The West Wing (1999–2006): Season 2, Episode 15 - Ellie - full transcript

Previously on The West Wing:

The president will announce
a Blue Ribbon Commission...

...to study the long-term future
of entitlement programs.

- We want you to go to a meeting.
- With who?

- A Democrat on the Ethics Committee.
- A date with my ex-wife?

- Sit next to me.
- I'm a responsible adult.

I'm a member of the U.S. Congress.

Does the White House make
a crusade out of defending...

- ... the rights of drug users?
- Please.

We have questions about drug use,
marijuana in particular.

Jersey Girl wants to know
if marijuana can make you sterile.



Is this Jersey Girl asking the question
or Jersey Boyfriend?

- Both.
- Okay.

Well, there's no evidence so far
that marijuana has a permanent effect...

...on the male or female
reproductive systems.

A few studies have suggested
that heavy marijuana use...

...may have an effect
on male testicular function...

...but that effect would be reversible.

So if Jersey Boyfriend is concerned,
he should mention it to his doctor.

Pixaladd wants to know
if marijuana can cause cancer.

No conclusive study to date
has shown that it does.

However, and this is a big however...

...cellular genetic and human studies
all suggest...

...that the smoke from pot is a risk factor
in acquiring respiratory disease.

If Pixaladd wants to be able to walk up
a flight of stairs without throwing up...



...he should put the bong
in the closet...

...behind the Allman Brothers albums
where it belongs.

Josh. What the hell kind of name
is Pixaladd? Josh?

- I'm done.
- Yeah?

- Efficiency, Donna.
- Yeah.

Efficiency and professionalism, and we're
out of here at 9:00 on Wednesday night.

It doesn't hurt the president's in Tokyo.

There does seem to be less work to do
when he's in a different hemisphere.

- But nonetheless....
- Efficiency and professionalism.

With a healthy dollop
of leadership skills.

The well-placed, well-worded memo.

Nobody goes off the reservation.
Everybody does their job.

- Turn off your computer. Let's go.
- No, I'm gonna watch this.

- Maybe you should too.
- What is it?

The surgeon general's doing
an online chat.

- What's she talking about?
- Decriminalizing marijuana.

See you tomorrow.

What's she talking about?

" Do you favor the decriminalization
of marijuana? "

" It's not for me to say.
I can say marijuana...

...poses no greater public health risk
than nicotine or alcohol. "

" It doesn't share the same addictive
properties as heroin and LSD. "

"Yet bizarrely to many of us
in the health care profession...

...the law categorizes it
as a Schedule 1 narcotic...

...while putting a government seal
on a pack of cigarettes. "

Yeah, somebody didn't get your memo.

- C.J.?
- Yeah.

- Take a look at this.
- What is it?

It's a transcript of an online chat
Millicent Griffith just did. Page eight.

- Toby's headed in. Sam's on the phone.
- I can't talk now.

- He says it's important.
- In a minute.

- The Allman Brothers?
- It gets a lot worse.

" Marijuana poses no greater public
health risk than nicotine or alcohol. "

" Doesn't share the same
addictive properties as... "

" Bizarrely categorizes it as... "
And... I quit.

- Let's go.
- Is she kidding me with this?

- When did it happen?
- She just finished. Talk me through this.

These people got a story. They called
AP already. Carol, get me the wires.

It's too late for the Times and Post,
but L.A. and San Francisco'll have it.

It'll be above the fold. The Today Show'll
lead with it. Russert will do a segment.

- Toby!
- Guys, I'm in the Blue Ribbon meeting.

I got labor yelling at me.
I got a situation developing.

We've got a situation developing here.

- What?
- Read that.

- Page eight. Why didn't you call me?
- While it was happening?

- So you could do what?
- When did it happen?

She finished about 5 or 10 minutes ago.

You saw it happen?
Why didn't you get me?

- What would you do?
- End it.

- How?
- By ending it.

- Listen, something's happened.
- We know.

- How?
- Josh was watching it in real time.

I'm not gonna belay
into the computer screen.

- What are you talking about?
- Surgeon general. You?

- Never mind. What did she do?
- Reversed our position on marijuana.

All right, what time is it in Tokyo?

- They're 14 hours ahead.
- I thought 13.

- Eastern Daylight.
- So it's 14 hours ahead?

- We're sure it's ahead, not behind?
- Guys, there are clocks on the wall.

- Okay, so it's almost 11:00 in Tokyo.
- Yes.

- Ginger. Get Larry and Ed.
- Anybody in my office.

We'll be in the Roosevelt Room.

Sorry, 11 in the morning,
11 in the afternoon?

It's 11 a.m.

- The Allman Brothers?
- Keep reading.

If it's not a story until tomorrow morning,
they'll have it tomorrow night.

- We bought a day.
- Two days.

- How?
- Plane ride.

- When's he leave?
- 7 p.m. Thursday.

- Tomorrow? Local time?
- Which, theirs or ours?

It will be 7 p.m. Thursday in Japan
when he leaves.

And he lands here when?

- The flight is 13 hours long.
- This isn't happening.

He'll travel eastward from Tokyo,
leaving at 7 p.m.

When he crosses
the International Date Line...

- He'll travel back in time to what?
- 3 a.m.

Which puts him in Washington
6 p.m. Thursday.

He's gonna land in Washington
an hour before he took off?

That story doesn't beat
the surgeon general?

Toby, they're calling for you over there.

I'm gonna go get yelled at some more.
Josh, get Leo.

- Call Tokyo.
- Yeah.

- Carol's got the wires.
- Thanks.

- Those clocks should be in military time.
- Yeah, because that's less confusing.

The man's gone 150 hours.
How can it be Thursday the whole time?

Listen, Japan is 9 hours ahead
of Greenwich Mean Time...

- Don't.
- Sophie, this is Donna Moss.

- Locate the chief of staff.
- What were you talking about before?

I've been told by someone I believe
that a full-page ad...

...taken out by the Family Values
Leadership Council...

...is going to appear
in 22 newspapers tomorrow.

It lists many prominent people
and congratulates them...

...for denouncing the movie
Prince of New York.

- So, what's the problem?
- They congratulate the president.

The president denounced it?
Then how can they run that?

I have no idea. But I don't like
who we're being congratulated by.

- Josh.
- Yeah.

Yeah, Leo, we got a couple
of problems here.

- I'm here.
- Thanks.

- We're doing this again?
- Yeah.

Because I just got you off
that little bellman's thing.

Here's my problem.

AARP and AFL-CIO want the president
to put Seth Gillette on the commission.

It's important to them,
so it's gotta be important to us.

- There's another reason.
- It neutralizes him.

- He can't attack it if he's on it.
- Which is why if we ask, he'll say no.

- Maybe, maybe not.
- We can't risk that.

We need him on the commission...

...or labor and seniors'll be
suspicious from the get-go.

If he's not on it, it can't be
because he turned us down.

Either we get him on,
or if we don't...

...we make sure it's
because we never asked him.

Yeah.

- Sam, he's on the phone.
- Thanks.

- I don't know the answer to that.
- Okay. Well, thanks for stopping by.

Yeah.

Charlie.

Yeah, listen.

Did you have a phone conversation with
a movie producer named Morgan Ross?

- Yeah, last week.
- Can you tell me about that conversation?

- He's got a movie coming out.
- Prince of New York.

They wanted to screen it
at the White House.

What did you say?

They sent me the print,
and I looked at it.

- And you passed?
- Yeah.

- Was the president involved in that at all?
- No. He lets me choose the movies.

I just didn't think he'd like it,
so I got Dial M for Murder instead. Sam?

Okay.

Yeah.

Well, there'd be fallout from women
voters and I'm pretty sure the AMA...

...to say nothing of the first lady.

- Yeah.
- Leo?

I got nine people on a conference call
at several points of longitude.

- When's your first briefing?
- An hour.

Can you support the surgeon general
without supporting her policy?

- Show me.
- Try me.

Did you know Dr. Griffith would criticize
the administration's drug policy?

I don't agree with your characterization
of her comments.

She expressed her opinion about
the health effects of illegal drugs.

She called for the legalization of
marijuana. Does the president agree?

Wrong again, and I'd refer you
to her comments.

When asked if marijuana
should be legalized, she said:

" It's not for me to say. " She's right, and
it's important people understand this.

She is not a lawmaker. She doesn't
set drug policy. The president does.

And the president is 100 percent against
legalizing drugs, including marijuana.

Yeah.

Leo, I can take it to the next step.

Okay.

Okay.

- Leo wants me to show her support?
- Yeah.

- Josh?
- Yeah.

While I'm showing her support,
what are you showing her?

The door.

- Good morning.
- C.J.!

Hang on. Katie?

Did you know the surgeon general
would criticize the drug policy last night?

I disagree with your characterization
of her comments.

She expressed her opinion about
the health effects of certain illegal drugs.

I'm sorry, but didn't she say that she...?

Actually, what she said, and I quote, is
that there's been no conclusive study....

Josh?

Dr. Griffith.

You wanna come in?

Yeah.

- How have you been feeling?
- I've been feeling fine.

Checking your blood pressure
once a week?

Yeah, 130/87.

It's a little high.
What about the right leg and arm?

There's a little stiffness.

Yeah. You know, the guys at GW did
a fantastic job. It's a beautiful scar.

- When have you seen my scar?
- At the hospital.

- I don't remember.
- You were unconscious.

- How about your back?
- There's some pain.

- It's in your head.
- Along with all manner of things.

You know, Josh, just because
the white supremacists didn't kill you...

- ... doesn't mean that crap you eat won't.
- I eat fine.

You eat like you're still in college.

- I was in great shape in college.
- You were 19.

You could eat Tupperware
and deal with it.

Millicent, what were you thinking about?

- I was asked a question, Josh.
- I understand, but your answers...

My answers were correct, is anyone
challenging me on the facts?

- Not yet.
- Well, they won't.

As a doctor, I have an obligation
to tell the truth.

Come to think of it, as a person,
I have that obligation as well.

The truth is different if you're a GP or
a member of the Stanford Faculty Club...

...than if you're the country's
chief medical practitioner.

Well, no, I think truth is
pretty much truth across the board...

...never more so than if you're the
country's chief medical practitioner.

Did you know that 69 percent
of Americans oppose legalization?

Only 23 percent support it.

The number gets a lot higher than that
if you ask people under 30.

That's a shock.
The number gets even higher...

...if you limit the polling sample
to Bob Marley and the Wailers.

I mention that age group because an
awful lot of them seem to be in prison.

Is that what this is about? The criminal
justice system is not your jurisdiction!

- I wasn't commenting on it.
- Millicent!

- I wasn't commenting on it!
- "Yet bizarrely...

...the law categorizes it
as a Schedule 1 narcotic. "

I was commenting on medicine.

I've had three conversations
with Leo McGarry in the last 12 hours.

- The reason I'm here...
- I'm not a politician...

...but it's not like I haven't
lived here two years.

C.J. 's up there right now
giving you our support.

I'm sorry, but we need you to resign.

No.

Dr. Griffith, I say this
with all possible respect...

...but you serve at the pleasure
of the president.

And I'll continue to right up
until the moment he fires me.

Okay.

Thank you, ma'am.

Josh.

See the doctor, get a lollipop.

The fact that the president disagrees with
her doesn't mean he's gonna fire her.

The surgeon general's
an executive appointee...

- ... and the president stands by his staff.
- Excellent.

C. J., shifting gears, there's a full-page
ad that appears in today's Times.

I've been told it might've appeared
in 22 papers this morning.

The ad was taken out by
the Family Values Leadership Council...

...and praises the president
for denouncing a movie...

...opening next week,
Prince of New York.

- Yes.
- You know anything about it?

No, I don't know what's going on there.

- The president didn't denounce it?
- Not unless he did it in the shower.

He hasn't denounced it to me
or to the public.

That's all. I'll see you this afternoon.

- Sam's here.
- Thank you.

- Good job.
- Tell me what's going on with this movie.

- It's called Prince of New York.
- Right.

- There's been controversy.
- Sex and violence?

And religious imagery. Religious groups
are organizing boycotts.

The studio phones Charlie because
they want a screening. He passes.

- Why?
- Because he did.

The producer goes on Imus
and says Bartlet's a coward...

...who's siding with censors and that
he's no friend of the First Amendment.

The Family Values Leadership Council
took out an ad congratulating us for that?

- Yeah.
- Seriously, I quit.

- Here it is: We've got these people...
- Wait.

- We've got the industry people.
- It's Morgan Ross' movie?

- Yes. We've got these...
- Morgan Ross went on Imus?

- He did it by phone.
- He called the president a coward?

He didn't call him a coward as much
as he called him cowardly.

- Which is different.
- How?

- It's not, but still.
- I'll crush him.

This guy's trying to get free media
by screwing with us.

I'm the enforcer, Sam.
I'm gonna crush him.

I'll make him cry
and then I'll tell his mama about it.

- You won't make him cry.
- You wanna watch me make him cry?

I believe you can make him cry.
I'm saying you won't do it.

I'm trying to tell you,
we're meeting with them tomorrow.

I'll straighten it out. Keep telling
the press you don't know anything.

- That shouldn't be a problem.
- C.J., Danny Concannon's on the phone.

- And I think you should take it.
- Why?

He wants the president's reaction to
a comment made about Millicent Griffith.

- Who made the comment?
- That's the thing. It was Eleanor.

- Eleanor who?
- It was Eleanor Bartlet.

Hey, it's C.J.

Toby, we understand your predicament...

...but the commission won't be credible
with our people...

...unless they know there's someone
on it who's a friend of labor.

And a friend of seniors.

The president's a friend of labor,
seniors, small animals.

- Toby.
- I'm running out of time, Lenny.

We announced this at the State
of the Union. We gotta get going.

The State of the Union's your problem.

- Nobody brought us in.
- Yes.

And I, for one, am not sure I see a need
for emergency-like speed.

- Really?
- If economic conditions continue...

Forever? If we never have
another recession ever again?

The fund can withstand 30 years
before going bankrupt.

Unfortunately, the actuarial tables say
I won't be dead yet.

Guys, Gillette's a tough needle
to thread.

I wanna know that we have your trust,
that whoever we do get...

...will look out for your interests, and
that you will support the commission.

Can I assume from your total silence
and blank faces that you're all with me?

- Maybe if we talk some more.
- Oh, could we?

- C.J., listen.
- She didn't?

No. Leo's gonna need to talk to her.

You should start to walk back some
of what you said in the Press Room.

There's something stickier
than the support I gave her.

- What?
- Concannon's quoting Eleanor Bartlet.

She said, " My father won't fire the
surgeon general. He'd never do that. "

- Eleanor?
- Yeah.

- You mean Zoey.
- No, it was Eleanor.

They're trying to export their way
out of their own economic problems.

- Yes, sir.
- By dumping cheap steel on the U.S...

- ... you know what they want?
- A protectionist response.

They're begging for
a protectionist response.

Steel and mining employ
170,000 workers.

They won't sit around while
discount steel comes flying in from...

How you doing? They'll want retaliatory
tariffs, and you know what that means?

A return to Smoot-Hawley
and the Great Depression.

You should go to Japan
and tell them that.

- Charlie.
- Sir.

I'm walking to the press
and telling them retaliatory tariffs...

...are gonna cost American taxpayers
$800,000 for every job saved.

We're not taking questions.
Let's get in the car.

What's going on?

Eleanor made a comment on the record,
and you can't answer questions.

- Eleanor? You mean Zoey.
- It was Eleanor.

- When did this happen?
- About six hours ago.

Why didn't you tell me six hours ago?

Because I didn't want you crash-landing
the plane. Let's get in the car.

Welcome back, Mr. President.

Josh, is there anything to suggest
there are people who would smoke pot...

- ... but don't because it's illegal?
- No.

Why do you think
if it were decriminalized...

...suddenly people would show up
to work stoned...

...dragging down the economy and
clearing stores of Pringles and Twinkies?

That's not a reason to make it legal.

In a free society, you need a reason
to make something illegal, not legal.

Parents are keeping drugs away
from their kids with a whip and chair.

- It doesn't help if...
- Yeah.

Oh, that's okay. It's just me talking.

The president's back.

- Does he wanna see me?
- Yeah.

- Welcome back.
- Thank you.

- I've had it, C.J. I've absolutely had it!
- Sir...

What is Danny Concannon
doing calling my kids?

They all know better,
but Danny...

- Sir, he didn't...
- You're gonna suspend his credentials...

...for six months, and I don't care!

His paper wants to cover me,
send someone else.

Mr. President, Danny didn't call her.

- I was told it was Danny.
- Yes, sir, she called him.

She called him?

Good evening, welcome back,
Mr. President.

The Allman Brothers, Josh?

How was the flight, sir?

Tokyo is willing to show
economic restraint...

...in exchange for a good-fielding
shortstop and a left-handed reliever.

Who's against her so far?

The Judiciary Committee, Government
Reform and Oversight, Appropriations...

- Why Appropriations?
- They control her budget.

- Who's coming to her defense?
- The Cannabis Society...

...the Cannabis Coalition,
E Cannabis Unum...

...The American Hemp League
and Friends of Mary Jane.

- Sir?
- Yeah.

- Sam's waiting to see you.
- I understand I've been congratulated...

...for denouncing a movie
I've never heard of.

- Yes.
- I've gotta hand it to you.

You pulled off a political first. You won
me the support of the Christian right...

...and the Cheech and Chong Fan Club
in the same day.

Leo's seeing her tomorrow.

- Anything else?
- No, sir.

- Thank you.
- Thank you, Mr. President.

Charlie?

Would you arrange for my middle
daughter to come see me...

- ... at her earliest possible convenience?
- Yes, sir.

Screw her convenience.
Get her ass down here.

Yeah?

- What's this note?
- That note?

Yeah.

It says we should stand by
the surgeon general.

Actually, it says we should stand by
the "sturgeon" general.

- Does it?
- Yeah.

- I meant surgeon general.
- I think we should stand by her too.

I wanted to make sure we were agreed
smoked whitefish was on its own.

- Yeah.
- Toby?

- She's here?
- In the lobby.

- You're with the ratings people?
- Soon. What's the food for?

- Today's attempt at insuring our future.
- What's your plan?

First, I have to be nice to
a liberal Democratic congresswoman.

- Will that be hard?
- Well, it was when I was married to her.

- Hey.
- Good to see you. Thanks for coming.

You look fantastic.

- Thank you. How've you been, Sam?
- Sam's great.

Fit as a fiddle, Andy.
Although, I found...

Nobody cares.

Yeah.

Hi.

- How you doing?
- Congresswoman Wyatt.

- Yes, indeed.
- You're growing into that title nicely.

This is going someplace hysterical.

Yeah. Labor wants Gillette
on the commission.

- Yes.
- So does the AARP.

- Yes.
- It's important.

- Yes.
- You know why?

They're suspicious of the commission...

...and want one of their people
protecting them.

We're one of their people.

Has it been easy convincing them of that
since you announced the commission?

No. But I bring you here.
And we sit and we have coffee...

...and we have Danish
in the hope that calmer...

- ... and, dare I say, prettier heads prevail.
- How I miss patronizing, sexist Toby.

I was referring to myself.

- You don't wanna ask Gillette.
- Nope.

- Because you think he might say no.
- Right.

This is really important, Andy.
Can you help us?

No.

Toby?

Close the door.

Put the Danish down.

- Dial M?
- Yeah.

- A fine film.
- I know it well.

Ray Milland, Grace Kelly,
Robert Cummings...

- He likes when the guy looks for the key.
- What was the other one about?

- Prince of New York?
- Yeah.

It's an updated version
of Dostoyevsky's The Idiot...

..."which tells the story of a Christlike
epileptic man who embodies goodness...

...but encounters sex, crime
and family dysfunction. "

I can't imagine why you didn't think
he'd enjoy that.

He would've enjoyed the scene
where Prince Myshkin...

...has a seizure while engaged in
an erotic fantasy in a Long Island church.

Please don't say the word "erotic"
in the Oval Office.

I'd be happy never to say
any of those words anywhere again.

John Williams
as Chief Inspector Hubbard.

- Not to mention...
- Excuse me.

Ellie.

I was told my father wanted to see me.

Let me ask you this. Red meat has been
found to cause cancer in white rats.

Maraschino cherries have been
found to cause cancer in white rats.

Cellular phones were found
to cause cancer in white rats.

Has anyone examined the possibility that
cancer might be hereditary in white rats?

Let me tell you, I'm not 100 percent sure
we've ruled that out.

Dr. Griffith.

I'm on.

Congratulations, Millie.

You're now the pamphlet girl for
every right-wing fundraising cause.

That interview's gotta be worth at least
20, 30 million bucks in contributions...

...from people who think you'll distribute
dime bags of Hawaiian sens...

...at junior high schools, along with
condoms and fornication manuals.

Can I say, I was never given
a fornication manual, so....

- You think this is funny?
- We're spending a billion dollars a year...

...keeping more than 40,000 people
locked up.

- That's not your...
- That's not my jurisdiction.

Which is why I didn't comment
on decriminalization.

Six committee chairs, three House, three
Senate, are all talking about hearings.

- What will they find?
- They don't need to find anything.

They need to say your name and "drugs"
as many times as possible on television.

I don't think you said anything wrong.
Nobody thinks you did anything wrong.

I'd like to do the right thing
all the time, but I can't.

I can't let us get bogged down.
Government'll stop.

This'll be what we do for two months.
There are more important things.

I'll take heat from the first lady, but
I want your resignation by 8 tonight...

...or the president's gonna fire you.
I've got a meeting.

Thanks.

Zoey said you were thinking
about oncology.

Excuse me?

Zoey said you were thinking
about oncology.

Yeah, or neurology.

- He's just tied up in his meeting.
- I'm fine.

- They said he'd be back any minute.
- I'm... Good, yeah.

You like medical school?

I do.

I like my professors.

I have a pathophysiology professor
who teaches clinical skills by...

Eagle's moving.

Eight hundred thousand dollars
in consumer costs per job saved.

Retaliatory tariffs on steel imports
are a disaster.

Anyone wants to check my math,
they're more than welcome to.

Anybody wants to shove
the Golden Gate Bridge up Japan's ass...

- ... they're welcome to do that too.
- Mr. President?

- Thank you.
- Yes, sir.

- Ellie, thanks for coming.
- Hi, Dad.

Come on in.

- Did you get down here okay?
- Yeah.

Did you take an airplane?

- An airplane?
- Yeah.

- No.
- Helicopter?

No, the agents drove me.

That's because you go to school
at Johns Hopkins, right?

- Dad.
- And Johns Hopkins is in Baltimore.

I'm asking because Baltimore's
a 45-minute car ride from Washington...

...and we hardly see you anymore.

So I thought either you transferred
to a different medical school...

...they moved Johns Hopkins
or they moved Baltimore.

- Are any of those things true?
- No.

Okay. And this is accurate, this quote?

" My father won't fire the surgeon
general. He would never do that. "

Yes.

When you put your head down,
your hair falls in your face...

...and I can't see your face
or hear you.

Now, look at me and talk to me!

Yes, the quote is accurate.

What the hell are you doing
talking to a reporter?

- I was...
- I set up monumental, unprecedented...

...unbreakable rules
about my children and the press.

I've gotten White House reporters
transferred to Yemen...

...for approaching Zoey and Elizabeth.
It is the law!

Well, I'm sure before you gave
the quote...

...you cleared it
with the communications office.

I'm sure you went over
the exact wording with C.J. Cregg...

...and coordinated it
with White House strategy...

...so the timing was right
in the news cycle.

I'm sure you consulted
the appropriate party leadership...

...because you're a pretty
knowledgeable operative...

...having spent so much time
with me. Ellie!

- Dad, she was... She was...
- What? Pick your head up!

She was doing exactly what
she is supposed to do.

She... I'm sorry.

She was asked a question,
and she said what she knew to be true.

When you start firing doctors for that,
you've crossed a line.

There is politics involved in this, and
you knew it would make me unhappy.

- That's why you did it. That's cheap.
- I didn't do it to make you unhappy.

- You didn't do it to make me happy!
- I don't know how to make you happy.

For that you gotta talk to Zoey or Liz.

Okay, let's drop it.

Mom gets back in the morning and we
have a movie tonight, if you wanna stay.

I can stay over if you want me to.

Yeah, thanks.

I go out...?

That door over there.

- Mr. President?
- Yeah.

- The labor secretary.
- Send him in.

Charlie?

- Give me just a minute, would you?
- Yes, sir.

- Andy, look.
- Hang on a second.

- Hang on a second!
- No, I won't.

Yes, you will. You will summon your
strength and listen to me for a moment.

You made a hairpin turn
at the State of the Union...

...without consulting a lot of members of
the liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

There aren't a lot of members of the
liberal wing of the Democratic Party.

So forgive people if they're concerned
one of the options you'll explore...

...is raising the retirement age.

Andy, people are living decades longer
than anyone anticipated in 1935.

- So you are?
- We wanna consider everything...

- ... but can't consider anything...
- Why does this have to be secret?

Because it's the only way
it's gonna happen.

Because you can't solve
Social Security...

...and ask people to run for election
at the same time.

Why not give politicians a cloud cover
and let them be lawmakers for a while?

15 people in a room
with the door closed.

Seven Democrats, 7 Republicans and
the president, who will not have a vote.

They walk out, and with one voice,
they make a recommendation...

...to Congress and the American people.

And nobody knows who was where.

The only way it's gonna happen
is in secret.

The only way it'll happen
is if all the sides...

...are confident in their representation.

Otherwise, it's dead. And so I need
Seth Gillette on the commission...

...but I can't ask him. Because if
he says no, there'll be no commission.

Anyway, I appreciate you coming down
and talking to me.

I like when you ask for my help, Toby.

I read that I'm on the benefit committee
for the Child Leukemia Foundation.

- Yeah, I saw that too.
- Why did they write that?

They must've gotten it
from the press release I sent.

I guess so. You didn't think
it'd be better to ask me first?

- I really didn't.
- Interesting.

I've found if I skip the first step
and move to the second...

...it becomes harder
for people to say no.

You'll have fun.
You'll look nice in your tuxedo.

You don't have to stay.
You don't have...

- Toby?
- Skip over the first step...

...and move right to the second.

Toby.

- Hey, Andy.
- Hey, C.J.

Toby, when you have a minute,
can you stop by the office and....

What?

Tomorrow, I want you to announce...

...Gillette's joined the Blue Ribbon
Commission on Social Security.

- Toby...?
- Make sure the press knows...

...the senator put the Democratic Party
above personal differences.

He put people above all.
Make sure they know he's a patriot...

...and when the president asked him to
serve, Senator Gillette answered the call.

- Did he?
- Yeah.

I just saw it at your press briefing
tomorrow morning.

Okay, but this is really the last thing
I'm doing before I quit.

Okay.

It's like checking sugar and fat content
on cereal.

We bend over backwards
to help parents make choices.

We put V-Chips in TVs, warning labels
on records, TV shows, film ads.

And when we do, we suffer...

...because our products become
demonized and marginalized.

Sam Seaborn wants to see you.

Every 10 years the government
asks for more.

We come to you every 10 years because
the situation isn't getting better.

When will the government ask
the NFL and NHL...?

- Can I talk to you?
- Sure.

- Come on.
- Hey, he's wrong in there.

The situation isn't the same.
There's a 28 percent drop...

...in juvenile crime, 10 percent drop
in the overall crime rate.

- I don't care.
- Why?

American Academy of Pediatrics, AMA,
the American Psychological Association...

...say watching violence on TV is bad
for kids, and we'll listen to experts.

I'll remember that tomorrow when I
read the surgeon general was fired.

Remember it whenever you like.

- What is he seeing tonight?
- Dial M for Murder.

Good. Hitchcock never used sex
or violence in his films.

Yeah. Morgan, the president's
never seen your movie.

He's never heard of it. He has
no objection to it, and you know it.

The Family Values Leadership Council
sees it differently.

The Family Values Leadership Council
distorted the truth.

- Stop the presses.
- Thanks to that ad...

...exhibitors in Mississippi, Oklahoma
and Alabama are pulling the film.

I read the synopsis, and if exhibitors put
you on every screen of every multiplex...

...you still wouldn't do any business
in Mississippi, Oklahoma or Alabama.

- You're an industry expert?
- But you are...

...which explains a lot about Hollywood.
You knew the ad would get business.

And that's why you went on Imus
and said what you did.

- I'm here for a Sam Seaborn scolding?
- Yeah, because it makes me crazy.

This kind of thing should be celebrated
by First Amendment advocates.

Charlie was offered a choice and made
one. Why aren't you saying:

" It works. Don't ban movies
like Prince of New York.

You just have to choose
not to watch them "?

And, Morgan...

...you ever call the president
a coward again for PR...

...it won't be C.J. you gotta deal with.
It'll be me.

You understand what I'm saying, right?

Yes.

Go back to your meeting and show me
how much you want to make it up to us.

Good job.

This isn't good.

- What?
- The president's not talking.

- There's a movie on.
- He usually talks during the movie.

Hello?

- Good evening.
- Good evening, Mr. President.

- I'm sorry about this.
- Yes, sir.

- Is that your resignation?
- Yes, sir.

- Thank you.
- On thinking about it...

...I felt your firing me would send
a dangerous signal...

- ... to whomever had my job next.
- Did you not think...

...that playing down the dangers
of drug use sent a dangerous signal?

I do not believe that is what I did, sir.

I was asked, by and large, if marijuana
holds the same addictive properties...

...as heroin or LSD. It does not.

I was asked if marijuana poses a greater
health risk than nicotine or alcohol.

In my opinion, it does not.
If you look at...

- Millie, did you put her up to it?
- Sir?

" My father won't fire the surgeon
general. He would never do that. "

You didn't put her up to it?
You didn't pick up the phone and say:

" It's your godmother. Let's stick it to
your dad and paint him into a corner"?

No, sir.

Why haven't I ever been able
to get her to like me?

I'm asking you.

- Sir, I'm not sure it's appropriate.
- I'm asking you.

- I think you're wrong.
- I'm not.

- She worships you, Mr. President.
- She's mad at me.

- You're mad at her.
- Yes, I am.

I was running for president.
Where was she?

- She was with us.
- Not like Zoey and Liz.

- Sir...
- She's always belonged to Abbey.

You frightened her.

No, I didn't.

- How did I frighten her?
- Jed, look where you're standing!

I was elected two years ago.
She's 24 years old!

You've been the king of whatever room
you've walked into her entire life.

It never seemed to intimidate
Zoey or Liz.

Well, kids are different.
They're not the same.

You'd be amazed, you'd be stunned...

...at how soon they understand
they're not their father's favorite.

- That's not true.
- Sir.

- That's not true.
- Mr. President.

No. I will bear with the nonsense of the
Christian right and the Hollywood left...

...and the AFL-CIO and AARP
and the Cannabis Society and Japan...

...but I will not stand and allow
someone to tell me...

...that I love one of my children
less than the others.

She's frightened of me?

She ain't the only one.

I wanted to be so mad at her.

I heard the news and my first thought....

My God, King Lear is a good play.

" My father won't fire the surgeon
general. He would never do that. "

I wanted to be so mad at her.

But the truth is, it's the nicest thing
she's ever said about me.

Well, good night, sir.

Good night.

- Hey, doc.
- Sir?

I don't accept.

- I'm sorry, sir?
- I don't accept your resignation.

I appreciate that, but Leo's right.

This shouldn't stop you
from doing bigger things.

These are the bigger things.
I don't accept your resignation.

You work for me.
You go when I tell you to.

- You're an excellent role model.
- Yes, I know.

- So you're back?
- Yes, indeed.

Tell C.J. when she gives Millie
our support on Monday, she can mean it.

It's gonna seem to some people...

...like you did it because
your daughter asked you to.

Yeah.

You know, Josh, I think
if you ever have a daughter...

...you'll discover there are worse reasons
in the world to do something.

- Sit down. We're at the good part.
- What's he doing?

Wondering Why that key doesn't fit.

He's going around to the back entrance.
He stopped again.

How you doing?

I said, how you doing?

Fine.

- We're coming up to the good part.
- People are trying to watch the movie.

You wanna bet me your tuition no one
in this room is gonna shush me?

I hear you're thinking
about ophthalmology.

Oncology.

Why do you wanna study people's feet?

- That's podiatry.
- Then what's children's medicine?

- Pediatrics.
- I thought it was obstetrics.

- That's pregnant women.
- And what's the study of feet?

Dad, you're not gonna get me to laugh.

Really?

The only thing you ever had to do
to make me happy...

...was come home at the end of the day.

So endocrinology would be what,
disorders of the gallbladder?

Thyroid.

I'm pretty sure you're wrong about that.
Endocrinology is your sub-specialty...

...of internal medicine devoted
to the digestive system.

- That would be gastroenterology.
- Are you sure it's not nephrology...

...immunology, cardiology
or dermatology?

Just stop it.
I'm trying to watch the movie.

Okay.

Here comes the good part.

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