I think such statements will now come with an asterisk and a disclaimer.

Our current admin thinking they're slick burying casualty updates in the trash.

There's no other series in the history of TV that would include that line of dialogue.

God, I'm sorry, I love this show!

Ben Yosef, Israeli Foreign Minister, is first introduced in S4.E4, "The Red Mass", and his character is significant to the plot arc of season 4. On my current rewatch, I just noticed this though in S2.E17, "The Stackhouse Filibuster": When eating dinner with the president, Leo is on the phone discussing a G-8 meeting in Tel Aviv with someone named "Ben". Same person? Just a coincidence? Who's to say.

She goin to Riyadh or Tehran?

Josh and Gov. Bartlett when Josh’s father passed

Josh meeting Joey Lucas about the MS poll

Josh and the DeKalb County DA about the kid who fled to Italy

Is there some symbolism there that I am missing

Having eaten at the Oval Room once in the early 2000s, it has never made sense to me that it would be CJ’s favorite restaurant. They tried hard to be a nice white tablecloth restaurant and succeeded in that regard, but the food wasn’t particularly delicious and there was nothing particularly special about it aside from its proximity to Lafayette Park and the White House from my experience.

(Shown here: La Bise, which replaced the Oval Room and lasted less than five years in that location.)

I have been binging ER on Netflix, having faded out of watching it "live" the first time round. There is a phenomenal-but-not-surprising cross-over of TWW and ER cast members, and it's been a lot of fun (a) spotting them and (b) noticing mannerisms and habits that the actors had in both roles. Jorja Fox especially has many very recognisable traits, even her walk!

I am up to S6 now, and Arnie Vinick has recently arrived in his medical alter-ego!

They overlapped in broadcast, although ER came first:

• ER: Sep 1994 - Apr 2009
• TWW: Sep 1999 - May 2006

(I hope using AI just for the table below is permissible, rather than me doing it manually. Source: IMDB)

Just watched Lies, Damn Lies and Statistics (S1 E21). In the episode, the White House shifts around the Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia to Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian ambassador gets the boot for an affair. This leaves the ambassadorship open, and they appoint an FEC member to that post, thus creating the opening for a 4-2 majority on the FEC.

My question is: Why would it be fait accompli that he would take the ambassadorship? Because it is such a cozy, do-nothing post? Out of service to the party or the President, assuming he is a Democrat? Legal obligation? It seems to me that such a tiny ambassadorship would be a demotion for an ambitious bureaucrat, and presumably the bureaucrat in question would be worried about becoming known as the guy who helped the President take on soft money by playing musical chairs with the FEC. Not that anything came of it.

John Spencer’s acting amazes me so much in this episode. I watched it when it first aired with my brother and both sat on the couch of my apartment and didn’t say a word.

It was my standing date with my “little” brother. I rewatch to remember him now that he’s gone.

I love and miss you Phil. Stroke at 37. I appreciate this show for helping me mentally joke with him, if that makes sense.

SPOILER

is there any underlying theory here that Zoey’s disappearance was staged by Leo and/or President Bartlett exclusively to try to boost approval ratings?

Leo’s emotions during the dark parts of this are shown seemingly more than the president’s. In this episode we see the president’s family get so emotional about her disappearance, but never the President. Was this all a ploy just to get a new VP???

I love how consistently Josh wanted Leo to be VP. When they have the meeting to discuss replacing Hoynes, Josh floats the idea of Leo. When Hoynes retires, Josh floats the idea of Leo. And when we finally get a new Democratic candidate for President, Josh gets Leo on the ticket. That boy had been pushing for Leo to be VP for so long.

The past week has been hectic, with not enough time to watch a new movie. It’s times like this where I turn to “Comfort Runs” in the West Wing. A series of episodes that aren’t necessarily important for plot progression (though sometimes they are) and usually more focused on a single issue or character development. Some examples:

S3: Night Five-Stirred
S4: Red Mass-Process Stories (I know this is the election storyline, but whether the President wins almost seems like a foregone conclusion)

What are your Comfort Runs?

As a bunch of people are in the situation room tanking about how Qumar is about to accuse Israel of killing their defense minister someone says "We could do nothing" and someone else says "which isn’t an option"

Why isn’t doing nothing an option. That seems like the ideal choice. Maybe not morally but they did kill secretly kill a guy and get rid of the body so morality doesn’t seem to be a big problem.

amazing sequence that describes the best of what humans can produce

when smart conservatives and liberals are excited to debate people who can talk intelligently while having the ability to successfully articlate in a clear fashion important questions while having the ability to respond succintly "On Point" arguments

having extradionaire dissents versus who doesn't alienate

acts like this makes me in awe, privileged and honored that the ability to do this exist in America

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uEaYbwggKE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF1dc_XtVNY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p371H1hMPbI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyCwH0BFXck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYR3ZzOBg1Q&list=PLRfRgVLDHKBPXjEoFvcdOPcGa0650bn_h&index=4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4m-3Eo3suE&list=PLRfRgVLDHKBPXjEoFvcdOPcGa0650bn_h&index=7

Your role is to nominate that doesn't alienate people

West Wing is a great show (that separates itself from 99% of other shows that are popular to long-lasting that will have a long life of influencing and inspiring people to be their best with the only question being when and when people are ready.

Thank You - West Wing

In the Stackhouse Filibuster everyone is trying to leave because it’s a holiday weekend. Then in 17 People when the President is trying to decide about beefing up security at the airports he mentions it’s a holiday weekend. Is it the same holiday or two back to back?