Ira Furor Brevis Est by Ecri
See part one for disclaimer.
Monday
Toby was distracted. He listened to everyone's opinion, giving them his ear, but his eyes never strayed from Sam for very long. His deputy had made the kind of mistake politicos feared making. Akin to CJ's blunder when she said the President would be relieved to be sending troops to Haiti, this one could conceivably have more serious repercussions.
He listened to Josh, and tried to look his way, but his eyes moved of their own volition back to Sam. Sam Seaborn was never this shy about speaking his mind. He hadn't said a word during this meeting. Toby wasn't even sure his mind was on this meeting. Finally, he came right out and asked.
"What do you think?"
"I don't know."
Toby pushed. "But you think we don't go, right?
"Yeah."
Toby managed a few more words, effectively ending the meeting. His thoughts were still on Sam. They'd have to talk soon.
**
Later in the day, Josh waylaid Toby in the corridor. "You think he's okay?"
"Sam?"
Josh nodded.
"He'll be fine."
They started to walk down the hall. Josh stopped Toby after a few feet. "Toby, I'm worried he may be"
"What?"
"Suicidal."
Toby stared at Josh for a minute, fear blooming in his heart.
"Why?"
Josh told Toby about his conversation with Hoynes.
"When was this?"
"Thursday night."
Toby started walking again, not caring if Josh kept up with him. "He'd just found out about it on Thursday. He was still stinging from the initial reactions to the tape. He was likely still angry about being set upon by Bruno Gianelli."
"I know that. I'm not an idiot!"
"No, but you resemble one from time to time!"
"This has been a bad year for him."
"It's been a bad year for all of us."
"He hasn't been the same since his parents split up."
"Don't do this."
"What?'
"Make this about more than it's about. He messed up. He knows that. He's moving on."
"I hope so."
Toby stared at Josh for a second. "He's moving on."
Josh nodded, unconvinced, and, once again retreated to his office.
**
CJ stood in Sam's office door. "Sam, you got a minute?
"Sure, CJ. What's up."
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"Sam"
"CJ"
"You seem, I don't know, a little down."
"I'm not down. I'm up."
"You know what, Spanky?"
Sam looked at her a half smile forming at her use of the nickname only she called him.
"You're good at your job."
"CJ, I'm fine."
"You're not.
Sam gave her a half-smile, and put out a hand as if to stall any further words from CJ. "Seriously, I am fine. I'm up off the dirt.I'm moving onjust fine."
CJ frowned at Sam's tone. For some reason, she recalled the night of the State of the Union when he'd mentioned the cancer community buying him a beer, and had quickly brushed her off before she could show too much concern. Not convinced, but not sure what to do about it, CJ nodded to Sam and walked back to her office.
**
Several weeks later
"That's all I have." CJ spoke confidently to the press corps, shutting her folder and stepping off the dais.
The reporters immediately called her name to get her attention, but CJ was already headed back to her office,
As she walked, she literally bumped into Josh. "Woah, slow down! Where are you going?" She asked him as they spun around in an effort not to hit the ground.
"To look for you."
"Well, here I am." CJ continued to walk.
Josh ran to catch up. "CJ, Oval Office."
CJ turned sharply. "What happened?" She started towards the Oval Office quickening her pace.
"Ritchie gave a speech." He nodded his head in the general direction of the Oval office. "He wants opinions on how to respond."
When they reached the Oval Office, Toby, Sam, and Leo were already there. President Bartlet stood behind his desk hands clutching the back of his chair in white-knuckled anger. "For God's sake, Leo, where does the man get off? Is he making this stuff up?"
"No, sir, not all of it." Leo replied.
"Don't give me your lip, Leo. I don't have to accept this." He noticed CJ and Josh. He looked at Josh. "Did you tell her?"
Josh shook his head and looked uncomfortable.
Leo explained to a perplexed Press Secretary. "Ritchie made some comments about Senior Staff, the President, and the job he's done. He said that it surprised him that a supposedly intelligent man would allow an alcoholic such a high profile job. He was asked if he believed that I steer the President to the middle ground." He paused.
CJ looked from Leo to the President. "And"
Bartlet spoke first. "He said that he was sure it would take some steering because a man like me could never find the road–let alone the middle of it–on his own."
She stared at them for a moment. "Meaning what exactly? You're too stupid to find the road? You're so smart you think too much about the road?"
"Doesn't matter what he meant. It's how it sounded." Leo was trying to shrug it off.
CJ tried to calculate just what they could say to spin this automatically assessing what kind of damage such statements could do to their already shaky campaign. "Can he say this?"
Leo nodded. "Most of it is public knowledge. He's just reminding people about it."
Josh shifted uncomfortably. "Leo, there's no gain in saying you're alcoholic. Like you said, it's public knowledge."
"It is public knowledge, but there is gain. People will see me as a drunk, and all he had to say was alcoholic'. Since I am a self-admitted alcoholic, he's not telling a lie."
Sam took a few steps forward drawing all eyes to him as he spoke. "I can get a statement from a spokesperson from AA to force him to acknowledge publicly that there is a huge difference between alcoholics and recovering alcoholics." Sam was about to add more to his suggestion, when Leo cut him off.
"There's not, you know."
"Not what?" Sam asked.
"Not a huge difference between alcoholics and recovering alcoholics. Do you know what the difference is?"
Sam shook his head.
"One drink."
Sam stared at him for a moment, wanting to argue, believing with all his heart that Leo was wrong, but he just nodded and stepped back.
"I don't happen to agree with that, Leo." Bartlet nodded to Sam. Sam returned the nod, rightly interpreting it to mean that President Bartlet wanted him to do as he'd suggested.
Before Leo could make any additional remarks, Toby made his way to stand next to CJ. "Tell her the rest."
CJ spun to look at him eyes wide, voice incredulous. "There's more?"
Bartlet stepped around his desk and sat in one of the conference chairs, gesturing for his staff to take seats. "The laundry list, CJ, is Leo's alcoholism, Josh's penchant for insulting our friends as well as our enemies" With great effort Bartlet reigned in his growing anger. "Then there's Toby's quote about me winning reelection on Hoynes' coattails. Ritchie's using that as proof that even my staff doesn't have faith in me." Bartlet waved away Toby's unspoken objection. "Leo told me it was out of context, but I don't think the Press will buy that."
CJ was still reeling. "Is that everything?"
"Noooo." The President continued. "Let's see. He mentioned my relief at sending troops to Haiti"
CJ's mouth fell open. "Mr. President"
"CJ, if you apologize again, I'm going home. To New Hampshire. I've spent the last half hour hearing the entire staff apologize and I can't take it anymore."
CJ looked pointedly around the room. "The entire staff?"
"Yeah." Bartlet looked around. "Who'd I miss?"
Sam raised his hand. He opened his mouth to speak, but Bartlet stopped him with a glare.
The President turned back to CJ. "Sam got two. Ritchie brought up the hooker"
"Call Girl." Toby and Josh corrected in unison before Sam could.
The President ignored them. "and he's claiming that Sam was involved in a conspiracy to undermine the Ritchie campaign."
"How" CJ looked to Sam, puzzled.
"The video tape." He reminded her reluctantly.
Toby caught Sam's gaze before it hit the floor. "You're still angry, right?"
Sam almost laughed at the look in his boss' eyes, but settled for a small, sad smile, and a nod of his head, which did little to assuage Toby's misgivings.
CJ looked around the room. "How does the video tape undermine Ritchie's campaign?
Toby explained. "He says Sam was planting suspicion among the staffers by suggesting the campaign had a mole."
CJ looked from Toby to Sam, who only shrugged. She turned back to the President. "All of this was in order to question your judgement and your policies, wasn't it?"
Bartlet nodded. "Yeah, apparently I'm a liberal academic who thinks he can run the country like a think tank, but hasn't got the slightest idea how to handle a crisis."
"You can't handle a crisis? What does he think we've been doing since we got here? We gotta call him on this. We can't let him get away with it!"
Josh nodded. "I agree. We should accuse him of mudslinging. Of manufacturing issues where none exist. We need to tell the public"
Toby cut him off. "What? What do we tell the public? Don't listen to him. He's not playing fair?' Josh, we respond to this and he's got us where he wants us."
"Are you saying we let this go?" Josh was incredulous. "I mean, it's not so much about what he said as much as it's" Josh cut himself and started again. "If we don't respond at all, even a general statement, isn't it going to look like we're agreeing with him, or just hoping it will go away or something?"
Leo shook his head. "I can't see how we can find a way to spin this in our favor."
Toby nodded, taking up the reasoning. "We can't deny too vehemently because it will seem as though we're trying to draw attention away from what he said, or that we are hiding something. If we ignore it"
CJ was shaking her head. "We can't ignore it! Someone is going to ask me about it at the next briefing."
"If we ignore it, it will become a bigger issue." Josh agreed.
Toby sighed in frustration. "I don't think we should ignore it, but I don't want us making a big deal about it, either."
Bartlet sat back. "Deny it, don't deny it, ignore it, don't ignore itI want to call him out!"
"Or have him call you out." Sam's voice was soft but it carried well enough for Bartlet to hear him.
"What was that? What do you mean have him call me out?"
Sam glanced at the President. "Sir, if Ritchie wants to call attention to these things, he's going to have to expect some sort of response." Sam paused, knowing most, if not all, of the staff would not like his suggestion. "So, let's make the response in publicand in front of him."
Bartlet's eyes narrowed slightly as he considered what Sam was saying. Before he could say a word, Josh did.
"We can't have the President confront Ritchie in public and try to take him down for saying mean things about the staff! It'll make him look pettyand besides that"
Bartlet interrupted Josh's tirade when he noticed that CJ and Leo seemed about to interrupt with words of their own. Toby seemed content to stare silently at his deputy as if gauging something. Gauging what, Bartlet wouldn't even guess.
"What do you have in mind, Sam." Bartlet's voice was loud enough to draw their eyes to him, and he'd purposely used his most presidential tone. He was pleased to see the head of every person in the Oval Office swing towards him as if unable to do anything else. At least he knew he could still command their attention.
Sam shook his head. "There's a way to do this and make it look like it was Ritchie's idea. We've got that trip to Oregon coming up in a few days"
"A few days!" CJ's arms came up from her sides and dropped back down almost lifelessly in defeat. "Sam, my next briefing is in three hours!"
"CJ, let him finish." Bartlet urged Sam to continue.
"Ritchie's going to be in California a few days later. It should be simple enough to manufacture a reason for us to go to LA for a day or so. We'll just bump into Ritchie, goad him into demanding a debate, and offer to debate him on the spot. If he says yes, we'll already have briefed you on it, and if he says no"
Bartlet smiled. "He looks scared."
Leo stared at Bartlet and then at Sam. "He looks as if he can only talk about the President behind his back."
Sam nodded, smiling.
Toby leaped out of his chair and rushed at Sam "I love it when you're angry!" He declared slapping his deputy on the back so hard he nearly fell over.
Bartlet glanced to Leo, puzzled, but his Chief of Staff just shrugged. Sam hadn't sounded angry to either of them, though Leo knew why Toby had said it. CJ and Josh, however, were grinning. Whether that was because they understood the Communications Director's cryptic remark or because they found it amusing that Toby had nearly knocked his deputy down, Bartlet couldn't tell.
"How are we going to make this work?" Bartlet asked. His staff settled down and began to tackle the nuts and bolts of their plan.
Sam turned to CJ. "Tell the press" Sam paused, his head tilted back, eyes toward the ceiling as he contemplated how precisely they should do this. "Tell them the President is amused at Governor Ritchie's assessment of his presidency and would love the opportunity to discuss it with him further. If they press you for more, give them the standard, no further comment line"
Toby watched his Deputy easily slide into the driver's seat, taking the meeting into a strategy planning session. The staff followed his lead, talking aloud, tackling the language they should use, and composing questions they thought it likely Ritchie or his people might throw at the President. Sam seemed to smile quicker, laugh heartier, and joke easier than he had in months. In relief, Toby sat back and took it all in, grinning before he was completely aware of it. Feeling someone's gaze on him. He glanced around the room.
President Bartlet caught his eyes and offered a small nod and a Mona Lisa of a smile. He understood what Toby was gauging, now. Sam Seaborn was up off the dirt.
TBC
