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"The West
Wing"
Limits of our hearts
*
The White House, 11:15 on
Monday morning. A television
is visible, showing CJ Cregg, White House Press Secretary, holding a press
conference:
"… And I would like to inform you that due to events of
the last few weeks the price of oil has risen. Later today I will have more
accurate information. Any questions?"
The journalists start shouting
questions.
*
A hallway elsewhere in the West wing, Sam Seaborn,
Deputy White House Communications Director, and Toby Ziegler, White House
Communications Director, are talking.
Sam says, "So now I need to call Frances and find out
their side of the story, and that's it?"
"It depends
what she'll say, but I don't think there will be any more problems," Toby
responds.
"And what about the oil issue? What do we have to do
about that?" continues Sam worriedly.
Toby replies, "For now we need to check the exact
differences in the cost of oil tanks, and let's hope this matter won't
inflate too much. Now, when is Josh coming back from Boston?"
"Tomorrow night, I think," Sam
states.
"Excuse me, Toby?"
They look back and see a
secretary.
Toby growls, "Yeah,
Linda?"
"Mr. McGarry says he needs you
immediately."
Toby sighs.
"Sure, I'll be there in a moment." He turns to Sam, "You don't need
me anymore, right?"
Sam mutters absently, "Right.
I'm going to call Frances now."
They separate and each goes off
in the opposite direction.
*
Leo McGarry, White House Chief of Staff, is sitting
by his desk, reading a memo and writing notes for himself. There is a knock
on the door.
Leo calls out, "Come in."
Toby walks through the door. As Leo sees him he sighs; Toby on the other hand appears
calm, as usual.
Toby says, "You asked for me?"
Leo responds, "Yes. Sit down,
please."
"I prefer to stand, thank you.
What's going on?" Toby asks.
Leo doesn't say anything. Then, he takes an envelope out
of his pocket, extracts a piece of paper from it, and gives it to Toby. As
Toby opens it, Leo speaks.
"We received it today in the mail. We don't know yet who
sent it but we will know soon."
As Toby scans the letter, his eyes widen and he appears
shocked. He quickly realizes that the letter contains a black and white
photograph of him, with racist and anti-Semitic sentences and symbols
splashed across it.
*
Boston,
11:15 on Monday Morning. Josh
Lyman, Deputy Chief of Staff and Donna Moss, his assistant, are sitting in
a crowd of people at a lecture. They are not paying attention to the
lecture, but instead are talking to each other.
Josh mutters, "Why doesn't this convention end already?
What do we have next?"
Donna replies, "Let me see… this lecture ends in about
forty minutes. Then you have lunch with the vice mayor. From two thirty
until four o'clock there's a debate about the resumption of the battle
against international bigotry."
Josh snickers, "The resumption of the battle
against international bigotry?"
"Yes, that's what it
says."
He sarcastically comments, "I can hardly wait to hear that debate. What's after
it?"
"Nothing. You have a free
evening to do whatever you want."
"Finally something to anticipate in this place. Do me a
favor, next time please remind me to say no when I'm offered a chance to go
to another convention. "
Donna smiles. "Ok, I
will."
Josh looks around. Suddenly he seems to recognize
someone from the audience. He tries to remember who the person is, looks
again, and drops his jaw.
"It can't be!"
Donna queries, " What? What is
it?"
Josh replies, "You see that
woman with the black and red coat?"
Donna asks, " Yeah, what about
her?"
Josh explains tersely, "That is Ashley Jones. We studied
together in high school, and let's just say I don't have pleasant memories
of her."
Donna becomes extremely interested. She can't take her
eyes of the extremely beautiful, extremely natural-looking woman in the
red-black coat. She gets that spark in her eyes she always gets when there
is a chance of juicy gossip.
She asks, "What do you mean by
'unpleasant memories'?"
Josh answers defensively, "I
mean that it's none of your business!"
"I think I know what's going on
here… you had a crush on her."
Josh meekly states, "Yeah. I
did."
Donna replies excitedly, "So come on, go over there,
this is your chance to prove yourself to her!"
Josh, sarcastic again, responds
with, "Yeah, right."
*
The West Wing of the White House. Sam and CJ are in CJ's office. Sam
is testing CJ on what exactly she is to say about the oil issue at the next
press conference.
Sam says, "They're probably going to ask why was the
stock exchange market so shocked if we knew that the prices would increase.
What do you say then?"
CJ replies in her formal 'press conference' tone,
"Changes in oil prices are not under our control. Since oil is a highly necessary yet scarce resource in
the world, every little change in the industry has an affect, and it's
unstoppable. However, the fact that we were prepared helped us minimize the
amount of effect on the economic markets."
"Excellent."
"CJ," calls a male voice loudly. CJ and Sam turn
to see her secretary in the doorway.
"Yes, Mark?"
"They need you in the Oval
Office immediately."
CJ responds quickly, "Thank you, tell them I'm on my way." She turns to Sam. "If there is any news about the oil
issue you'll notify me, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Sam answers.
CJ leaves her office. Sam seems a bit puzzled, and
starts writing in his notebook.
*
The Oval Office. Charlie, the President's aide, is
waiting by the door. CJ comes and he greets her.
"Hey CJ."
"Hello Charlie, how are you
today?"
"I'm fine, thank you."
He opens the door and CJ enters the room. President
Bartlet is sitting by his desk with an angry look on his face. Leo is
standing next to him, with a worried appearance. Toby is also in the room,
leaning on the wall. His face is pale and apathetic. Charlie closes the
door.
The President says, "Good
Morning CJ."
CJ responds, "Good Morning, Mr.
President. Has something happened?"
Leo is the one who says, "Unfortunately, yes." He gives her the letter. "We received it this morning; we
don't know yet who did this."
CJ looks at the letter, and
appears shocked. She looks at Toby, but he is silent.
The President states, "Things have gone too far. This time we won't stand on
the sidelines. I just can't believe that this issue is still among us, in
the strongest democracy in the world, and in the 21st century."
Leo tells CJ, "I want you to introduce this subject at
the press conference today. Also I want you to say that tomorrow, in his
speech after the meeting with the British ambassador, he will be referring
to this matter."
CJ quickly says, "Yes sir."
She turns to leave but
President Bartlett calls to her, and she turns.
"CJ!"
"Yes, sir?"
"I want you to agitate the media today. I want to make
sure this subject won't be forgotten in a couple of days. I can trust you,
right?"
"Yes, Mr. President."
He continues, "Also, I don't want Toby to deal with this
issue anymore." He turns to Toby.
"You are now responsible for the oil issue. I want Sam on this one.
Go talk to him and ask him for all the information he has."
Toby murmurs, "Yes, sir."
"And Toby, I want you to take
the rest of the day off. You've had enough for today. Also, someone send
for Charlie on their way out."
A chorus of
"Yes sir"s, and CJ, Toby and Leo leave the room quietly.
Charlie enters.
"Charlie, I want you cancel all
my meetings this afternoon."
"Right away, sir."
"And please inform Sam I'd like
to speak with him later."
*
Harvard University, Monday at noon. Josh and Dona step out of the
building among the rest of the crowd.
Josh comments wearily,
"Finally, it is over!"
Donna responds, "Yeah." Then she smiles. "Now you can talk with
Ashley.
"Would you give it a
break!"
A woman's voice from the side
calls out, "OH MY GOD!"
It is Ashley. She walks towards them quickly, almost
running, and shouts "Josh Lyman! What are you doing here?"
Josh, acting surprised, says, "Ashley? Ashley Jones? Is
that really you? How are you?"
"I'm great, thank you. How many years have passed,
fifteen? I can't believe it, what a small world. So what did you think
about this lecture? Pretty boring, in my opinion. I mean, when people talk
they need to see their audience and be sure they are paying attention." She sees Donna. "Oh, hello, and who are you?"
Donna murmured, "Donna Moss,
Josh's assistant, nice to meet you."
They shake hands.
"Nice to meet you too, Donna." She turns back to
Josh. "Anyway, I can't stay
here any longer, but what do you say we'll meet for dinner, bring up
memories and all. There's a great restaurant next to the Football Stadium,
is eight o'clock fine? Good, see you there, bye now!"
Ashley walks away. Josh seems
puzzled. Donna looks at him in with a smile.
Josh responds defensively,
"What?"
*
The White House, 3:34, Monday afternoon. CJ enters the pressroom; cameras
flash and tape recorders are readied. CJ starts talking.
"Good afternoon to you all. I now have more accurate
details on the increase of oil prices.
There's an increase of 1.8% for a gallon of diesel oil;
a price-hike of 2.1% for a gallon of pure benzene; and the price of a
gallon of ships' fuel has increased by 2.4%.
The estimated new cost due to the price increase is
about 15 billion dollars a year, but we have firm reason to believe that
the prices should decrease in a few weeks back to their previous prices.
Also I would like to state that due to the foresight of
this administration, the stock market wasn't affected as badly as it could
have been if we hadn't been prepared. Any questions?"
The crowd calls to her. She points to a journalist.
"Mathew?"
"You said that the necessary people were prepared for
the rising prices of oil; however, the stock market has dropped
dramatically in value. How do you explain that?"
CJ responded, "Changes in the prices of oil are not
under our control, and since oil is an extremely popular yet scarce
resource in the world, every little change in its selling or marketing has
an effect, and the effect is unstoppable. However, as I have said, the fact
that we were prepared helped us minimize the amount of effect on the
economic markets. Vanessa?"
"Can you please explain why you believe that everything
is under control and the administration feels so ready to deal with the
challenges?"
"I'm sorry, but that is confidential information. The
only thing I can say is that according to similar events in the last few
years, the oil market would have collapsed unless the prices were reduced.
Now I want
to bring up a painful issue that today really hit our administration hard.
An anonymous person sent an anti-Semitic letter to Toby Ziegler, the
Communications Director. The President's reaction was quite strong, since
he has always denounced any kind of racism.
Tomorrow, after his meeting with the British Ambassador,
the president will speak to the nation about racism and means of
eradicating it. Tomorrow night I will inform you on the first policy
decision made by the president in this reinvigorated fight against racism.
Thank you for your time."
CJ leaves the room, followed by calls from the reporters
and shouted questions.
Sam waits by the door. As CJ leaves the room, he
comments, "Well done."
*
A fancy hotel, somewhere in Boston, 6:15, Monday
evening. Josh is readying himself
for the dinner date with Ashley. He stands by the mirror and ties his
necktie. Donna enters.
Donna asks mischievously, "So,
are you ready for your big date tonight?"
"Give me a break, will you? Besides, it's not a date.
We're just two old friends meeting to bring up old memories."
"Yeah, and Sam didn't say that
Uzbekistan is a powerful nuclear nation."
"You know I hate when you do
this to me, right?"
"Yeah I know."
"And you know I'll fire you
eventually."
"I know. So, how bad was
it?"
"How bad was what?"
"In high school. What's the worst thing that happened to
you because of her?"
"I'm not going to tell
you."
"Yes you are."
"I'm not going to tell
you."
"All right, all right, you
won't tell me. Now. But I'll find out eventually."
*
Sam and President Bartlett are sitting in the Oval
Office. As they talk, Sam takes notes to himself. Bartlett is talking
about his memories of the fight fought in Washington D.C.'s hallowed halls
as lawmakers sought to free the country from racism.
"I'll never forget the battle that happened in this city
thirty years ago. I was so proud that we would finally get rid of racism
all those years ago. I was
still young, and never thought that I would to deal with it, especially not
as president. Sometimes it just
seems to me that even though the world is advancing faster than ever into
new goals and ambitions, it doesn't advance at all. You know what I mean?"
"Perfectly, sir.
"God, I'm so frustrated. What
do you think about this whole thing, Sam?"
"To be honest, sir, I don't really know. I know how
serious and difficult this subject is, but I have never witnessed any real
steps taken against racism. I'm too young to remember the events here
thirty years ago, and since then nothing as big as we're planning here has
actually been passed and put into practice."
Bartlett sighs. "I guess you're right. We had this issue in our hands, and
we let it slip through."
"But, you know what they say:
better late then never."
"Again, Sam, you're right. For now, go and work on my
speech for tomorrow. I want
something that will shock people into action in this country!"
"Right away, Sir."
Sam heads for the door.
"And Sam?"
Sam turns to him. "You don't need memories of this to know how to
feel about it."
Sam doesn't answer. He just
nods and leaves the room.
*
Boston, 8:12, Monday Evening. Josh and Ashley are at dinner. They
sit in the middle of the restaurant, elegant music playing softly around
them, the atmosphere extremely romantic. They are sitting over a glass of wine,
and having a conversation. Ashley hasn't stopped talking the whole date,
and Josh, while utterly bored, tries to fake polite interest in his
companion's chatter.
"So, Josh, do you like Boston? It's like a second home
to me, I come here so much for business, I'm a lawyer, if I didn't tell
you, and I've also come here lots of times on vacation. But enough about
me, let's talk about you.
What's it like working in the White House? Who am I
kidding, it's probably awesome. All the tension and excitement that comes
with running the country. I couldn't stand it. Oh, you know what that
reminded me of? Remember that project we had to do on the changes of
democracy in the last twenty years…"
At this point, Josh, totally
bored and unable to hide it anymore, zones out.
*
The White House, 8:03, Tuesday Morning. Toby, moving at a fast pace, enters
Leo's office. He speaks.
"We've got a problem."
He hands Leo a newspaper. It's the Washington Post, and
its main headline screams "SEC: The Stock Market Wasn't Prepared for the
Increase of Oil Prices". In smaller print under the headline is: "Assistant
head of Securities and Exchange Commission, Herbert Moore, declares that
the major drop in the stock market wasn't minimized at all, and that the
White House's declaration that it could have been worse is false."
Leo growls, "Oh, for god's
sake. That's exactly what we needed today."
Toby answers, "What should we
do now?"
"I can't think on any reasonable solution but forcing
this guy to quit, or firing him if we have to. He has gone too far this
time, and he's been on the edge of it for a long time. I want you to meet
with him today, and persuade him to resign. I don't want to have him
fired."
"Yes, sir."
"I want this to be over before
the speech today. I'll inform the president."
"All right. Anything
else?"
"No, that is all."
"Good."
*
The fancy hotel in Boston, same time. Josh is eating in the hotel's
dining room. Donna comes into the room, spots him and quickly sits next to
him, all the while with a wide smile on her face. She starts the
conversation.
"Well, how was it?"
"Good morning to you, too."
"Don't keep me waiting, how was
it?"
Josh dismissively replies, "It
was great."
Donna, made skeptical by his
tone, asks, "Really?"
"No."
"How bad was it? Don't hide it
from me."
A waiter interrupts them to
ask, "Anything to drink?"
Donna responds, "Black coffee
for me, please."
Josh mumbles, "Lemon tea,
please, with some mint leaves."
The waiter hands them the drinks right away. Josh drinks
his tea, slowly, and doesn't speak.
"You know that tea won't save
you from me. Come on, tell me."
"Let's just say I spoke five
sentences in the entire dinner."
"Wow! That sounds awful. What
did you find in her in high school anyway?"
"I don't really know. I guess that fear of a rejection
from such a beautiful girl like her made me want her even more."
"Oh, that's so sweetly geeky. Ooh, they have pancakes in
the buffet. I'll be right back. But I can't believe you were ever so shy
and unsure about yourself. You can get anybody you want."
She stands up and goes to the buffet. Josh's eyes open
wide, and a small smile pops onto his face. He asks wonderingly,
"Really?"
*
Washington D.C., 1:36, Tuesday afternoon. Toby is sitting in a restaurant at
a table for two. He watches the door as though expecting someone. Then
through the door enters Herbert Moore. He is a man in his mid-sixties, with a bit of his gray
hair showing under his black hat, and the rest of his outfit is also black.
His face is serious, as though he doesn't smile often and hasn't
recently.
Toby quietly said, "Mr. Moore."
"Toby."
"I think we both know why we're meeting right now, so
let's cut to the chase. What you have done is unforgivable and everybody's
furious with you right now. I want you to hand today a letter of
resignation to your superiors, before the president's meeting with the
British ambassador."
Moore cried out, "No! I
won't."
"What do you mean, no?"
"We both know that I told the truth, and you can't deny
it. The stock market has suffered severely in the last two days and all
your administration did was protect your butts in the press instead helping
with its recovery. It is my responsibility-"
Toby interrupts him, shouting, "Your responsibility is
to serve the president of the United States. And that is not what you did
today. Now I want you to listen to me, and listen to me good. I want you to
give your boss a letter of resignation, because we both know that you won't
be assistant head tomorrow anyway. So either resign, or you'll be fired.
There's no other choice. And you know the consequences of the two options
you have left."
Moore doesn't reply. He just sighs and walks away with
downcast eyes. Toby also looks a bit depressed.
*
The studios of a prominent news show, 6:00 Tuesday
evening. A newscaster is
speaking on live television.
"Good evening, and welcome to the 6 o'clock news. First,
let's review today's headlines: President Bartlet is about to address a
speech to the nation regarding racism; Assistant head of the SEC Herbert
Moore resigned from his office after casting strong accusations against the
White House; and the stock markets begin to recover from the price-hike in
oil.
Later tonight we will have commentary on the resigning
of Mr. Moore, but for now let's go to the British Embassy, where the
president is leaving after having talked to the ambassador. The president
will be giving his speech at the White House. Ladies and gentlemen, the president has arrived…now he's
mounting the dais…and he's starting his speech."
*
The White House, same time, Tuesday evening. President Bartlett speaks.
"Good evening America, and thank you for listening to me
tonight. I'm not going to start out with a joke because this, what I'm
going to talk about, racism, is a grievous matter.
History is full of events where one group of people has
taken advantage of a weaker group and treated the weaker group as subhuman.
Some events were wide-spread and became infamous, like the events of the
Second World War, or the events that prompted the demonstrations led by
Martin Luther King more than thirty years ago.
Yet, as we entered the twenty first century, we thought
that here, in America, the greatest democracy in the world, this problem
was gone for good. We thought that the wishes of our forefathers who wrote
the Bill of Rights, and those who declared that no person should be
mistreated based on their race, creed or gender, have come true. But we
were wrong.
The truth is that racism still exists among us, and it
is past time to get rid of it. It won't be easy, demolishing racism, for we
can't control what each American citizens thinks and believes. But I
promise that I, with the assistance of my staff, will do everything
possible to win this battle, and I call on all of you to join us.
Because, together and united, the American people can
banish this disease of our minds and march into a better world. And working
together will make happiness and an end to racism be within reach. To be
honest with you, I never thought I'd have to give this speech ever in my
political life. So now, let's make sure that I, or any other president in
the future, won't have to repeat these words against the scourge of racism,
that racism will be wiped out once and for all."
As he speaks, the following is happening: CJ is
watching the president from the sides, together with Sam, who is mumbling
along with the president some of the phrases in the speech; Josh and Donna
are watching the president from the television on the plane from Boston;
Leo is in his office, doing urgent paperwork, the Washington Post and
Moore's letter of resignation on his desk; and Toby is walking in the
street, stopping next to a building and just watching it – a synagogue.
*
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