long a Martian day is." Leo: "No, I don't think I will. Toby, do you know how a stamp is chosen?" Toby doesn't; Leo informs him that he's going to learn: "The Postmaster General needs your help." It turns out there's a Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, and before Leo can explain any further, Josh comments, "Made up of members of the 'There But for the Grace of God Go I' Club." Leo: "You want to mock people, or you want to let me talk to Toby?" Josh: "I want to mock people." Hee! Personally, I want to do both. Anyway, the Committee has recommended to the Postmaster General that Marcus Aquino be the person to be philatelically memorialized. Leo doesn't say it quite like that, mind you. Leo asks if Toby knows who Marcus Aquino is, and when Toby indicates that he doesn't, I find that hard to believe. Leo explains that Aquino is a former Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico and a Korean War hero. Toby wonders what the problem is; Josh mentions that he advocated Puerto Rican statehood. Leo confirms that Aquino strongly advocated it. Toby begs him to give this project to somebody else. Leo says, "This is a public face thing! And the Postmaster General wants your help." Toby: "Well, he can wait on line around the block, while two of my twenty teller windows are open." Leo's unmoved and tells Toby to make a recommendation by the end of the day. Josh stands by smugly.

Leo: What are you smiling at?
Josh: Nothing. I just...Toby got the stamp assignment.
Toby: Leo, I might need some help.
Leo: Take Josh. [Leaves.]
Toby: [To Leo.] Thanks. [To Josh.] Congratulations, you're choosing the stamp.
Josh: Wow. That happened fast.

Over at her office, C.J. sticks her head into Carol's area and asks, "Six hundred and eighty seven days?" Carol confirms this. Now C.J.'s dress looks more beige and less banana cream. C.J. disappears back into her office as Toby shows up on his green bean mission. She comes back out and tells him that the Martian year is six hundred and eight-seven days. Toby acknowledges this and asks whether she's seen the morning's News Report. She says she's boning up on Mars and complains, "He thinks he's so smart just because, you know, he's so smart..." Toby, in true TWW style, could probably give a damn. She says that she's seen the report and marked up his copy. He's not happy that she didn't highlight the green bean story. C.J.: "I thought it was best just to alert Justice Department officials." She doesn't think it's going to get picked up and insists that it's not a story. Toby tells her to come see him in three hours. This line of discussion is repeated, and then she asks, "How many moons does Mars have?" Toby replies, "Two: Phobos and Deimos, the two horses that pulled his chariot." She tells him to get out. As he leaves, he says, "Three hours!" C.J. follows him out, calling for Carol. Toby says to Carol, "She wants information on green beans." C.J.: "You have work to do?" Toby calls back, "I'm picking a stamp!" C.J.:" Nobody likes people who know everything!" Toby, halfway down the hall: "So I've discovered in my life." C.J. asks Carol to get her information on green beans.

Charlie and POTUS are walking toward the Oval Office; Charlie is briefing Jed on his schedule for the afternoon. He's got lots of meetings and calls. Jed wants the curtain brought down by late afternoon, because he wants to spend the evening reading books about Mars and Galileo. He goes out to tell Mrs. Landingham his plans too: "Nothing after 6:30. I'm going to go to the residence and read about Mars, which, while colder and drier, has four Earthlike seasons." Mrs. Landingham says, "No, sir." He insists that it does. She explains that she means that his evening is not free, because he has to attend a concert at the Kennedy Center. It's news to POTUS. Mrs. L. says that Leo's office put it on his schedule. Jed turns back into his office and barks, "Get me Leo!" Charlie says that he was about to tell Jed about this: "Apparently it's important that you go." Jed: "To a concert? Did Buddy Holly come back?" Charlie explains that the Reykjavik Symphony Orchestra is playing. Jed bellows in the general direction of Leo's office, "Leo!" Charlie explains that it's in Iceland. Jed: "I know where Reykjavik is, Charlie. I wish I was there right now." Leo arrives. Jed wants to know why he has to go to this concert. It's because he cancelled yesterday's meeting with the Icelandic ambassador. Jed asks, "And I'm being punished?" Leo explains that Iceland is considering joining Norway and Japan in defying the ban on whale hunting imposed by the International Whaling Commission. Apparently there is a "lucrative demand for fresh Icelandic mink whale meat." POTUS wonders if this is a joke. Various government authorities feel that it's important to avoid offending Iceland right now. To make amends for cancelling yesterday's meeting he has to attend the concert with the ambassador, whose name is Vigdis Olafsdottir. Jed: "I'll give you a thousand dollars if you don't make me go." Leo: "Think of the whales." Jed: "Do they vote?" Charlie interrupts to remind Jed that he has an intelligence briefing. As Charlie goes to fetch the people waiting to speak to Jed, Leo indicates there might be a situation, as there was an explosion in a Russian oil refinery. Three guys come in and tell POTUS that ItarTass is reporting that there's a fire burning in an oil refinery in Kozelsk. Leo asks if that's in the Oblast region; one of the guys confirms this. (One of the regular forum posters pointed out that "Oblast" means region and that there's no such thing as the "Oblast region." I can neither confirm nor deny this, but you guys can battle it out in the forums.) Anyway, the problem is that there is no oil refinery in Kozelsk; the nearest one is twenty kilometres away. Leo figures out that it was a missile silo. The intelligence guys can't confirm this yet, but point out that the Russians have twenty SS-19s in the quadrant and Keyhole has pictures of a column of smoke and emergency personnel on the ground. But there are no photographs of a burning structure, and there's no oil refinery in the area. POTUS leans forward and asks, "If a missile exploded, is it possible it was armed? Was there a warhead" Jack, the first intelligence guy, doesn't answer, but agrees to have a briefing ready in a half-hour. The intelligence guys leave, and Jed asks, "Did they think we weren't gonna see it, Leo?" Leo says, "It's a Cold War mentality." Jed says that if they asked, the U.S. could help. Leo: "I wouldn't wait for the phone to ring." Leo then listens dutifully Jed then wanders off into unsolicited oratory: "Galileo Galilei...he sat in a cathedral in Pisa and watched a lamp suspended from the ceiling as it oscillated back and forth. He used his pulse to keep time and discovered that the period of oscillation was independent of the size of the arc. Then a few years later he contradicted the theory that a heavier body falls faster than a lighter one, which took some guts back in 1609 when you consider that the theory he was contradicting was Aristotle's." Leo asks, "You want a broader theme for the classroom?" I'm getting lost in the non sequiturs here, but I just take another big bite of fresh Icelandic mink whale meat and I'm fine. Jed calls for Charlie and tells Leo, "I really do. Have Sam and C.J. come tonight." Leo tells Jed he'll be in his office. Charlie arrives with Mrs. L. in tow. Jed tells Charlie, "He contradicted Aristotle, Charlie." Charlie, dropping science with the best of them, adds, "He saw the rings on Saturn." Jed signs something for Mrs. L. and Charlie asks, "Did you need something, sir?" Jed asks, "What's ?" We can try to guess during the commercials.

Josh and Donna are working on the stamp project in his office. Josh is not really listening to Donna, and she asks, "Do you want to do this or not?" Josh: "I don't." Donna says, enticingly, "I did index cards." Eighty-seven of them, apparently. Josh tells her to reduce it to three. Donna declares, "Philately's fun, Josh." Josh doesn't quite hear her and she clarifies, "Philately: stamp collecting." He tells her to be careful how she says that word, and Donna cuts him off with, "Can we work?" He asks her to tell him what she knows. This may or may not take a while. Donna: "The process by which a stamp enters into circulation begins with the American public..." Josh: "Well, that's always our first mistake." Donna rambles about the number of proposals submitted annually to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, which Josh refers to as the Dork Squad. She then concisely cites chapter and verse on Marcus Aquino's numerous and admirable achievements and suggests, "Let's put him on a stamp." Josh says, not sarcastically, "Let's put you on a stamp." Donna smiles adorably and says, "Okay." Josh suggests that they talk about "the problem."

C.J. peers around the door to the Communications area. She hesitates and steels herself for what's about to come. She appears at Toby's door and he looks at his clock and says, "Two hours and twenty minutes." C.J. offers, "Let me say, first, that you were right and I was wrong." Toby: "And the oddsmakers take a beating." She admits that everybody's picked up the green beans story and that it's a big deal, especially in Oregon, which is a major producer of green beans and where Bartlet only won by less than ten thousand votes. They're gonna need those votes. Anyway, C.J.'s on it. As she's leaving, she says, "Okay, so it took me two hours and twenty minutes longer to figure it out than it took you. It doesn't make you smarter than I am." Toby says of course it doesn't. C.J. thanks him. Toby adds, "My SAT scores, on the other hand..." She says she has to go start spinning the green bean problem. Just outside Toby's office, Leo calls out to her. She turns around and snaps, "I had fine SAT scores!" Leo tells her that she has to go to the concert at the Kennedy Center with the President, so that they can discuss a theme for the closed-circuit classroom thing the morning. C.J. points out that they've got a theme: they're landing a probe on Mars. Jed wants a broader theme. Leo tells her that Sam will also be going, and adds, apropos of nothing, that Mallory will be there, too. C.J. suddenly says she can't go, realizing that there are going to be a ton of people from the State Department there, many of whom she just rejected for a deputy position she recently filled. Leo couldn't care less. He orders her to be there and to tell Sam. He leaves and C.J. asks Carol to send someone to her place to get her blue Armani and some shoes. She must have collected all these clothes while she was a publicist in L.A. making half a million dollars a year, because I can't see how she could afford them on the salary she probably makes now. She sees Sam wandering by and runs to tell him about that evening's mission. Sam thinks it's great, and that it should be about more than rocks and average rainfall. I vote for Sam as the person most likely to be able step into POTUS's shoes in terms of nerdiness. C.J. asks, "Oh God, does it rain on Mars?" Sam acknowledges that it doesn't but reiterates his support for a broader theme. He rambles on about what a privilege it is that the President has asked for their input and adds that they "should attack with energy due the moment." C.J. tells him Mallory will be there. Sam: "I can't go." C.J.: "God, Sam, I would think that faced with the privilege of attacking with energy due the moment..." Sam: "Screw the moment, I can't go." C.J. cites a phrase used in her town, and tells Sam that's just "hard cheese." Sam comments, "That's a real Algonquin Round Table you grew up with, C.J." C.J. objects to the onslaught of insults about her intelligence. ["And I join her. You know, until this episode I never put much stock in all the articles about Aaron Sorkin's dumbing down his female characters. But I'm starting to see it. If C.J. is so dumb, why is she still in her job? Donna and Margaret also both got dissed by their bosses in this hour. I don't like it." -- Wing Chun] Sam doesn't respond but indicates that he never called Mallory after the appearance of the picture showing him giving Laurie the call girl a gift for passing the Bar Exam. They haven't spoken since then. He saw her at the hospital after the shooting but they didn't speak. Sam says that she's seeing somebody else. C.J. says she told him not to get involved with the boss's daughter. Sam asks whether she doesn't have a vegetable crisis to fix or something. They part ways.

Situation Room. Jack tells POTUS and Leo that an SS-19 Stiletto intercontinental ballistic missile exploded in its silo, although the warhead did not detonate. Jed asks what Jack thinks happened. Jack reminds POTUS that every morning at his daily intelligence briefing, they tell him about the troubling state of the Russian military and this is just evidence. Jack thinks it was either a human or computer screw-up, and floats the theory that perhaps an early-warning system and the troops that run it mistook a flock of Norwegian geese for a bogey. POTUS asks, "Where are we with the Russian ambassador?" A woman tells him that she's still claiming it's an oil refinery fire. Jed tells Leo to see her as soon as her can get her in there. He thanks everybody and the meeting breaks up. Jed reads a note on a piece of paper he's been handed and looks grave. He hands the note to Leo. Leo asks a guy named Mike to have the President's NASA advisor come over. Mike asks if he can tell him why. Jed sadly says, "We lost the signal from Galileo." Jed leaves as the camera swings around to show us the computer screen warning of the communications failure.

Donna and Josh are arguing. Donna's saying it's just a stamp; Josh insists the U.S. has to remain neutral on the issue of statehood for Puerto Rico. Donna asserts that Puerto Rico is in the United States. Josh snipes, "Once again, thank you for that review of fifth-grade social studies, but I meant the federal government must remain..." Donna asserts that Puerto Rico is in the federal government. Josh says it's not; Donna counters that they send a Resident Commissioner to Congress. Josh points out, "Who can't vote, but that's beside the point." He says that the point is that putting Aquino's face on a stamp would be endorsing his advocacy of statehood, and they have to remain neutral. Donna says, "That's idiotic." Josh: "Oh, like it's the first time." Donna complains that they can't put his face on a stamp because he voiced an opinion, and names a bunch of other significant politicians who've supported the idea of statehood for Puerto Rico. She points out that without statehood, 3.8 million American citizens have been relegated to second-class status. She exclaims, "That's more people than Mississippi!" Josh says, "Mississippi's never minded being relegated to second-class status." Donna asks, "Oh, you're gonna make your little bigoted Mississippi jokes?" Josh: "Yes. I am." Donna wonders if no one is worried that is Puerto Rico is not given statehood, they're going to want independence. Josh says exactly no one is worried about that, and tells her why: "Because Puerto Rico is absolutely dependent on U.S. manufacturing, which contributes forty percent to the GDP and accounts for 24% of their workforce." Donna replies, "I don't care! People don't sit still for tyranny." Josh wants to know how there's tyranny. Donna explains that Puerto Ricans are forced to register for the draft but they can't vote. "They're expected to die for a Commander-in-Chief they had no voice in electing?" Word.

Donna: We have colonized Puerto Rico, and they will rise up against us.
Josh: I think we can take'em.
Donna: That's what we said about the British.
Josh: We took the British.
Donna: You know what I'm saying!
Josh: Hardly ever.

Donna gives up, and Toby comes up with details for Josh about Galileo's mission, and how everything was on target up to the point where it was supposed to release two probes, firing them deep into the ground in the search for water. This didn't happen. Josh asks, "We think if we hit the ground hard enough, we can make it to the centre of the planet and find water?" Toby says yeah. Josh asks, "That's not a theory of physics pretty much disproved by Wile E. Coyote?" The probes were supposed to send a signal back to Earth but it hasn't happened. It entered a communications blackout period and hasn't been heard from since. Toby adds, "I know how it feels." Toby says they're trying whatever things they try in these situations and that he's going to give it an hour and then tell Leo they have to cancel the classroom. Donna calls to Josh from outside his office about the stamp. Josh looks weary and tells Toby that he was supposed to do this. Toby says, "I delegated it." Toby leaves as Donna strides into Josh's office, saying that she has more index cards. We're left to imagine the look of sheer delight on Josh's face.

Toby ambles down the hall toward C.J.'s office, as she walks out awkwardly trying to swing a deep royal blue satin stole over her Armani ballgown, a dress with a white off-the-shoulder top with royal blue and white sequins and beads and a royal blue skirt. She looks fab. Toby asks where she's going. C.J. replies, "I have to go to the Kennedy Center and be with people who don't like me." Toby: "You can do that here." Sam comes up in his tux. C.J. explains to Toby that Jed wants them to discuss broader themes for the classroom. Toby doesn't think there'll be a classroom; C.J. says Jed's holding out hope. Sam carps about Mallory being there. As the three of them race down the hallway, Sam rambles on, recapping the situation with Mallory and the picture and his failure to call her, summarizing, "I don't even know what dating is anymore." Toby comments, "Well, that's twenty seconds of my life I'm never gonna get back." C.J. grabs Sam by the hand and hustles him out. As they breeze past Leo's office, we see Margaret standing in front of a woman sitting in a chair, waiting for Leo. Margaret makes small talk clumsily and finally tells the guest that she'll be waiting outside, and that if she needs anything, to just shout her name, which is Margaret. Margaret goes back to her area and runs into Leo, and tells him that the Russian ambassador is there. She says, "I left her alone 'cause I think I was freaking her out." Leo: "It wouldn't surprise me." ["See? This is what I'm talking about." -- Wing Chun] He goes into his office and greets Madam Ambassador, who proceeds to hit on him as much as she can in seventy-nine seconds. She calls him Leo in a very warm Russian accent, and tells him he looks handsome, and that he gets more handsome every year, and that she can see that he's having his suits hand-made now. Sure, but if you think he's not going to call you on your little oil refinery story, you've got another thing coming, Natasha. He asks her right out, "Nadia, are you hitting on me?" Nadia, Natasha, whatever. She says, oozing with sincerity, "I was sorry to hear about your divorce." Leo's had enough: "You have a fire in a missile silo." She reiterates the oil-refinery lie. He shows her Keyhole satellite photos and asks her to point to the refinery in those pictures. She blithely claims she's not in a position to comment on matters of national security. In that case, Leo would like to know how an oil-refinery fire relates to national security. She thinks he should take up the matter with the Foreign Minister; Leo indicates quite firmly that he is taking it up with her. Leo asks if her country is ready to deny that there was a missile-silo explosion, and tells her that the U.S. knows how to deal with these kinds of emergencies, and he wants Russia to ask them for help.

Presidential motorcade: sirens, lights, security up the wazoo. Jed's in the back of a limo with Charlie, and complaining about the concert. He wants to know what the orchestra's playing, and for how long. Charlie tells him that it's billed as an "Evening of Modern Music." Jed calls out for the driver to turn the car around. Charlie elaborates, mentioning that the ninety-piece orchestra includes anvils and castanets. Jed, louder this time: "Turn the car around!" Charlie opines that modern music is cool. Jed replies, "Modern music sucks. Anything written after 1860 sucks." ["What about 'Yellow Submarine'?" -- Wing Chun] Jed continues commenting as Charlie names various pieces of music by Barber ("Sucks.") Stravinsky ("Sucks.") and Schoenberg ("Totally blows!"). Charlie continues, "After intermission they'll be performing the world premiere of a piece..." Jed interrupts, "Played on teapots and gefilte fish..." Charlie finishes, "...by a new Icelandic composer." Charlie mentions that he was told that this composer got so nervous when he heard POTUS was coming that he was rewriting the piece up until 6:00 PM. I wonder when the orchestra will have time to learn that. Jed says, "If he wants more time, I'm happy to take a rain cheque." Charlie asks, "I thought you liked classical music." Jed says, "I do, but this is not classical music. It is not classical music if the guy finished writing it this afternoon." They arrive at the Kennedy Center and drive into the President's secret underground entrance. Well, I guess it's not particularly secret. But it sure isn't the open-air policy that prevailed prior to the shooting. POTUS, Charlie and the various security guys catch up with C.J. and POTUS says, "A broader theme." C.J. says that she and Sam will be talking about it. POTUS complains that he doesn't get that many opportunities to talk to kids. C.J. says that, at some point, she's going to have to pull the plug in order to give people enough notice. POTUS understands that, but wants to let everybody work on the problem for a while. As they walk into the freight elevator, Jed asks where Sam is. C.J. indicates that he's inside hiding from Mallory. POTUS asks why, and C.J. wonders whether Jed really wants to know. His answer: "Not at all."

By Deborah

Mrs. L. says that Leo's office put it on his schedule. Jed turns back into his office and barks, "Get me Leo!" Charlie says that he was about to tell Jed about this: "Apparently it's important that you go." Jed: "To a concert? Did Buddy Holly come back?" Charlie explains that the Reykjavik Symphony Orchestra is playing. Jed bellows in the general direction of Leo's office, "Leo!" Charlie explains that it's in Iceland. Jed: "I know where Reykjavik is, Charlie. I wish I was there right now." Leo arrives. Jed wants to know why he has to go to this concert. It's because he cancelled yesterday's meeting with the Icelandic ambassador. Jed asks, "And I'm being punished?" Leo explains that Iceland is considering joining Norway and Japan in defying the ban on whale hunting imposed by the International Whaling Commission. Apparently there is a "lucrative demand for fresh Icelandic mink whale meat." POTUS wonders if this is a joke. Various government authorities feel that it's important to avoid offending Iceland right now. To make amends for cancelling yesterday's meeting he has to attend the concert with the ambassador, whose name is Vigdis Olafsdottir. Jed: "I'll give you a thousand dollars if you don't make me go." Leo: "Think of the whales." Jed: "Do they vote?" Charlie interrupts to remind Jed that he has an intelligence briefing. As Charlie goes to fetch the people waiting to speak to Jed, Leo indicates there might be a situation, as there was an explosion in a Russian oil refinery. Three guys come in and tell POTUS that ItarTass is reporting that there's a fire burning in an oil refinery in Kozelsk. Leo asks if that's in the Oblast region; one of the guys confirms this. (One of the regular forum posters pointed out that "Oblast" means region and that there's no such thing as the "Oblast region." I can neither confirm nor deny this, but you guys can battle it out in the forums.) Anyway, the problem is that there is no oil refinery in Kozelsk; the nearest one is twenty kilometres away. Leo figures out that it was a missile silo. The intelligence guys can't confirm this yet, but point out that the Russians have twenty SS-19s in the quadrant and Keyhole has pictures of a column of smoke and emergency personnel on the ground. But there are no photographs of a burning structure, and there's no oil refinery in the area. POTUS leans forward and asks, "If a missile exploded, is it possible it was armed? Was there a warhead" Jack, the first intelligence guy, doesn't answer, but agrees to have a briefing ready in a half-hour. The intelligence guys leave, and Jed asks, "Did they think we weren't gonna see it, Leo?" Leo says, "It's a Cold War mentality." Jed says that if they asked, the U.S. could help. Leo: "I wouldn't wait for the phone to ring." Leo then listens dutifully Jed then wanders off into unsolicited oratory: "Galileo Galilei...he sat in a cathedral in Pisa and watched a lamp suspended from the ceiling as it oscillated back and forth. He used his pulse to keep time and discovered that the period of oscillation was independent of the size of the arc. Then a few years later he contradicted the theory that a heavier body falls faster than a lighter one, which took some guts back in 1609 when you consider that the theory he was contradicting was Aristotle's." Leo asks, "You want a broader theme for the classroom?" I'm getting lost in the non sequiturs here, but I just take another big bite of fresh Icelandic mink whale meat and I'm fine. Jed calls for Charlie and tells Leo, "I really do. Have Sam and C.J. come tonight." Leo tells Jed he'll be in his office. Charlie arrives with Mrs. L. in tow. Jed tells Charlie, "He contradicted Aristotle, Charlie." Charlie, dropping science with the best of them, adds, "He saw the rings on Saturn." Jed signs something for Mrs. L. and Charlie asks, "Did you need something, sir?" Jed asks, "What's ?" We can try to guess during the commercials.

C.J. wanders around the terrace talking to Toby. She claims that, as she walked out, one of her rejects booed her. She mentions that she promoted Simon Glaser. She promoted from within. Toby gets on to the business at hand, which is that it looks like it may take a few days to re-establish communication with Galileo. C.J. says, "Days? Oh, God!" Toby thinks she's worried about Galileo but actually, the problem is that she's just spotted Tad Whitney, another one of her rejects. Toby says, "You interviewed Tad?" Let me just say right here that I hate the name Tad. No offense to you Tads out there, but I just can't stand the name. As it turns out, this guy isn't going to do anything to redeem the name for me, either. She says that he's got her in his tractor beams and is walking right over. Toby quickly says, "Goodbye." C.J.: "I'm not very good at confrontation." Toby: "You have no problem with me." C.J. asks, "This time of year, is the water in the Potomac very, very cold?" Toby tells her if she rubs chicken fat all over herself it'll help to insulate her. She begs him not to hang up so that she can seem to be busy on the phone. Naturally, Toby hangs up. C.J. fakes a conversation for a little while longer while she gathers her nerve. He's a smug-looking bastard. ["He's Stratford-minted Canadian actor Colm Feore, who went to high school right across the street from my parents' old house in St. Catharines!" -- Wing Chun] Right away I don't care for him. I will soon find out how right my instincts are. He mentions that he didn't get the position. She acknowledges this. He indicates that he's very qualified and that a lot of people at State thought he was a lock. I think you might have misheard the word "lock," buddy. Tad keeps fishing around for reasons why he didn't get the job: "And it wasn't because I'm a man..." C.J.'s puzzled: "Well, no, Simon Glaser's a man." Tad says, "I suppose. And it wasn't because I stopped seeing you." Ugh, C.J. dated this dirtbag? C.J.'s truly puzzled and incredulous, and insists that it had nothing to do with their history, which she describes as "six weeks, five years ago." Um, please tell me the precision of your memory has nothing to do with still carrying a torch for this mutt. Tad thinks that she might want an explanation of why he stopped seeing her; C.J. seems like she couldn't care less about knowing why this jerkwad stopped seeing her. She's very gracious in the face of this nonsense.

Tad: Believe me, it's not because you were bad in bed or anything like that.

C.J.: [softly, hesitantly] No...I didn't think it was, Tad.
Tad: I mention it, because I know a lot of women who worry about that.
C.J.: I don't.
Tad: You're good in bed.
C.J.: I'm great in bed! [She attracts the attention of a gaggle of bystanding smokers.] Hey, how you doing?

Please, C.J., smack him in the chops. Instead, she continues politely and graciously saying that she's sorry he didn't get the job. He can't believe that she's going to maintain that it wasn't personal. She keeps maintaining this. He claims that he thinks it's personal, and that it's unprofessional, and that people are going to know about it. Dirtbag adds that he thinks she's got a problem now. C.J. replies, "I have a number of problems today and you're not close to being any of them." Tad says he was hoping they could be "adult" about this, but I think that would require both of them being sentient human beings, and we're one for two on that count. She says that she has to go, and informs him that he's going to get a briefing on a Russian missile silo in an hour. Jerkwad won't let up, though: "Playing along with this for a moment, is there anything I should do to improve my chances time around?" C.J. responds evenly, "Well, when we run for re-election, I'd vote for somebody else." We get a shot of the smug bastard staring after her. You can't imagine how badly I want to slap this guy into orbit. Maybe he could locate Galileo.

Sam's outside the concert, hanging around his limo -- or probably more accurately hiding in it -- talking to Josh on the phone. They're working on the statement about the problems with Galileo. Josh asks about Mallory. Sam complains about her sneaking up behind him. "You'd think women would make more noise with those big high heels, but they don't, they've got this stealth thing going which I really ought to be clever enough..." At that moment Mallory taps on the window on the opposite side of the limo. Sam jumps up and tells Josh that Mallory's there. Josh asks how she looks; Sam says that she looks pretty good. She walks slowly around to Sam's side of the car. Josh asks him to describe what she's wearing but Sam explains that she's standing right in front of him and they get off the phone. She says that she thinks he's caught between being mad and wanting to get good seats for home games. Sam takes off his glasses and says that he gets pretty good seats as it is. "I don't know if you've noticed the motorcade I rode over in." She says that she spoke to her dad, and that she's sorry about Galileo. Sam says that there are a lot of tests they can try. Mallory wants to know how much money all that is going to cost. Sam tells her not to start with him. She says she's asking as a taxpayer, and cites the huge cost of losing the thing, and wonders how much more it will cost to make sure they're never going to find it. Sam: "I don't know, Mallory, but we certainly won't divert any municipal tax dollars, which are always best spent on new hockey arenas." Mallory replies, "No, it's best spent feeding and housing and educating people." Sam: "There are a lot of hungry people in the world, Mal, and none of 'em are hungry because we went to the moon. None of them are colder, and certainly none of them are dumber because we went to the moon." I might beg to differ on this point. Mallory wonders, since we have gone to the moon, why we have to go to Mars. Sam says, "Because it's . Because we came out of the cave and looked over the hill and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean. And we pioneered the West. And we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration and this is what's ." Mallory is smiling adoringly at him. She says she knows that they're supposed to be explorers. She just likes to hear Sam talk about it: "You get all puffed up." Sam tells her, "You're a pain in the ass." She agrees. He starts to bring up the picture, and she tells him not to worry about it tonight. Sam asks, "You're not pissed?" Mallory replies, "Oh, I'm totally pissed -- I'm just saying, don't worry about it tonight." Just then C.J. comes up. Sam tells Mallory that he appreciates that. C.J. wants to see Sam's statement so far. They start talking business as Mallory wanders away smiling at Sam. He gets back in the car, smiling, too.

By Deborah

Donna and Josh are arguing. Donna's saying it's just a stamp; Josh insists the U.S. has to remain neutral on the issue of statehood for Puerto Rico. Donna asserts that Puerto Rico is in the United States. Josh snipes, "Once again, thank you for that review of fifth-grade social studies, but I meant the federal government must remain..." Donna asserts that Puerto Rico is in the federal government. Josh says it's not; Donna counters that they send a Resident Commissioner to Congress. Josh points out, "Who can't vote, but that's beside the point." He says that the point is that putting Aquino's face on a stamp would be endorsing his advocacy of statehood, and they have to remain neutral. Donna says, "That's idiotic." Josh: "Oh, like it's the first time." Donna complains that they can't put his face on a stamp because he voiced an opinion, and names a bunch of other significant politicians who've supported the idea of statehood for Puerto Rico. She points out that without statehood, 3.8 million American citizens have been relegated to second-class status. She exclaims, "That's more people than Mississippi!" Josh says, "Mississippi's never minded being relegated to second-class status." Donna asks, "Oh, you're gonna make your little bigoted Mississippi jokes?" Josh: "Yes. I am." Donna wonders if no one is worried that is Puerto Rico is not given statehood, they're going to want independence. Josh says exactly no one is worried about that, and tells her why: "Because Puerto Rico is absolutely dependent on U.S. manufacturing, which contributes forty percent to the GDP and accounts for 24\% of their workforce." Donna replies, "I don't care! People don't sit still for tyranny." Josh wants to know how there's tyranny. Donna explains that Puerto Ricans are forced to register for the draft but they can't vote. "They're expected to die for a Commander-in-Chief they had no voice in electing?" Word.

Donna: We have colonized Puerto Rico, and they will rise up against us.
Josh: I think we can take'em.
Donna: That's what we said about the British.
Josh: We took the British.
Donna: You know what I'm saying!
Josh: Hardly ever.

In the Oval Office, Josh, Toby, C.J., and Sam are murmuring as they wait for POTUS. As he walks over to his desk, he takes off his jacket and throws it on the desk. "This is still my office, right?" Toby says that they have some pressing things to discuss. As expected, Jed wants to hear first about what NASA's up to. NASA's investigating the possibility that the ship may have gone into "safe mode," whereby if it senses trouble, it's programmed to turn its systems off to avoid further damage, and wait for instructions from Earth. Jed: "Earth's giving it instructions." Sam points out the obvious -- that it's not responding. Jed mutters, "Like my kids." Having dispensed with that, C.J. summarizes that the issues that remain are the classroom, the green beans, and the stamp. And: "Depending on who those people were that were standing near me, the possibility of a story about me being good in bed." Toby: "'Good in bed'?" Josh is suddenly less sleepy. C.J.: "Yes." Toby: "Why?" C.J., quite firmly: "Because I am." Toby: "Okay." Toby's face didn't change expression for this whole exchange, which I thought was very restrained of him. The President decides that green beans are . Toby suggests a photo op with the President eating green beans and dropping in a quote about how he's always looking for new green bean recipes. Josh adds that the time they're in California they'll drop in on Oregon and make sure nothing burned down. : the stamp. Josh starts to talk about the Dork Squad, also known as the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, but C.J.'s muttering something to Toby. POTUS asks if there's something she'd like to share with the class. Well, he didn't but I think that would have been a good (and characteristic) line for him. She apologizes and Josh goes back to try his spiel again, and she decides to share: "I said, 'you don't like green beans, sir.'" Toby starts to reprimand her but she's vehement: "He doesn't enjoy them! He doesn't think they're bad for you and he doesn't think the people that make them are evil, they're simply not his cup of tea! He doesn't care for them. Why don't we think the adults of Oregon will be okay with that if put to them just that way? And Josh, why do you think that people -- adult Americans -- why do you think they can't understand that we can honour a man's contribution without necessarily subscribing to his politics? They can understand a lot of things. People stopped trusting government during Vietnam and it was because government stopped trusting them. It's a cautionary tale, Josh." Josh pauses and gently says that he was going to say that he thinks they should put Aquino on the stamp. C.J. says, "Oh. Okay. Good." POTUS tells them all to go away and come back when there's a NASA update. They all split, but Jed calls C.J. back. She puts on her stole as he futzes around with lighting a cigar. She asks how the concert was. He says the Reykjavik Symphony can play: "These guys have some serious game. In this particular case, their talents were tragically misapplied to an atonal nightmare of pretension." He leads her out to the colonnade. "But after intermission, they played a piece by a new composer. At first I wasn't hearing it -- I had nineteen different things on my mind. And C.J., it was magnificent. It was genius. He built these themes, and at the beginning, it was just an intellectual exercise, which is fun enough, I guess, but then in the fourth movement, he just let it go. I really didn't think I could be surprised by music anymore. I thought about all the times this guy must have heard that his music was no good. I've got write this guy a letter." C.J. listens with obvious interest and fondness. These two exhibit a real (non-romantic) chemistry between their characters. She pauses and starts to talk about the televised classroom. He looks up at the sky and says he's going to wait up for a bit and see if there's any news: "It's out there somewhere. It's so close." C.J. says she thinks he should do the classroom either way. He seems surprised. She elaborates: "We have, at our disposal, a captive audience of schoolchildren. Some of them don't go to the blackboard or raise their hand 'cause they're think they're gonna be wrong. I think you should say to these kids, 'You think you get it wrong sometimes? You should come down here and see how the big boys do it.' I think you should tell them you haven't given up hope and that it may turn up, but in the meantime, you want NASA to put its best people in a room and start building Galileo VI. Some of them will laugh, and most of them won't care, but for some, they might honestly see that it's about going to the blackboard and raising your hand. And that's the broader theme." Jed says, "Damn, that's the kind of speech I like to make. You stole my thunder, woman." No, no. He says, "I'll say." She says she'll be in her office. He calls back to her and says, "You said it right that time." She smiles and says she'll be in her office. She leaves Jed looking up at the night sky. He says softly, as we get an aerial shot of him leaning against a pillar with a spotlight shining on the ground behind him, but effectively creating an off-centre halo behind him, "Talk to us..."

By Deborah

Inside, Sam's hanging over a balcony drinking champagne. Mallory comes up behind him and says hello. She asks how he's doing; he says he's good, and looking for something to do with his champagne glass, finally settles on chucking it into the garbage can behind him. She says that she's good too. Sam babbles about not knowing why he should have to call her to explain himself, when he was the one under siege by the media.

Mallory: It was a picture of you and a call girl.
Sam: Oh, like there aren't any pictures of you and a call girl?
Mallory: No, there aren't any pictures of me and a call girl.
Sam: Well, that's a crime.

Sam then goes on to find out that she's dating hockey player Richard Andrewchuk, and that they are, according to Mallory's unsolicited comment, having "quite a lot of sex." Sam: "I would think you'd almost have to." Mallory would like to know what that's supposed to mean; Sam wonders what on earth she could have to talk about with this guy. Mallory insists that he's very bright; Sam's glad to hear it because he thinks he's a terrible hockey player. Mallory claims he's had injury problems. She's about to launch into something when someone comes up and hands Sam a message; he reads it and has to take off. Mallory looks peeved.

POTUS is making chitchat during a photo session with the Icelandic ambassador and a woman I presume is his wife -- something about his arms being too short to reach seventh position ["on the trombone, when he used to take lessons" -- Wing Chun]. He makes them giggle with his story, and then catches Sam, staring grimly at him off to the side. He excuses himself to go find out what Sam wants. Sam tells POTUS that he's going to need a briefing from the Pentagon. POTUS thinks that it's about Galileo, but Sam explains that it's about the missile-silo explosion: it occurred while liquid hydrogen was being drained. Yikes. My in-house science advisory staff (i.e. my husband) just explained to me how very bad this is. Sam says that he'll get a statement ready. POTUS is incredulous about the whole thing. Charlie comes up at this point to say that his box is ready. POTUS enters his seating area, and the camera lingers on the Presidential seal above the door as we go to commercial.

By Deborah

Back at the concert, C.J. is pulled out of the audience to take a cell phone call from Toby. She's told by the user who hands her the phone that she has to take the call outside. Charlie follows her down the stairs. C.J. says, "They said 'modern music.' I thought they meant, you know, Jackson Browne." Charlie: "Jackson Browne is modern?" C.J. sighs and says, "He used to be." Anyway, Charlie has a confession: he's the one who accidentally let it drop that the President doesn't like green beans. He was speaking with some writers from a food magazine that makes semi-annual forays into the White House kitchen. C.J. asks him why he said that. Charlie: "Because he doesn't." C.J. asks him how he said it. They asked him if there's any food the President particularly likes or dislikes, and Charlie told them he likes steaks, lobster, spaghetti, and ice cream, and that he doesn't like green beans. C.J. asks whether he left any "wiggle room." Charlie: "'Wiggle room'? What the hell, C.J.? He doesn't like green beans." She points out that they only won Oregon by ten thousand votes, and that she doesn't know how many bean farmers there are out there, but that if there are ten thousand and one, they're screwed. She explains that it's a serious thing now. Charlie says that he's sorry he mouthed off to the reporter, but she's out of her mind. He declares, "Education's a serious thing. Crime, jobs, national security. In eighteen months I've been to Oregon four times and not a single person I've met there has been stupid." C.J. argues that everybody is stupid in an election year. Charlie begs to differ: "No, everybody gets treated stupid in an election year, C.J." She seems to see his point and tells him that from now on, there's no food the President doesn't like. She goes off to take her call from Toby.

Tad: Believe me, it's not because you were bad in bed or anything like that.
C.J.: [softly, hesitantly] No...I didn't think it was, Tad.
Tad: I mention it, because I know a lot of women who worry about that.
C.J.: I don't.
Tad: You're good in bed.
C.J.: I'm great in bed! [She attracts the attention of a gaggle of bystanding smokers.] Hey, how you doing?

By Deborah

Donna jumps up into the frame and puts her fists in the air. "A-ha!" Josh asks, "What you got there?" Donna says, "Precedent, baby!" Josh: "Precedent?" Donna: "Precedent, the mother's milk of, you know, making your point and being right." Um, okay. She starts to ramble about how the Jewish War Veterans lobbied for a stamp, even though the stamp rules prohibit honouring groups whose primary undertakings are religious. The JWV argued that their primary contributions were fighting for their country. Josh asks what happened; Donna's gleeful expression falls as she reads on and sees that they were denied. She goes on to look for something else, and points out that the luna moth has a stamp, and "you don't see the National Organization of Entomologists freaking out." Josh: "No, but I'd pay good money to see that." She keeps following him and exclaims another big "Aha!" She reads off a list of veteran groups who've been issued stamps. Josh gets a call that the President is back and rushes off.

Nadia is still jawing with Leo about the silo situation. She says that any inspection team has to include mutual representatives; she wants the Finns. He says he'll take it to the State Department but that they're not going to want to accept limitations on the team. They'll agree to notify Russia of the team's entry, but not to wait for approval. She says she's going to insist on notification and approval. She goes on to list several other demands she has, including that photographs and samples and so forth remain under Russian control. POTUS wanders in unheard from the Oval Office. Leo sees him first and stands, as does Nadia. His opening line is, "Your paranoia was a lot sexier back when you guys were communists, Nadia." She claims it's good to see him. He continues, "From where do you get the nerve to try and dictate terms on this? Are you insane? Your missile regiment is in a horrifying state of disrepair. Your best-trained operators have left or died; the ones you've got aren't paid very much when they're paid at all. They don't have enough to train with. Your ICBMs are well beyond their warranty life. Not seven weeks ago you mistook a Norwegian weather rocket for a submarine-launched Trident missile 'cause the Crosstac information never made it to the Russian C&C system. Leo, At the time the SS-19 exploded, it was being drained of its liquid hydrogen in an attempt by deserting soldiers to, wait for it..." He points to Leo. Leo: "Steal the warhead?" POTUS: "Steal the warhead!" He pauses. "When were you gonna tell us about that?" Nadia says that he shouldn't be concerned with the welfare of the Russian people. He says that he is, but that's not what they pay him for: "You guys fall asleep at the switch in Minsk, and I've got a whole hemisphere hiding under the bed. How do you not tell us this is going on? How do you not ask us for help?" Nadia haughtily starts to tell him that they don't need help but POTUS tells her they're sending in NATO inspectors. Nadia says that she and Leo were just discussing the terms. Leo states that the terms are that they're sending in NATO inspectors or POTUS is taking a walk to the Press Room. Nadia looks haughtily peeved. She looks like someone who's killed at least a few people. POTUS starts to go back to his office, and adds, "I really don't know from where you guys get the nerve." She fixes him with a look and says, "From a long, hard winter, Mr. President." He just stares back at her and Leo for a bit, then goes into his office.

By Deborah

In the Oval Office, Josh, Toby, C.J., and Sam are murmuring as they wait for POTUS. As he walks over to his desk, he takes off his jacket and throws it on the desk.

By Deborah

"This is still my office, right?" Toby says that they have some pressing things to discuss. As expected, Jed wants to hear first about what NASA's up to. NASA's investigating the possibility that the ship may have gone into "safe mode," whereby if it senses trouble, it's programmed to turn its systems off to avoid further damage, and wait for instructions from Earth. Jed: "Earth's giving it instructions." Sam points out the obvious -- that it's not responding. Jed mutters, "Like my kids." Having dispensed with that, C.J. summarizes that the issues that remain are the classroom, the green beans, and the stamp. And: "Depending on who those people were that were standing near me, the possibility of a story about me being good in bed." Toby: "'Good in bed'?" Josh is suddenly less sleepy. C.J.: "Yes." Toby: "Why?" C.J., quite firmly: "Because I am." Toby: "Okay." Toby's face didn't change expression for this whole exchange, which I thought was very restrained of him. The President decides that green beans are . Toby suggests a photo op with the President eating green beans and dropping in a quote about how he's always looking for new green bean recipes. Josh adds that the time they're in California they'll drop in on Oregon and make sure nothing burned down. : the stamp. Josh starts to talk about the Dork Squad, also known as the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, but C.J.'s muttering something to Toby. POTUS asks if there's something she'd like to share with the class. Well, he didn't but I think that would have been a good (and characteristic) line for him. She apologizes and Josh goes back to try his spiel again, and she decides to share: "I said, 'you don't like green beans, sir.'" Toby starts to reprimand her but she's vehement: "He doesn't enjoy them! He doesn't think they're bad for you and he doesn't think the people that make them are evil, they're simply not his cup of tea! He doesn't care for them. Why don't we think the adults of Oregon will be okay with that if put to them just that way? And Josh, why do you think that people -- adult Americans -- why do you think they can't understand that we can honour a man's contribution without necessarily subscribing to his politics? They can understand a lot of things. People stopped trusting government during Vietnam and it was because government stopped trusting them. It's a cautionary tale, Josh." Josh pauses and gently says that he was going to say that he thinks they should put Aquino on the stamp. C.J. says, "Oh.

By Deborah

Okay. Good." POTUS tells them all to go away and come back when there's a NASA update. They all split, but Jed calls C.J. back. She puts on her stole as he futzes around with lighting a cigar. She asks how the concert was. He says the Reykjavik Symphony can play: "These guys have some serious game. In this particular case, their talents were tragically misapplied to an atonal nightmare of pretension." He leads her out to the colonnade. "But after intermission, they played a piece by a new composer. At first I wasn't hearing it -- I had nineteen different things on my mind. And C.J., it was magnificent. It was genius. He built these themes, and at the beginning, it was just an intellectual exercise, which is fun enough, I guess, but then in the fourth movement, he just let it go. I really didn't think I could be surprised by music anymore. I thought about all the times this guy must have heard that his music was no good. I've got write this guy a letter." C.J. listens with obvious interest and fondness. These two exhibit a real (non-romantic) chemistry between their characters. She pauses and starts to talk about the televised classroom. He looks up at the sky and says he's going to wait up for a bit and see if there's any news: "It's out there somewhere. It's so close." C.J. says she thinks he should do the classroom either way. He seems surprised. She elaborates: "We have, at our disposal, a captive audience of schoolchildren. Some of them don't go to the blackboard or raise their hand 'cause they're think they're gonna be wrong. I think you should say to these kids, 'You think you get it wrong sometimes? You should come down here and see how the big boys do it.' I think you should tell them you haven't given up hope and that it may turn up, but in the meantime, you want NASA to put its best people in a room and start building Galileo VI. Some of them will laugh, and most of them won't care, but for some, they might honestly see that it's about going to the blackboard and raising your hand. And that's the broader theme." Jed says, "Damn, that's the kind of speech I like to make. You stole my thunder, woman." No, no. He says, "I'll say." She says she'll be in her office. He calls back to her and says, "You said it right that time." She smiles and says she'll be in her office. She leaves Jed looking up at the night sky. He says softly, as we get an aerial shot of him leaning against a pillar with a spotlight shining on the ground behind him, but effectively creating an off-centre halo behind him, "Talk to us..."

West Wing TV Show - Fresh Icelandic Mink Whale Meat With a Side of Green Beans - West Wing Photos &amp; Videos, West Wing Reviews &amp; West Wing Recaps | TWoP

West Wing TV Show - Fresh Icelandic Mink Whale Meat With a Side of Green Beans - West Wing Photos & Videos, West Wing Reviews & West Wing Recaps | TWoP