west wing season two

Season Two

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In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen pt I

Before I start to fringedwell, may I say - at last! Since this show was on terrestrial TV (and I saw it on S4C, so it was really jumbled up) I have gained a professional qualification, moved house, been unemployed, found a crappy job, got a new professional crappy job, bought a car, passed my theory test… Mind you, this is NOTHING compared to what I’ve done between reading the second part of Melanie Rawn’s Exiles trilogy and waiting for the third to be published
Ugh, just think of the poor valet that will have to clean the car that Zoe’s puked in.
You see, you should always listen to the president.
Now that's a strange question, surely it would be more natural to ask, "Is the President okay?"
Wow, Rob Lowe is short.
Josh looks pretty busy keeping his intestines in place right now. Could he get back to you?
"I need help", okay, most shows would end a season there, not this one, oh no, that's how the damn thing starts
Red phone!
Hoynes has either just been promoted or he’s being arrested and that sports team can’t tell which.
The doctors remain unthreatened by an attack from a man who can't stand up by himself
Nice to know that the president can still be sarcastic after being shot. As a doctor, are you allowed to slap the President if it will help you save his life?
And Mrs. Landingham breaks a national land-speed record down the corridor of the West Wing.
Poor Dr. Lee is being put in a bit of a difficult situation there. Surely that's Doctor/patient confidentiality and he's not allowed to tell the press
So the paramedics are yelling "gunshot wound" and Leo asks, "What happened?" For God's sake, these people are supposed to be running the country. I like the fact that he clearly expects Josh to give him an answer. The man's been shot for god's sake
Josh has a hallucination and it has to be a political one?
My Dad is also waging a long and bitter squirrel war, and they haven't made a feeder yet that the little buggers can't get into. So far, the only thing that seems to deter them is a very nippy and enthusiastic Jack Russell
Either that should be 'dockyard' or he's got a really big garage, not to mention one hell of a driveway and a very understanding local council
No, Sam, your secretary just made up a name, which coincidentally happened to be the name of a friend of yours, just to confuse you...
"Second biggest law firm in New York," and they must get more irritated by that every day
Josh in need of a thinking brain dog
Did Sam just leave all those people in the meeting?
Why is Josh trying to recruit a lawyer to be a speechwriter? Shouldn’t he be looking for a speechwriter?
If they did, Turnbull would find it (sorry, joke for the 'Due South' watchers among us)
Yeah, Josh's poker face sucks
For the rest of the world it isn't the middle of the night, Leo at least should know that
Hey, I can’t find my car keys in thirty-six hours but the Iraqis have no excuse because there are more of them. It's worth considering that whilst the Iraqis couldn't find their car keys in 36 hours, we don't know when they started looking
Finally Channel 4 have got rid of that irritating "sponsored by" that I used to get six times in every episode. I would thank them for putting it on at a decent hour as well (I'm one of those people who missed the first season because it was never on at the same time twice), but frankly, it's about bloody time they actually started scheduling things sensibly. When they put 'Angel' on at 9 o'clock, then I'll get excited. Bit of an unannounced Channel 4 rant there
I love the totally stunned look on Josh's face when he realises Bartlet's the real thing
He’s a crappy politician and yet he’s running for president?
You have to be discharged from hospital in a wheelchair, yet they let the President of the United States, who is newly woken from anaesthesia after undergoing surgery, stagger down the corridors dragging his drip?

In The Shadow Of Two Gunmen pt II

At least he's preventing the staff of the Dixie Pig from reheating that fried egg and serving it to someone else
Exactly which of the hundreds of orders is the nasty bald guy supposed to be obeying - “Stop where you are!” “Get down on the floor!” “Hands in the air!” “Hands behind your head!”
Well, ask a stupid question...
You cross the ts. You don’t dot them.
"No idea was too stupid..." If ever there was a policy designed to cause trouble, that's it
When does Sam have time to learn all about tankers? Isn't he supposed to be busy?
Neatly dropping a hint of politics in Sam’s past to explain why a lawyer would be headhunted to become a speechwriter.
From someone who rang 192 a lot in their former job, I sympathise with Josh. And for anyone who rings 192 in the future, they can and will search for numbers by address instead of name, however much they tell you they can't. I was on first name terms with most of the operators, that's how often I called them, and if you ask nicely they will do it
Sam is getting a 10% commission from that shipyard if he manages to sell another tanker.
Sam's talking about tonnage and capacity, but surely the best argument for changing tankers would be a comparison of running costs. Presumably with all the high-tech equipment, the new tankers would be bigger and better, cutting haulage costs. Also, if the old boats crash, the employees can sure for negligence, not to mention health and safety. I thought of all of that in five minutes, why didn't Sam?
I love Josh's not-a-poker-face
I love Sam’s exit from his former life and Josh’s wave to the people in the meeting.
Leo was in charge. Was there ever a doubt in anyone's mind abut that? Even when the President is fully conscious, almost everything goes through Leo who is the guiding arm behind the administration
CJ has bad bed hair. Although, her groomed hairstyle isn’t much of an improvement. Check out C.J.'s perm
Proving that Fringedwellers shouldn’t be asked leading questions, I was a second ahead of CJ when the guy who was ninth in the poll asked how many people were ahead of him. Yep, ditto, although I was pretty much spot on with the timing
That’s a huge pay cut that CJ would be taking. 600 x 52, what am I math girl? Okay, 600 x 52 = 1200 + 30,000 = $31,200 a year, yep, that's a big pay cut
Even with no contacts in, you couldn’t miss a house. If she managed to find a towel you’d think she could manage a building.
Why didn't he have to sign the letter giving power to the Vice President? I find it amazing that in a country that has laws involving what you can smoke and where, not to mention what position you can have sex in, does not have a clear legislation on having a clear chain of command at all times and in any given situation
Leo is horrified at the prospect of Margaret actually being able to stage a coup d’etat.
Probably because Donna would be second in command.
I'm surprised Bartlet hasn't resorted to sticky labels with people's names on yet
I love how Josh and Donna met, it just seems to set up their whole working relationship so well.
People can be upset and want to make a new start even if they are the dumper and not the dumpee
For a hard-nosed political operative Josh is as soft as grease
Surely you’re not allowed to just watch surgery?
Why does the Press Secretary call the Deputy Communications Director “Spanky”?
Unbidden image of Sam in the costume... You know, I actually own coconut oil and I’d be more than happy to follow him around with it. I have hot towels, we could timeshare
Can you get insured for Act Of Madman? "Fire, theft and acts of Jack" (the 'Stargate' fans got that...)
It's quite common for someone to say "walk with me" when they want to have a conversation, but getting Danny to ride with Leo to the hospital is a bit much. The Secret Service will never let him in and will he get cab fare home? I bet he doesn't
I wouldn’t kick Mrs. Bartlet. I get the feeling that she’d kick back harder.
What does Sam mouth to Josh across the room?
I love Josh's expression of concern as he is surrounded by men in black
Is that Josh's Tuesday suit? No, it isn't Josh's Tuesday suit
It's a shame Josh's father had to die before Jed decided he was ready
Dear Josh, always the joker

The Midterms

More evidence that CJ is a natural fringedweller. "The theory of everything. Is it comprehensive?"
Love the way CJ leaves Josh to rant before getting someone else to hang up on him
Why when Toby calls does she say "Yes Ma'am"?
There's a story about that dead guy that we're just not being told
Did CJ deliberately pronounce "physicists" or was it really an accident?
Shouldn't a doctor or someone come and stop Josh doing that?
Florida isn't capable of voting anybody in democratically, as we all know
That was a short meeting, was there any point in any of them sitting down?
Staring at numbers always tires me out
"Is he the father?" not just an idle question from Sam there
I'm surprised he bothered to include the President in that
Being a White House tour guide is obviously not part of Sam's daily remit
The mural room is pretty
However he obviously doubles for someone in files and records in his spare time with his impressive reeling off of the guy's C.V. That is kind of creepy. And I bet she doesn't wish her Mum Happy Birthday from Sam
I love Donna and the way she really rules the west wing
He should know he's not on hold by the fact he's getting a tone, and not a badly piped version of Handel's 'Water Music'
I can understand the Presidents ire, I too have a nemesis
"The other thing" that would be the stalk Mr President
Josh has been watching the Discovery Channel in his spare time or something, anyway, he clearly needs to get back to work
"Any chance we get in the future to screw you..." oh please, too many jokes, too little time. Same emphasis, very different meaning from me
"Actually it's Alaskan crab," Sam's enthusiasm is so sweet, but it's Toby's little, growled "Sam" in the background that I love most
He must feel very validated whenever he goes anywhere
How many footballs are still made of dead pig these days?
I think it's fantastic when the President tells the blond member of the "ignorant tight-ass club" where she can take her Biblical rantings and stuff them
And he's not doing that to be petty, he's not making a point, he just wants that crab puff
Are you kidding Charlie? It will look excellent on you resume
Surely it only needs one ordinance to stop them drinking beer on their stoop. It does only need one ordinance to stop them, or failing to stop them in this case, but they can be violating more than one by doing it. There's probably one to stop them drinking in public, and one to stop them blocking the stairway and causing a fire hazard and...

In This White House

The first “West Wing For Dummies” this season.
You know that Sam is being set up for a fall when they bang on about how unthreatening his opposition is.
We all know why they keep putting Sam up for the TV jobs, and it's not to do with his intellect. Hell, I'd watch political commentary if he was presenting it
As much as I love Sam, I want Ainsley to kick his ass when that patronising TV presenter tells her to sit there and effectively keep her mouth shut.
"Senior advisor" he's a speechwriter, a good one, but all the same...
I’m not sure that I like Sam’s hair here.
OK, Sam just got all the recoil from Ainsley being patronised. Go Ainsley!
There must be a Kirkwood in Oregon
Oh, you know that not only are Josh and Toby watching but they’re taping this for the Christmas party.
I can laugh with impunity at Josh and Toby enjoying Sam's discomfort because my friends and family would do, and have done, exactly the same to me, only they didn't have the foresight to have popcorn ready
Does Ginger keep a supply of popcorn for whenever a staffer gets humiliated on TV? Popcorn? You bastards!
I’d take Sam up on that general knowledge test. I’d kick his ass. As a multiple village quiz winner, me too
Aid is linked to poverty and caused by HIV, it can be both at the same time. No it can't, it's caused by HIV full stop. Poverty may help it to spread much more rapidly, and prevent it being cured, but it's not caused by it
The president asks Charlie “Where are we?” and it must have been really hard not to say “The White House, sir.” Ah, but Charlie isn't a natural fringedweller, although he's working on it
Is this professedly left-wing, liberal and advocate of sexual equality amused that Sam got beaten on national TV or that a woman did it?
Why is everyone so surprised that he got his arse kicked by a girl? Surely most women can take men apart on any given topic without any preparation whatsoever. It's not a rare occurrence
Yep, dwarf wheat's a hybrid (I think, I didn't pay that much attention in the agric lectures)
Charlie scores two jokes off the president in five minutes. He learns fast.
Brigid Brannagh was also a banshee in 'Roar', she died in Heath Ledger's army, for those of you who are interested
I wonder what the ramifications of putting the White House on hold are?
You can tell none of the assistants actually do any office work, because they all wear their hair down, which if you have to type a lot would drive you insane, besides the fact that you can't see a thing
I’m amazed that Leo was naïve enough to think that CJ wouldn’t make a fuss in public, and that Sam managed to yelp as high as CJ did. Slightly worried that Sam's was the higher pitched of the two "Leo!"s there
I'm not on the side of the drug company at all, but the shipping costs getting stuff to Africa must be higher than shipping costs to Norway, not to mention advertising and stuff. I don't agree with it, I'm just surprised they're not using it as an argument
Margaret seems ready to throw herself between Leo and the Republican.
I like the door thumping, it reminds me of the Josh/Donna relationship.
"Did you say offer me a job?" There's a good girl... I've done that on more than one occasion. Memorably when I had this whole speech worked out about why my Dad should let me go to Glastonbury when I was twelve. I was a good three-quarters of the way through a very convincing justification when I realised he'd said yes
She has an FBI file? Don't they have better things to do?
She wanted to be a politician when she was two? When I was two I think I wanted to be Steve Cauthen. Obviously there were some problems with that
It strikes me as unlikely that Toby would be thoughtful enough to bring his assistant pastries.
Josh anticipates that his actions now will provoke a new law being passed.
If he had to take CJ into the corridor, where the hell did he take Toby?
"In this White House?" There's another White House?
Lovely subtle bit of body contact between Sam and Josh during his gun control speech
Honestly, you pop out to America for two minutes and what happens...
Should Ainsley have been able to eavesdrop on the Oval Office like that?
Such as phallic skyline.
Casual Day in the West Wing.
Do the office workers all have to stand when the President walks by? Because he has a tendency to ramble sometimes, and it must be a pain if you're actually trying to work and have to keep bobbing up and down all the time

And It's Surely To Their Credit

Intercom, Josh. It saves on all the shouting.
The last time Sam did any professional legal work he upped and walked out of a meeting. Josh should really think hard about making Sam his lawyer.
Notice how it looks like Donna is trying really hard not to touch Sam on that walk through the corridor.
They would have laughed at the horseshoe joke if the President had said it
Can autumn be in bloom?
You’d better be careful what you mutter around the president, he seems to have good hearing.
Elizabeth Mountbatten-Windsor, to be exact.
Why in God's name did the Queen give him a cricket bat?
I really like Lionel Tribbey. The poor guy isn’t having the best of days. A bit reminiscent of Dante in “Clerks” - “It’s supposed to be my day off!” Yeah, Lionel Tribbey is brilliant
How many people would dare burst into the Oval Office like that?
You can practically hear that idea clicking into place in Sam's brain
Elocution safari, hunting the big game of Spotted Well-rounded-vowel Cats and the rare and protected Received Pronunciation Rhino (prized for the exceptional news-reading value of its horn)
Oh, it's a good job the Army can't shoot the messenger
Ainsley’s in 442 because she wrote one of those op-eds.
It's quite a nice pit that they've put Ainsley in, good brickwork. Few big sheets of plywood, lick of paint, it's not so bad. At least it's got walls and a door. I hope there's a better light in there than that one though
Oh, the glory of semantics.
Random musing - why does everybody describe Ainsley as leggy? She’s short.
Why not when she's right?
It's from 'HMS Pinafore'. Sideshow Bob sang the entire score of it on 'The Simpsons'
You ordered other people to do, did you go yourself? If you didn't then it's cowardice
Oh General, that “kitten” was such a mistake.
Toby should be selling tickets so people can see CJ bullying the military. CJ totally kicking the arse of the Armed Forces. Well done CJ
No he didn't serve in uniform, he serves in a suit, get over it
Would that hallway be anymore private than their office?
Hell, I don’t like their attitude.
I can't believe Jed even thinks about arguing with a woman when she has sex as a bargaining chip
“The court took the Batcave, Josh!” Such a cool line. I have a mental picture of Batman and Robin being evicted
He could only be rude in person if he could find her office
How come Leo and Ainsley had a five minute walk to Ainsley's office, but now it's about 5 yards from the stairwell?
I think I just fell in love with Sam when he stormed into that office. My big thump was at the end of 'The Drop-In' because I saw that first, but it's the same sudden surge of integrity and determination... (okay, so that and "Found it." "What?" "Kerosene...")
Actually he's fairly sure he's the Deputy Communications Director, and as such can pretty much fire whoever the hell he wants (or harass Josh and Leo until they do it). Especially since Lionel is supporting his ability to throw a hissy fit and have people thrown out of the building
He was the what? Killer comeback from Lionel too "No, but then again I'm not a woman"
It's amazing what you can get a man to do with the promise of sex
I love his jumper too.
Ah well, as long as Sam gets to sue somebody he's happy
Gagh! An unexpected operetta! They shouldn’t do that.
And every single one of them cops out on the high note at the end. The guy on the recording cops out too
Okay I don't know G&S well, or at all (apart from doing some of 'The Yeomen Of The Guard' in primary school), but shouldn't it be "clearly to their credit"? If you listen to the version they use on the titles it sounds like 'greatly' to his credit. I'm sure Sideshow Bob sings 'clearly' and for some reason I'm more inclined to trust 'The Simpsons' as a source than 'West Wing'. Because when you pay homage to things you can make mistakes, but if you're taking the piss you have to get your facts right. Yep, I've dredged up a copy of 'Cape Feare' and it's definitely 'clearly'. It's also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling

The Lame Duck Congress

Thoughts are always better in people’s heads.
I would like to say that this is my first West Wing episode and already I've found a kindred spirit - I too often confuse and baffle loved ones with lightning changes of conversation. People should really try and keep up
Did Donna just physically assault her boss with that ear pinch?
At what point during an episode called 'The Lame Duck Congress' are they going to explain to us what one actually is? Oh thank god! I thought I'd missed it or was supposed to know
This is the Senate musical chairs session.
Charlie's walking a fine line here, how does he know which of the President's requests are real and which are jokes? I know with aspirin/deadly weapon it's a fairly easy choice, but sometimes it must get difficult. So which one is Charlie going to bring, the aspirin or the weapon?
Summaries? What a fucking waste of time. I empathise with Sam - I could never unleash my full potential in under 10 pages - if you could write it in two pages you would do in the first place, wouldn't you!
"Nine different jokes," and Josh and Toby are going to be making eight of them
See what I mean about not knowing what request is a joke?
R.S.I.'s a bitch, really
The word 'ergonomic' is silly
I love Donna! Her circular arguments get Josh every time.
Did she major or minor in baton twirling?
That's an eloquent argument from a highly educated speech-writer, "Why?" Because"
It really, really does work. "I want you to do all this heavy lifting and manual labour for me, because you're so strong..." They always fall for it
Can’t the president just ‘phone him?
Nice to see Sam’s brief panic about Laurie.
Waitresses should have the power to say "Does it say so on the menu? Then no."
Does this mean that those men had to pay for their own lunch?
Yes, a drunken Russian and his female whatever in your office does require an explanation
Just one off the cuff remark from Leo and all hell breaks loose. Again Margaret and Donna proving just who has the power in the White House. I bet Margaret goes back to the slow typing as soon as Leo's back is turned
A mission from God, or possibly Glod. Slightly strange image of Toby in the hat and shades then...
Sam did the same thing with a crab puff, but the difference is, he didn't ask, he just took it
When the hell did she have time to summarise that paper?
I don't know who's desk Ainsley's leaning against (Cathy's?), but they've got a really nice cherry-blossom-looking screen saver
I could make a joke about reversing Sam’s position but I’m not going to. Oh go on, if I had a joke there, I'd make it
That'll teach him to delegate
That's never a politician with integrity! I was told this show told it like it is! A politician with morals. Shouldn’t he be in a museum or something?
The area might be calm, it's Toby that's just a little over-excited
Peaceful nuclear explosion? Peacetime nuclear explosion I can buy, but peaceful? It's a bomb for crying out loud, how peaceful can it be?
Fraud requires a certain level of education and intellect, it's a higher class kind of crime
So Martin Sheen's character is benign papa bear who can bite, the voice of reason and wisdom - I say again - is this supposed to bear any semblance to reality? Only two days ago Charlotte Church related on national TV how the American President asked her what state Wales was in!? Okay, and I'll leave Tobin to tell the anecdote about your Wales-recognition skills shall I?
That was a bitch of a thing to do to Ainsley
Where did Sam go? He disappeared amongst that crowd of extras walking purposefully with folders in their hands.
Yeah, but Toby’s forgetting that Burke was a moron.

The Portland Trip

The energy guy is going all the way there so he can talk to the president on the way back? Sounds like a waste of energy to me. He just wants to ride on Air Force One.
Poor CJ gets relegated to tour guide in the bus instead of riding in the limo with the others.
Never make fun of the team of the leader of the free world. You just know that silly hat wearing photo opportunities will follow. The President is evil. If I didn't respect him before, I do now
Is Notre Dame/Michigan a local derby thing, or is it a Tigers/Bath deal?
What, Josh is expecting her to have sex in the restaurant?
Okay, that was a little harsher than absolutely necessary, Josh crossing the fine line between taking the piss and actually being mean
And it’s the deputy part of Deputy Downer that will sting Josh the most.
I know the pilot's being polite, but they know where they took off from , they know where they're landing. Why do they need to know what cities they're flying over? It's night, it's not like they can even look out of the window
Are there set ingredients for a club sandwich, or does it just consist of whatever the chef has lying around?
Ainsley's wearing very strappy shoes for work
Why should that guy’s sexual orientation affect his politics?
Hell, you wouldn't need to be an alcoholic to want a drink on a day like that
Sam's got the kiss curl again. Love Sam’s glasses.
The wording doesn't prohibit same-sex marriage, but there are people who will use it and say it does
Oh, through illegal repression of it’s rivals and the use of brutal force, mostly. Yes, but they had to get to the position where they could illegally repress their rivals and use brute force, and that part was done by the speech writers
"Two whisky sours and a bowl of soup," very definition of a liquid lunch
"Sam being Sam." Not so unreasonable. If I wasn't happy with the writing, I wouldn't have even let them print it out, let alone give copies to people, who weren't either me or Toby (if I was Sam) or Tobin (if I was me)
Oh God, that army guy is Sgt.Tackleberry from the Police Academy films!
Well, the man was running China, there was a lot of distance to cover when he toured the country
Sam the incurable romantic. And yes, it would have been fantastic
Can she not just take the draft off him?
"Not making the bet" like me with bloody Rock Of Gibraltar on Saturday, nine to one, then I got swayed by the TV and Hawk Wing and never backed the damn thing...
Incentives work. Sucked me in.
I like Matt's NRA plan
"He expects you to bring him in," took me a while to realise they were talking about the President here and not Sam.
Danny's moved seats across the aisle. He was on the left when CJ talked to him
I can almost hear the president yell “Mrs.Landingham! Make me a rubber stamp!”
“You’re a good girl”. Patronising twat.
Obvious solution, confiscate the oil, sell it, use the money to send the teachers to college. See, I can run a country

Shibboleth

"Previously..." 'The West Wing' for dummies
Nice to see Sam out of the suit
I'd love to read the novel about the puritan crime fighters. Okay, moments when we fell for Sam Seaborn no. 237 "...and by night they solve crimes. With the big hats"
Toby is smirking
Okay as someone who hails from Lincolnshire, but now lives in Plymouth, the 'Mayflower' came from Boston, hear that, Boston. They realised they forgot something, stopped at Plymouth to get it and so where does the 'Mayflower' set sail from? Where gets the fancy museum and the pretty pictures on the pedestrian subway? Plymouth. Boston doesn't have many plus points, we need all the tourist attractions we can get, and Plymouth stole our best one. In fact, our only one
Just because he didn't get to go home early, Toby's being very mean to CJ
There’s some comment there about how Americans have no clue about their own history and how most couldn’t pass their own immigration test but I just can’t find it.
No matter where you work ‘Getting out of dinner with the boss’ is hell but when the guy can nuke you out of existence the situation could be a bit more fraught
Notice how Carol beats a hasty retreat at the sign of potential trouble
What did Eric and Troy do to warrant a pardon, and do they eat the loser?
None of us ever end up in jobs which are dignified enough for the degree we did, CJ. Even doctors have to perform rectal exams
They're letting Josh and Sam talk to the religious people?
Oppressed Christians? That’s a new one. We usually do the oppressing. Apparently it was handed right down to us along with the Ten Commandments
Well, threatening him worked so well last time... I'm sure Donna threatens Josh at least once every episode to her advantage
It’s Holland!
Al and Josh just leave the other two to bicker
Quite a nice compliment in the morning, "you look determined"
I bet those 70% wouldn’t agree on which prayer though
This is why America has so many bizarre religious-based political issues, because American is made up of all the religious nutjobs that we've thrown out of Europe in the past 300 years
Did CJ make the turkeys go through a swimsuit competition?
He’s a well-dressed refugee
Yeah, what the Chinese guy said
"Mrs Landingham..." I just need you to arrange for 100 Chinese people to escape from a secure detention facility
Do no secretaries have any respect in that building?
How much turkey is he planning on cutting to be worried about fatigue?
Guilt trip Charlie why don't you
Okay, as a proud daughter, I would be furious if my Dad gave the carving set to some random guy who worked for him
As someone who's never had a nomination, Martin Sheen can say that...
Jurisdiction or not, if the President says not to kill the turkey, they're not gonna kill the turkey
Does the turkey have to go through basic training?
I always expect him to say "...and solve crime" then
I need a bucket. I may have to give up this program if this is the kind of schmaltzy crap I’m going to have to put up with
Unfortunately he's also got to listen to CJ sing, which will pull the day down a notch or two
That episode would mean so much to the rest of the international community if we actually celebrated Thanksgiving

Galileo

Sam's a real bitch. On behalf of the dyslexic fringedwelling community (before they make the remark themselves and I have to correct it) you don't need to be able to spell to be a writer
Like the President's going to remember all those names
Smug bastard! It's a good job more people don't know the President, or he'd have been shot at more often
Sam's very good at his job. Sam really did say it right, I got chills. Although this may be because it's hot and I've just had an ice cream
I don't get the time zone thing either, surely those 37 minutes would sort of add up? And wouldn't different bits of Mars have different time zones?
Of course he wants to mock people. What better way could there be to spend the day
Josh proves why he's still on the deputy string. "That happened fast." Honestly Josh should know better by now
It's so much easier when stamps can only have dead people and flowers on them. And the Queen, obviously
Nah, they'd never fit in the booths
"Hoping we weren't going to see it" pretty much, yeah. They were hoping the Reykjavik Symphony Orchestra would distract them
"You would think that this would fall faster than this. And you'd be absolutely right"
Considering the number I've topped and tailed over the years, my Dad is a major producer of green beans
How can they remain neutral on the subject of statehood? They can't just let Puerto Rico make their minds up for themselves, they must have an opinion on whether or not to let people become part of their country
Josh has Mississippi jokes?
You didn't 'take' the British, we discovered you consorting with the French and dumped you
Don't say bad things about Wyle E. Coyote, I admire his perseverance
Well, that's the best reason to discuss broader themes for the classroom, if the original theme is made null and void
Why is Sam so worried about the picture, surely Mallory knew about Laurie? In fact, she was the first person Sam told
Hell, I watched 'Death In Venice', that's nearly three hours I'm not going to see again
Somehow she looks quite pleased about Leo's divorce, and I don't think she's flirting entirely to lead him off track about the silo
It is Classical music. It might not be classic music, but it's music in the style of the classics and therefore classical
Anything described as 'modern' is automatically at least ten years old
Charlie is spot on about that
CJ's actually fantastic with confrontation
The motorcade must make nipping out to the shops for a pint of milk difficult
Sam is so easy to wind up, he's like a clockwork mouse
One story CJ isn't going to cover up...
I can just see rows of evil green bean farmers with side partings smoking like Nazis
CJ's little rant has been building all day
Galileo Six is going to be the only satellite fitted with one of those clapping sensors so NASA can find it
Yes, she did say it right this time

Noel

Good cop, bad cop, that's why there are two of them
If you're determined enough, and you stick to your story, no amount of psychological screening can find you out (hasten to add I'm not saying this from personal experience, but it's true)
Traumatologist? Is that real?
Therapy as a bloodsport
Brass bands, bagpipes and banjos are Toby's revenge. If that infernal brass racket had been going on for three weeks, people shouldn't be looking for a reason for Josh to go over the edge
The Press Corps, are they drafted by CJ and is she their commanding officer?
I hate to say it but maybe there's a situation forcing the President into the situation room
Hate the way she says "Bernard", although Bernard himself rules Bernard is so very cool
I think the death threat people should get cards, can you imagine how freaked they'd be? Besides, a little death threat's no reason to be rude
That assignment is kind of creepy, looking thorough the personal files of somebody who will be dead very soon
Damn right, they're a regiment. If you play bagpipes at people, you have to be able to fight
We'd fall at the first hurdle, we didn't know what day it was five days ago
"A line you don't cross" says Josh, with the expression of a man who crossed the line and who has to go to therapy before they let him back in the Oval Office
Think Josh needs a nap...
If you know the answers, why ask the questions?
Is there an approved list of illnesses you can have and still work for the White House?
I think white tie is ugly, black tie is smarter
Oh, poor Josh
They really do music well in this series, generally, not just with Josh
Can you really have a fear of rectangles?
How do you get a prescription for a ladder?
I bet Donna had that coat fitted out with mittens on strings

The Leadership Breakfast

Sam, Josh, fire, and a portrait of male minds at work...
Josh and Sam should always be supervised
Sam's been waiting to use that spruce fact, you can tell
All this military planning and I bet someone goes and sits in the wrong seat anyway
Nice to know that the President is so memorable
You see, that's why I always read the plaques
I know how Toby feels, I too have lived in a musical, only mine was choreographed
Josh, that was evil
Who are Ben and Sally?
Never joke about a woman's accessories
That does mean that there's the possibility of Sam in swimming trunks, and therefore a chance for the coconut oil and hot towels
Oh poor Sam, poor, poor unimpressive Sam
After that 'get back on the horse' speech, Sam is going to suck like he has never sucked before
The President's geography is as bad as Bitca's
That's going to annoy Sam for the rest of the day, not knowing what he said the night before
Bartlet has no idea, but he's making it look like he does to impress poor Charlie
This looks like it's Crap On CJ Day
I take it back, it's going to be Crap On Toby Day too, except, he should have seen this coming
In fairness to Karen Cahill, I probably wouldn't be listening to Sam much either
"Hop on the train or get off the tracks," Buffy nailed that phrase
Oh that was such an evil thing to do to Donna in front of Sam and anyone else who is walking past
Why did Karen Cahill send Donna's underwear to Josh and not to Donna?
Okay, that one I'm not working out, how much maths can you expect me to do for one show?
That wouldn't be too hard, because they'd get covered in sand and then they'd stop sticking and you could just roll them in a ball., like flouring the work-surface before you do pastry. Rolling molasses up an escalator, now that'd be difficult

The Drop In

This is the first time I've seen one of these re-cap things without knowing exactly what was going on. I was baffled by everything after Marbury called Leo a butler
Ok. 'Shut up already!'
Thank you Mr. President, let's not confuse golf with something men do. Good point about the golf - thank god someone with some power knows
I would make such a crappy personal aide, I don't even know what I'm doing tomorrow, or as I just proved on the phone, what day it is today
I never get the chance to use my pointless trivia either. I'm still waiting for an opportunity to use my knowledge of how to tell what sex a millipede is
How can one of the most important men in the Democratic world not know who Charlie Brown is? Cos 'Peanuts' is crap and that's why Leo rightly didn't waste his time knowing about it. If he's Charlie Brown, who's Snoopy? Josh! Josh is Snoopy, which kind of makes Donna Woodstock. We're heading down that nasty Angel/Dangermouse road that ends with Lindsey and fluffy purple antennae.
I wish the President would call the generals Lucy
It's not like Leo to back something that keeps failing continuously
I do that with gossip. If no-one asks the right questions I force it on anyone who crosses my path - no matter how uninterested they are (fortunately, this is hardly ever an issue - everyone likes gossip)
Something about Sam reminds me of Daniel - a competence that's belied by an air of cute helplessness. Like he needs rescuing and a pat on the back
Toby's plane landed, right? Not Toby himself?
So Sam's been taking over while the cat's away
How come Americans can never, ever make up English names that sound like they belong to an actual person?
It really is very relaxing, you should try it sometimes
The Brits feel the same way about the Atlantic - and the lunatic Yanks
Hooray say all of us!
Well, if he stood in a doorway he could be in two
I feel that I should say that a Lynx is a medium-sized cat. I can't tell Toby, Leo and Josh, so I'll tell everyone else
You think there's a chance he couldn't get dates in High School (footnotes notwithstanding)? In fact for Tobin, I would have thought the ability to footnote properly would have been a plus. Has CJ seen Sam? He must have spent his entire High School career screwing!
But single Royal men all look like Prince Phillip
This might be my favourite line in the entire show, "100% literacy rate..." "Well maybe they don't and they also can't count"
The President means that if vegan food is thrown at him, he won't be inclined to open his mouth, catch it or eat it. New job title for Charlie, boiled seaweed interceptor
Is all this Toby's insecurity because he thinks Sam's too good?
But soon and for the rest of his life...
I do like the way Leo has just started to answer to Gerald. Ray, Ray,...
Why do bosses always focus on that one thing? Is it a requirement of promotion?
Leo's lying through his teeth
To jump the fence - I'm so glad the lunatic Brit is so clear about the stupid missile thing
She doesn't have to call him 'Lordship' she's not a British citizen. She's just sucking up. There's nothing worse than a sucking up American, they fought a revolution so they didn't have to do that kind of thing. Lord John rules (in the surfer dude sense, not the coup d'etat sense)
Donna looks thrilled
I think the candidate should have heard that - rather than CJ
Ooh, Spanky's in a mood. That's it, you take a highly dramatic moment and just kick it's feet out from under it. I'm a fringedweller, that's kind of our raison d'etre
This is why I don't like American writers talking about Britain because it's always 'England' just ignoring Scotland, Ireland and Wales
I think Lord Marbury just 'opened up a big can of whoop ass' on you though, didn't he Leo?
Beer in bottles on napkins, but no glasses? Oh class
Sam has never looked sexier than when he's sitting in the bar fuming over that beer. I think it's the kiss curl that does it. Did I mention just how much I love his season two hair?
I suddenly see Josh's appeal
I know it's unlikely, but is there a sneaky football joke in that "beat by Argentina" remark?
And again Marbury whips Gerald's butt comprehensively. It practically made me want to stand up for 'God Save the Queen' - and I'm not even British!

Bartlet's Third State Of The Union

See, all he does is walk down a corridor and he has lines of people applauding. He must be the most validated man in the universe. It looks like he got that round of applause just for doing up his shoelaces
Is asking to come in a hang over from British Parliament? Yes, I think so, Leo mentioned it last season. Again they have this revolution to break away from the British stranglehold, so why adopt these bizarre archaic practices if you're starting a new country?
Except for the time they had the big civil war...
Second cutest, Sam's still just got the edge there.
Joey didn't lay claim, so maybe it was Kenny talking
Have they stolen the theme music from ITN?
Okay, Tobin gets to have her peevish grammar rants, so I'm having a peevish maths one, fourteen out of ten?
Joke in there somewhere about rewindable men...
What is winding up the First Lady?
Don't know about comedy, but his detective fiction could use a bit of polishing
So they're going to tiptoe into the situation room are they?
What do they do when it actually is an old friend who wants to see them? Do they have a special little code for that?
With 12 support staff?
As an outside observer to American politics, the constitution seems like such a pain in the arse
Oh my God! Ainsley has a huge blonde moment
On first sight she seems like the kind of person who'd totally piss me off, but actually I really, really like Ainsley, "I'm going back on television now..."
Can she boss Toby around? Well, she is doing...
Is Josh reading 'Vogue'?
I didn't know that first line in the second Amendment. How come that doesn't get mentioned more often?
That and the fact Americans are more stupid
How come someone who has been in such close proximity to politics as the First Lady has be so shocked that the few good ideas the administration have got watered down or left out altogether?
Is CJ wearing Abby's red jacket?
More to the point, you'd assume that they'd checked and already knew about it
That's assuming that all the telephonists remembered to click 'save'
Do the callers still get paid for sitting in the dark for three hours?
Sam doesn't get paid much by all accounts
"Wandering the halls," it's true, they don't seem to spend a lot of time in their offices
Love the whole series of expressions on Sam's face when he's in Ainsley's office
Recipe for a pink squirrel, (which contains more than a dash of alcohol) if you're interested, 2 measures of Creme de Cacao, 1 measure Creme de Noyeux, 1 measure of single cream, 4-6 cracked ice cubes
The President shouldn't say words like 'sex kitten', although neither should Sam. I was about to say he could use the words 'sex kitten' to me, but I think if someone called me a sex kitten I'd probably have to sit and laugh at them for about half an hour
Sam could have been dancing too... If you ever needed proof that life conspires against you... Poor Ainsley
I'm thinking I would have been more interested in the $500
He decided to run for a second term as soon as he got elected for his first term, I'd put money on it

The War At Home

Well, they're the things you look for when you're picking where to spend the rest of your life...
Playing chess against yourself must just be the most pointless exercise in the world
Maybe the fact that they don't know who they're fighting is part of the problem
That's because in communist Russia they didn't imprison people, they just shot them. I was thinking exactly the same thing
Toby is a patronising son of a bitch, but Gilette shouldn't take it personally, Toby emerged from the womb that way
Never give Toby time to formulate an answer
Toby can't say anemones either!
Toby's pretty sure that the other guy's paying
Being supportive and attacking at the same time, that takes a lot of skill
People actually have their towels monogrammed? I never thought of Josh as being that pretentious, or having the time
Once you're in there, how on earth do you come out again unless you do it immediately? The longer you wait the worse it gets. Again poor Ainsley, she probably stayed in the cupboard because she was praying that it would turn into some kind of time machine
Talk about telling them after the event, "nine minutes ago we invaded..."
"Leaving it up to you" usually called passing the buck
Bore him to death with trivia about Bogota prisons...
Give them the keys, just make sure you change the locks afterwards
Inability to reason? That's us!
Is there a message or is she just reminding her what her name is?
Say it like you mean it Josh
Does Kenny never get embarrassed talking about people's personal lives?
Who's job is it to wrap the coffin?
Left a bit, left a bit, right...

Ellie

3,2,1, and Josh is back in for the night...
Sometimes the writing (or the time) is on the wall
Okay, I need a Sam-Seaborn-calling-bell
It's deeply, deeply sexy when Sam drops down on to Toby's couch like that
Catch 23...
Is it possible to meet a doctor under any circumstances and not get at least a brief diagnosis?
I like Millicent. Unlike Josh, she's got balls
Is Morgan Ross the same guy who asked how many people were in front of him in the list? No, it was Roger Becker
I want to watch CJ make the guy cry
The president is so important he has his own time zone?
I really like Donna
I assume they're sports people?
Sam's got a bizarre fringe thing going on in this episode
Now that sounds like a father
That was a really pissy shoulder movement
Or a Sam-Seaborn-calling-stress-ball, as long as it works, I'm not fussy
Fish need support too!
That's a rather ugly picture on Toby's wall. Which one? They're pretty much all hideous
Denying her a Danish cos she disagrees, I can see how it ended in divorce
For once (worryingly) Margaret is making a very good point
If you need a manual you're really in trouble. I was never given one either, but we had one on the kitchen windowsill in Aber, along with a pair of electrodes and some lubricating jelly (and yes, there was a completely innocent explanation, really, I promise, unfortunately I can't give it to you because the innocent explanation sounds so much worse than anything you could be thinking right now)
This is why I found a university five and a half hours from home
I love that he can get people shipped out to Yemen
There it is, Toby's invisible wall
I'd be more threatened by CJ personally
Sam needs to hide that stress ball now he's got it. All Sam had to do was get a stress ball and chuck it when he wants Toby's attention, it'd soon stop
"I think you're wrong" "I'm not" it's that kind of arrogance which makes a person hard to like. The President should think about that
Well, he was doing a damn good impression of being mad. I'd hate to see it when there wasn't a "but"
As someone who can't bear talking in cinemas, I would be more than prepared to shush the President, especially during a Hitchcock movie that I haven't seen. If he was talking all the time and right in front of me, I probably couldn't help myself
I always get weepy with parent/child reconciliation scenes
He might make her cry though
That isn't the best bit

Somebody's Going To Emergency...

Consistently amazed by that really phallic monument
Oh, that's just the cutest thing in the world, oh Sam, love. Awwww
"I had a dream, and you were there, and you were there..." with Josh as Toto
Yeah, but if it takes half an hour to drive home and half an hour to drive in, that's an extra hour's sleep he could be getting on Toby's couch. I speak as a small person who can comfortably sleep on a couch and still be capable of walking in the morning (or no less capable than when I've been sleeping on a bed anyway)
You've got to contain those geographic protesters
He doesn't look bad, he looks sexy. Leo's probably not going to mention that. I bet there's fic for that though. Yes there probably is, but I draw a firm Josh/Sam only line for West Wing slash
If Sam goes home he'll never get back to the White House again
6:35? That sucks. They should be able to claim a shed load of overtime, but I bet they don't
Yep, that really is quite phallic isn't it
No I didn't, says Margaret
Leo struggling manfully on with the big block of cheese speech
What is a steamer? I mean I'm guessing it's some kind of shellfish, but more specifically than that
Sam doesn't want to deny anything, because it sounds really impressive, "I did?"
The Toby Ziegler vote of approval
Oh poor Sam, he really has snookered himself
Sam really is the right person to guilt trip into doing something
Also sending the right guy to deal with the crowd of people
I just have this vision of a little corral and lots of people with cattle prods, rounding up the comedy writers
Why doesn't Josh have an assignment?
Yeah, but Alaska can vote
Except in Bitca-world, where Germany's on the other side of France
The cartographers are spot on, most maps are Eurocentric. Yes, but that's the reward for having three millennia of civilisation and map-making while the rest of the world were still painting themselves red and eating their relatives for Sunday lunch. If you produce the cartographers that draw the map, you get to be in the middle of it, and bigger than everyone else
I do like the way they explain stuff to other characters so it doesn't feel like they're explaining it to us
Those two are made for each other
Don't you want to be the kind of woman who can beckon Sam Seaborn into your presence and send him away when you've finished? Well, I wouldn't be doing much sending away. No, but the beckoning part would be fun
Blacking out the classified stuff must have taken hours
If they find Brigadoon on that map, I'm moving as far away from it as possible
To be fair, the upside down map spun me out too. I assumed north was at the top because when you look at the planet from space, north is at the top. But then it occurred to me that we show Earth from space this way because we always assume north is at the top. Space has no up or down, so it's purely perspective, unless the universe is weeble shaped giving it a top and a bottom. Sorry, but like I said, it spun me out
Is he actually hitting that every time, or is there a guy in the background with a little bell going ting?
Lit the world as in torched?
Ah, subtext, and text, and issues
He really is short. Yay!
The writers point Sam at controversy and some serious characterisation and make him charge - he looks it in the eye and then they make him back off at 100 miles an hour. What a disappointment
"Get Sam drunk and put him to bed." Do I really need to make the comment there? I'm sure you can all guess where my mind is heading

The Stackhouse Filibuster

Ah, epistolary form
It is not inadequate to not know sports teams - knowing about sports teams is what men do to compensate for their inadequate intelligence and excess of testosterone and fuckwitism
CJ's advice for the lovelorn
Bit of validation for Josh there
Did she ask Sam about 'Spanky' before she lumbered him with it? Did he agree?
"Every ceramic cat statue I've ever been handed in Cairo?" Long list is it?
Why is Hoynes suddenly on their team?
"Favourite fiction writer..." Toby. Sam is so hoping CJ passes that on to Toby. And Dickens - overrated caricaturist. Sam likes Dickens. He's just lost a lot of my respect.
How many nicknames does Sam have?
Is Hoynes starting to wave an 'I'm a Presidential candidate' flag? I know he knows about the President's M.S., he could know about the one term deal with Abby
Yeah, he got spanked
Who has the wallet?
Love Josh's new shoes
I thought most two year olds were incapable of that. Especially the girls
So it's all Josh's fault
Could they not fly Mike Piazzi in if they can't manage to fly Josh out?
I want to have dinner with the President! Ugh. That sounds awful. Also I'm fascinated as to how you can stew something in a creme caramel. Yes, that sounds vile you'd have to be French to like that. Or apparently Argentine
Leo's having a strange sense of deja-vu. And you never even noticed my hair...
It's a promise, why does everyone expect it to have a 6 minute life expectancy?
"There was quite a bit of sugar..." Surely you get in trouble for undermining the President like that?
That would be Donna's criminal mind at work
I want to use Hoynes' "I know something you don't know" speech. Wow! The VP is an arrogant bastard!

17 People

If I was Sam that relentless thumping would drive me crazy. I wonder how long before he got the angle of that ball right? Or, for that matter, how long it took to get that shot of him getting the angle right consistently for 20 seconds
"Somewhere else in the bowels of the abbey..." sorry, 'Highlander' joke
It's a good job someone was keeping tabs on Hoynes
I love the steady thumping noise of the ball continued on the soundtrack
They're finally going to tell Toby he's adopted?
"I don't know" That's why you're using Toby as a gauge
They are such an old married couple and I'm with Josh on this one 'cos he is her boss
Making things funny was easy in Shakespeare's day, all they had to do was add a bit with a dog. Very much like 'Frasier' today.
Why is Ainsley wearing a FBI jumper? To intimidate people. I was waiting for Sam to ask her where she got the FBI jumper, petulantly
It looked like he was going to smack her arse there
Bourbon is revolting whatever you call it.
After all that lead up, that was remarkably blunt
Donna looks like she's going to kill Sam.
I assume if you're a politician, that's funny.
Making Toby laugh? Chance will be a fine thing.
They said quite plainly that it was flu and could bring on an attack, not that it was an attack
"Why? What were you talking about?" I'll give you three guesses Rabbit
But that's the only joke they have!
I'm amazed that they're still there.
I suppose medicating husbands is one way of making them stay, if you don't have the magic beckoning power.
Doctor Bartlett or the First Lady
Just keep the file in Mrs. Landingham's desk drawer, nobody would dare look in there.
Toby is concerned with the well-being of Jed Bartlett, but firstly he's concerned with the well-being of the Presidency of the United States.
No, he's pissed that only 15 people knew. Toby has a right to be pissed. He's been deceived and lied to, as well as spending a huge amount of time working on a candidate who now isn't going to run. And, as a citizen, the president does work for him so he doesn't have to be polite. I actually think Toby had the higher moral ground there
When are they getting those two together?! This is torture! Incidentally, Josh is to-die-for sexy here. I have seen the light
Didn't they hunt a snark? Yes, but they never caught it, and it made the baker vanish on account of it being a boojum instead. Are you on drugs that I'm not getting? What? Well, yes actually I am, but that's got nothing to do with the lace-making beavers at all
We all want a Sam.
Amen to Ainsley.
Why is Josh looking for the speech? Surely Sam was joking about it being funny?
Donna would cause another accident by not stopping at those red lights. She and Josh could share an ambulance, her with a broken ankle and him with Archiver's Syndrome caused by being hit on the head with one too many speech-containing box files.
I didn't count the President either
They're not going to get a laugh out of Toby. At all. Ever.
I would like to take this opportunity to mention that I have just read the Season 1 scripts (though I haven't seen them yet) and in light of them (and particularly 'Let Bartlet Be Bartlet') would like to say that I take all my snarky comments about the 'Yay America' nature of this program a step or two back. I will withhold withdrawing them completely until further evidence is gathered

Bad Moon Rising

That's a big hammer. Gavel. I love Oliver Platt, he's always so cool.
Oh yeah, I can see Bartlet and Babish on a building site together.
Hang on a sec, wasn't Leo from Boston?
Babish took that remarkably well, though the Dictaphone didn’t of course. You don't realise how beautifully that joke with the Dictaphone and the gavel has been set up until afterwards.
If Josh told me to slowly devalue the peso I wouldn't do it either
Looking for thirty billion dollars down the back of the sofa.
I do like Sam's glasses. You can have them...
Sam is making his position on the leak very clear to CJ.
Yeah, but he won't be going home in the presidential limo.
Yeah, but as Bartlet cannot personally fix the Mexican economy, put the oil back in the tanker or redistribute the wealth of the country he may as well answer the questions.
Text and Context? Oh, I'd stay away from that.
Sam starts to feel threatened by Charlie
Cunning, guile and a "slightly heightened sense of smell..." The 'Stargate' fans got that one too
He shouldn't need insurance, he has the Secret Service for the rest of his life.
Is there a really long waiting line of people outside CJ's office?
That's more than I make!
A little hormone rush for Sam there.
They don't! Chickens refuse to come home to roost by themselves, you have to round them up and try and herd them into the shed at the end of the day. Which is virtually impossible. Chickens are fucking difficult! If you want eggs have ducks
Could Charlie put down the President as the person to contact in an emergency? He would be an impressive person to have write a reference, anyway.
I think I minored in getting lost on campus, and had an extra credit module in finding the Ancient History section of the Hugh Owen library. A major part of my degree was tracking down books that the library computer said were on the shelves but weren't actually there. This involved a lot of peering at other people's desks to see if they were hoarding them, causing a distraction and then stealing them... As I recall, I got as PHD in forms - I’ve been to Uni twice. I’m pretty sure they’d include a rectal exam but there was a form for that too, so they didn’t need it
Donna was just cruel
Honda Civics don't pour very well, and are surprisingly simple to separate from sea water
It was just the one prostitute!
That scared the hell out of me!
The President is a very confident man. It's all the people clapping.
So Charlie isn't allowed to lie like the president did?

The Fall's Going To Kill You

This ep should be re-titled ‘The Shit Hits The Fan’ or maybe ‘The First Fan’
‘Many times!’ This is not a good start for CJ
Did you know that there was more chance of being hit by a meteorite in Wigan than winning the national Lottery? Yes. I didn't. I wish I didn't know now.
Beets- only Josh could come up with a poll that bizarre yet reasonable sounding
Don't you wish the Justice Department could waste that money on video games? A thirty six million dollar allowance...
It's Keiko O'Brian!
Nice screen saver in Babish’s office
I really didn't need the image of Sam as Robin.
Toby’s happy looks remarkably like Toby’s not
I love that! Charlie is really fitting in well in the White House.
Stockard Channing looks like she’s had one or ten face lifts too many
When does he find the time to speak to Abby three times a day?
Is a cafe at a busy airport really the best place for a clearly pronounced and well enunciated discussion about the President's non-disclosure of his MS?
Don't you think that the Governor of Michigan will be a little bit worried? And just a little bit pissed.
And Charlie ups Donna's paranoia a little bit more...Oh Charlie! Charlie is evil
No, that would be worse than the tobacco firms.
"I trust you", love the slightly stunned look on Sam's face when Toby says that
Josh is evil. But cute
Yet. Nobody's been hit yet. Oh yeah, like that's not tempting fate. I keep expecting to see something fall into shot...

18th And Potomac

I really feel that POTUS is in no position to get shirty with people from lack of trust
If people weren't suspicious about them meeting in the basement at midnight they will be when they find out there was a password. It's like a secret den down there. They ought to have club posters on the wall or something
Funky basement - most people fill that with shit they don’t want in their homes
At least four people in the room know Kenny's last name, Joey, Kenny, Josh and Leo
Did they win Florida? I'll have to go back and check
Notice she doesn't make the beet joke to the President
It's a 'Stargate' lost, they've lost the President of Haiti
Well, they are Americans
Love the various definitions of 'live'
You're going to be in big trouble for that Josh
Actually, they’re both pretty pissy about something they did wrong
Why does Toby have C.J.'s glasses?
If he says "I'm not a medical expert" then they're screwed
Josh is wearing his hardass shades again
Why is Toby, not Josh, telling Donna about the President's M.S.?
Wow, Mrs. Landingham doesn't know? That's big
Well, if they need cavalry, she's probably the person to arrange it
Wouldn't trust Sam's knowledge of the White House, it was pretty ropey last season
It's no fun bullying Sam though, it's too easy
Did anyone try speaking in French?
I hate new car smell
No, men do actually do that. And go 'hmm' in a professional-sounding manner
Who told Donna the code word? It wasn't Toby
Leo just needs a big sign with 'we are having a meeting' written on it that he can hold up
If I didn't know that was coming, I'd be so surprised right now

Two Cathedrals

When does Leo have this conversation, because it's the daytime then, but the press conference is still happening tomorrow?
Yep, that's pretty strongly worded
Seth Gilette as President? Of course it's going to be Hoynes
Sam's learning. "Bartlet's not a candidate, he's the President."
They have asbestos at my school, actually in my classroom. If there's been asbestos in there for so long, couldn't it stay there for another day or two?
If the President was feeling better, he's be spending the rest of the afternoon trying to find out which sequence of doors created that wind tunnel into the Oval Office.
I called my Mum 'Mrs...' on the few occasions when she taught me
Jed was quite a bit taller when he was younger wasn't he?
The young Mrs. Landingham sounds exactly like the old Mrs L. On further reading, I find that the actress actually listened to the lines being read by the older Mrs. L to get the cadence right
It is a beautiful cathedral
Does the Book of Wisdom contain any aphorisms, or for that matter, any wisdom?
If you want to impress God, speak in Aramaic
If he got shouted down the first three times, what the hell made him think they were going to listen to him on the fourth?
Donna could create confusion answering the phone like that
Toby has a little 'Beowulf' moment there
They're really going to dance the tarantella?
Well, yes, or season three's going to be really boring.
It's an omen, Jed.
Like an archaeologist's 'ritual function'
Usually I think Bradbury's a bit of a twat, but I'm fond of that quote
Actually banning Lawrence isn't such a bad idea, not because of the content but just on general principle.
Ah, 'Brothers In Arms'
That music was a BIG mistake

The West Wing Index