Walking And Talking And Yelling At Clouds: In This White House

Original airdate: October 25, 2000

Written by: Aaron Sorkin (25)
Story by: Peter Parnell (2) & Allison Abner (1)

Directed by: Ken Olin (3)

Synopsis

A bright and quick-thinking Republican spokesperson outwits Sam on a political TV talk show, causing the President to ask Leo to bring her on to the White House staff. The administration tries to broker a deal between African nations and American pharmaceutical companies over the price and availability of AIDS treatment drugs.

"Say they're smug and superior. Say their approach to public policy makes you want to tear your hair out. Say they like high taxes and spending your money, say they want to take your guns and open your borders, but don't call them worthless. At least don't do it in front of me. The people that I have met have been extraordinarily qualified. Their intent is good, their commitment is true, they are righteous, and they are patriots. And I'm their lawyer."

Being the writer of a popular TV show, it turns out, is a pretty powerful spot to be in. And that goes triple if you're the writer of every episode. When your show starts taking criticism for being "smug," "superior," too liberal (even being called The Left Wing by too-clever conservative critics), why, then, you can just write into the show a conservative Republican character who espouses those countering opinions and then have her see how committed, righteous, and patriotic these liberal characters actually are.

Okay, that's certainly painting Aaron Sorkin in an admittedly ungenerous light, and I'm not entirely serious - but there's a little bit of that in Ainsley Hayes, the blond Republican conservative in favor of gun rights (and not in favor of condom distribution in schools) who is introduced here.

I actually think the character of Ainsley is great, and Emily Procter is absolutely wonderful in the role (she brings a lot of her own mannerisms and speech patterns, which fits in great with Sorkinese), but she's still a liberal's idea of what a conservative might be like. And the manner in which she comes around to the fact that the staff of this White House (which she has disdained from afar) is actually fighting the good fight and is as patriotic as any Republican is, well, kind of a liberal fantasy. Less so in the atmosphere of the early 2000s than now, but still ... I mean, the Trump GOP/Democratic dichotomy of today is as wide a split as I can remember, but the GOP vs. Clinton divide nearly 20 years ago seemed so, so dramatic at the time (oh, what I'd give for those days again).

To the episode! Ainsley appears on a TV talk show where we're led to believe she's just a punching bag for Sam, who has appeared a "couple of dozen" times on the show taking apart various Republican spokespersons. Ainsley is a last-minute replacement who says she hasn't been on TV before; so naturally, she picks apart Sam's defense of the President's education bill, calling him out for lying and even catching him in a glaring geographical error.

This takedown does a couple of things: It brings us one of the fan-favorite lines of West Wing history ("Ginger, get the popcorn!") even while that same exchange between Josh and Toby really exposes Sorkin's less-than-charitable view of women in power ("Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl!"); but more importantly, it draws President Bartlet's attention and makes him think she'd be a great addition to the White House staff:

President: "We should hire her."

Leo: "What, you mean as a joke on Sam?"

President: "No, not as a joke. I mean we should hire her as a reality. We should hire her."

Leo: "She's a Republican."

President: "So are half the people in this country."

The meat of the episode from here on is Leo's attempt to talk Ainsley into joining the staff of the White House Counsel ("Associate White House Counsel, who reports to the Deputy White House Counsel, who reports to the White House Counsel, who reports to me."). Ainsley is reluctant to do so, as the policy positions of the Bartlet administration are pretty much the exact opposite of everything she believes. A couple of discussions while she's waiting to see Leo to formally turn down the job help change her mind, however - first, she helps CJ with an (overheard) potential legal issue, to CJ's evident relief and gratitude; then she brings up the Second Amendment and the administration's (unconstitutional, to her) gun control proposals, which brings a fiery and deeply felt response from Sam in the still-fresh aftermath of the Rosslyn shooting:

Sam: "But for a brilliant surgical team and two centimeters of a miracle, this guy's (motions to Josh) dead right now. From bullets fired from a gun bought legally."

Ainsley doesn't back down, though, making the point that the administration (and liberals in general) act from feeling, instead of hard fact:

Ainsley: "Your gun control position doesn't have anything to do with public safety, and it's certainly not about personal freedom. It's about you don't like people who do like guns. You don't like the people."

But after that, there's a flurry of activity as the senior staffers head into the Oval Office. Through an open door, Ainsley sees President Bartlet and his staff break the news to President Nimbala that the military has staged a coup in his country of Equatorial Kundu, that his family's whereabouts are unknown and that his life is in danger if he insists on returning.

I believe these three things - CJ's evident concern about doing the legal and correct thing, the ability to have a frank back and forth about a controversial topic that exposes each side to the other's stance, and the view of a compassionate, caring Chief Executive who is truly trying his best to improve the nation and the world - have a deep impact on Ainsley. In any event, she changes her mind and tells her two (rather snotty Democrat-hating) friends that she's going to take the job (which gives us the quote at the top of this post).

Speaking of President Nimbala, he's in the United States to meet with pharmaceutical company reps in order to try to get a handle on the price and availability of drugs to treat AIDS. AIDS was on the rampage in Africa at this time, and the cost of treatment through American firms was much higher than if African countries evaded patent laws and bought the drugs at cut-rate prices from other countries. There's some good discussion of some real-life issues here: Josh brings up the point that even though drugs may be far cheaper to produce than the drug companies charge, there's a huge initial cost to develop the drug in the first place ("The second pill cost them four cents; the first pill cost them four hundred million dollars"); The attitude of first-world industry towards third-world consumers is made clear by the pharmaceutical company executive's doubt that Africans have the capability to follow the requirements of AIDS drug dosages and timing; The realities of generics and drug sourcing from less-than-quality sources is pointed out. It's a nicely developed plot point that shines light on a real-world issue.

Interestingly enough, we also get one of the first walk-and-talks in which Josh explains things to Donna (while in fact actually explaining things to the audience). The West Wing Weekly podcast calls this technique a "Telladonna" (a goof on Donna's actual first name, Donnatella). While it is somewhat necessary for exposition for the audience, the fact that it's usually Donna getting the explanation is sorta-kinda another example of Sorkin's unbalanced male-female point of view (yes, I may be reaching here, but why couldn't Donna, a completely capable and smart person herself, explain something to another character? And this is going to happen a lot over the course of the series):

Donna: "I don't feel that I've homed in on this."

Josh: "There are a lot of people in Africa with HIV."

Donna: "Right."

Josh: "American companies hold the patents on the medicines they need."

Donna: "Yes."

Josh: "Most people in most African countries can't afford to buy the drugs at these prices, so they buy them on the black market."

Donna: "In violation of the US patents and international treaties."

Josh: "Yes."

Toby and Josh eventually come up with a deal for Nimbala, saying they can get concessions from the drug companies and a deal on international development loans if he gets his police and military to crack down on the black-market drug purchases. Unfortunately, this all comes to naught at the end of the episode when we discover there's been a coup in Equatorial Kundu and Nimbala's government has been overthrown. Despite the offer of asylum from President Bartlet, Nimbala insists on returning home, facing certain execution.

There's another minor plot point involving CJ, who inadvertently lets slip to a (new and green) reporter word of a grand jury investigation into a company violating sanctions by selling oil drilling equipment to Iraq. She goes through several sleepless nights, waiting to see if the reporter will publish the story and (she believes) put her in legal jeopardy for revealing the grand jury news, but Ainsley bumps into the reporter and hears about the leak. She later happens across CJ sweating things out on her exercise cycle, and (eventually) lets her know she's in the clear legally:

Ainsley: "Who told you?"

CJ: "One of the witnesses who was called. What could happen?"

Ainsley: "Eighteen months, medium security. (CJ abruptly stops pedaling) CJ, I'm kidding. You didn't break the law. Attorneys and jurors are under a gag order. Witnesses are free to say whatever they want, and anyone is free to repeat what they've said."

(I think in addition to what I covered previously about what caused Ainsley to change her mind about the White House job, she also can see here the staff could really use additional help from the Counsel's office.)

Some truly memorable moments in this episode, some clever writing, a little cringiness from Sorkin, and the great introduction of another terrific character. Season 2 is off and running, and believe me, there's a lot of really good stuff ahead.

Tales Of Interest!

- Ainsley tells Mark Gottfried that this is her first time appearing on TV - yet in the opening video for Capital Beat we see a "talking head" clip of Ainsley apparently speaking on TV at some prior time. If this were her first time on TV, where did they get this video?

- Since the timeline of the series got so wonky in the previous episode, there are a couple of clues here that definitely place this episode in the fall (as it aired in late October). Sam talks about winning an NFL football bet with a member of the Capital Beat crew; and on the computer screen behind Leo in one scene we see the word "SNOW."

- The number Ainsley sees on her caller ID (202-456-1414) is indeed the actual White House switchboard phone number.

- I believe this is the first time the series creates a fictional country (Equatorial Kundu). Of course, for the purposes of the plot (AIDS-ravaged African country disregarding international patent law, with a military coup overthrowing a democratically elected leader), it probably wouldn't do to use a real-life nation. Mentions in the script helping to pin down the location of Equatorial Kundu indicate there are informational contacts in Sudan and Angola, and Nimbala's wife flees to Kenya (so that must be nearby). With the equator running through the northern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, and Kenya, this would appear to place Equatorial Kundu somewhere around Uganda or northern Congo.

- So when does Capital Beat air? Obviously Toby and Josh are at the office, given the scene where they run to see Sam get "his ass kicked by a girl," so that would seem to be a weekday (given these guys all appear to get weekends off). The first act of the episode (after the cold open) is clearly labeled "Tuesday," and the staff are giving Sam a hard time for showing his face at work after his performance on TV. The call from the White House to Ainsley comes on Tuesday night; when Leo is talking to her he says, "I've never seen Sam Seaborn get beat the way you beat him on Monday." All these indications clearly point to Sam's appearance on Capital Beat as being on a Monday night. Yet ... when Leo tells Sam and CJ he's going to offer Ainsley a job, he says she's "the woman who was on Capital Beat with Sam Sunday night." So which is it?

- When President Nimbala is informed of the coup, he asks to call his embassy, to which President Bartlet replies "Your embassy is in exile." What does this mean, exactly? A government would not have an embassy in their own country; embassies are, by definition, offices/residences of ambassadors to other countries. Why would Nimbala be wanting to call any of his embassies, and why would any of those embassies be in exile, when the military coup is happening within his own nation? I think Sorkin messed up here.

Quotes

Sam (as Capital Beat goes to a break): "Please, oh please, let them not be watching."

(Cut to Josh running into Toby's office)

Josh: "Toby, come quick! Sam's getting his ass kicked by a girl."

Toby (rushing out of his office): "Ginger, get the popcorn."

-----

Toby: "A drug they gotta buy from us for four dollars a unit they can get generic from Pakistan for forty cents."

CJ: "That's not the only bargain in Pakistan, Toby, my girlfriends and I go for the spring fashions."

Toby: "It shows."

-----

President: "She's smart, she's not just carping. She feels a sense of something."

Leo: "Of what?"

President: "Of duty. Of civic duty."

Leo: "How many pieces by her did you read?"

President: "Three."

Leo: "And you're certain of her sense of civic duty?"

President: "I can sense civic duty a mile away."

-----

Leo: "I wanted to tell you this out where there were people so you wouldn't scream about it."

CJ: "Scream about what?"

Leo: "The woman who was on Capital Beat with Sam Sunday night."

Sam: "What about her?"

Leo: "I'm offering her a job."

Sam: "Where?"

Leo: "Here."

CJ: "Are you kidding?"

Leo: "No."

CJ: "Are you kidding?"

Leo: "No."

CJ: "ARE YOU KIDDING?"

Leo: "No!"

CJ (yelling): "Well, what the hell made you think I wouldn't scream where there were people?"

Leo: "I took a shot."

-----

Ainsley: "The woman who works out there who I imagine is your secretary offered me coffee or a soft drink."

Leo: "Okay, so -"

Ainsley: "She was also kind enough to ask for my coat."

Leo: "Excellent. And -"

Ainsley: "She seems to be a very good secretary."

Leo: "Well, she'll be happy to hear that. She's standing right outside the door." (Bangs on office door)

Margaret (from behind door): "Ow."

-----

Leo: "Ainsley, even if you hadn't already told me all of this, you know, many many times, I would know it anyway cause I have this FBI file."

Ainsley: "You have my FBI file?"

Leo: "Yes."

Ainsley: "I can't believe this. You have my FBI file?"

Leo: "Yes."

Ainsley: "I have an FBI file?"

-----

Leo (to Ainsley): "The President likes smart people who disagree with him. He wants to hear from you. The President's asking you to serve. And everything else is crap."

Story threads, callbacks, and familiar faces (Hey, it's that guy!)

Familiar TV show guest Ted McGinley (Revenge of the Nerds, Married .. With Children, Hope & Faith) is here, as Capital Beat host Mark Gottfried. McGinley got a somewhat undeserved reputation as "the patron saint of shark-jumping," called on to take roles on several TV series nearing the end of their runs (Happy Days, The Love Boat, Dynasty).

Bruce, the male half of the Democrat-hating Republican team hanging out with Ainsley, is played by Tom Gallop. While he's not a household name, you've probably seen him in one of his many, many roles on TV (Will & Grace) or movies (the Bourne series).

Len Cariou appears as the pharmaceutical company executive. Cariou has a long and successful career on Broadway (Sweeney Todd), movies (Thirteen Days, Spotlight), and TV (Blue Bloods).

Gail's fishbowl features an elephant, appropriate for the addition of a Republican to the West Wing staff.

Capital Beat is the same TV show Josh appeared on with Mary Marsh prior to the events in Pilot, when he was nearly fired for saying her God was under indictment for tax fraud.

A "Stackhouse" was mentioned back in Mandatory Minimums, as one of the lawmakers who had some family or staff connection to drug-related charges. Here he's mentioned as an unavailable guest for Capital Beat. He'll come up again.

DC location shots

There are no location shots in this episode.

They Do Exist! It's The Real Person, or Thing

President Nimbala brings up the American "miracle" maker who revolutionized agriculture, Norman Borlaug (from Iowa, by the way. Yay, Iowa!). As President Bartlet expands on later, Borlaug's research into dwarf wheat varieties helped yields nearly double in southern Asian countries like India and Pakistan.

The President mentions Paul Ehrlich's book, with Josh recalling the title (The Population Bomb).

President Bartlet has his handy Dayton Flyers mug in the Oval Office (as mentioned before, Martin Sheen is a native of Dayton). He's also seen wearing a Notre Dame shirt at the end of the episode.

Ainsley mentions the possibility of having a spot on Geraldo. Geraldo Rivera had a sensationalistic syndicated TV talk show in the late 1990s. At the time of this episode, he hosted Rivera Live on CNBC. He moved to Fox News in late 2001.