I was going to post my Harry Potter blatherings, but then I saw this meme over at zinke  and decided that that I so would rather do this instead.

I originally responded to this over at zinke as part of her anniversary meme, but figured I should also post it here too, at least partially.

This is one of my favorite scene and contains one of my all-time favorite quotes.

Bartlet is asleep in his bedroom. The phone rings four times before he finally answers it sleepily.

BARTLET: What?

CHARLIE: Good morning, Mr. President. It’s Charlie. I hope...

BARTLET: What could you possibly want right now?

CHARLIE: Sir, it’s 6:30 a.m. and...

BARTLET: In the morning?

CHARLIE: Yes sir. And I wanted to remind you that...

BARTLET: I mean, what in the name of everything holy could you want right now?

CHARLIE: I wanted to remind you that you have a 7:00 a.m. at the Oval Office with senior staff, followed by your security and intelligence briefings, and a meeting with the Chairman of the Fed. Would you like me to have the stewards bring you some coffee and the Washington Post?

BARTLET: Who the hell is this?

CHARLIE: Sir.

BARTLET: And what could you possibly want?

CHARLIE: Sir. I need you to dig in now. It wasn’t a nightmare. You really are the President.

BARTLET: All right.

CHARLIE: I’ll have the stewards bring the coffee to your room.

BARTLET: I’ll get up now.


I miss my show.

On my way to work yesterday, a tourist stopped me to ask directions.

“I knew you were a local. You looked like you were from around here,” she said. I walked the rest of the way to work with a big grin on my face.

I love being from DC. It has it’s own culture and flavor that is hard to describe to outsiders. It’s very quirky and surprisingly apolitical. This Washington Post article from the Inauguration gets close. The politicians and the lobbyists may get all of the attention, but I’ve lived in a very different world from that, where people wear their government badges with geeky pride and Metro is main way to get around. It’s a pedestrian city. I bring this last part up, because the distance between places is the thing that The West Wing usually and consistently gets wrong.

I know I’ve complained before about the closing shot in 20 Hours In America when Toby, Donna and Josh all walk back into the city over the Watergate Bridge. It’s a beautiful image of the city. But you know what else? It’s at least a 30 minute walk to the White House from there. I should know. I’ve done it before!!

Last night, I watched “Shutdown” for the first time in years. I really enjoyed it (maybe even more than I did the first time around) but then Angela Blake said that the Capitol was only a five or ten minute walk away from the National Gallery, which is definitely an underestimate. Five minutes will get you to the Capitol Reflecting Pool. If you walk fast. And how would Josh, who had been working in and around the Capitol his whole life, not know how long of a walk it was?!

Then, as an added kicker, as CJ and Toby watch the news on television, the newscaster (a self-proclaimed twenty-five year Washingtonian) mixed up the National Archives with the National Gallery. You do not get those two building mixed up. Not to mention it’s close to another half hour from the Archives to the Capitol. Again, I know because I’ve walked it!

I remember at the time having trouble buying that Secret Service would be okay with Jed casually taking a stroll up Pennsylvania Ave. (Though I always figured that Josh ran the idea by the Secret Service first before presenting it to the President.) Now, after having gone through the most recent Inauguration (HE WALKED!), I realized one reason that the Secret Service would have been okay with President Bartlet setting out on foot: it’s mostly government building from there until the Capitol. Empty government building because the government was closed. Nice how that worked out!

Other than those blatant inaccuracies, it was a very good episode. It’s easy to forget those existed during Season 5. Yes, pod!Leo was in full force, but it’s was such a Josh episode. And in a lot of ways, this was the episode where Josh went from being Leo’s boy to Jed’s virtual stand-in. This was probably the episode that helped give root to number 3 on my fanon list. And Donna saved Social Security, which still just delights me.

Okay, I normally don't ask for help with fic on such a widespread basis, but I think the topic is broad enough that I'll get a range of answers. I'm curious about what everyone's answers would be.

Without getting into details about why I need the information, I'm having trouble figuring out who Donna would have on her iPod. I have a feeling hers would be a little different from mine. I think I can make a pretty good case for R.E.M. and I decided that even if she wasn't a Cranberries fan, she would have a soft spot for "Linger". flippet  and tomfoolery815  both rightly pointed out that Donna was in all likelihood a U2 fan. (Her excitement to possibly meeting Bono was very similar to her excitement about seeing Yo-Yo Ma.) And I would bet money on her wearing out her copy of the Garden State soundtrack. But other than that, I'm stumped. I'd like to use a Matchbox Twenty song that wasn't released as a single and I don't know if she would be a big enough fan to buy the whole album.

So, I'm opening the floor for suggestions. What kind of music do you think Donna listens to? Specifically what kind during season 7 and beyond?  I don't mind if its obscure, but it would be helpful to have some sort of sample, if you can find one. (YouTube is fine.)

I was looking through my files when I stummbled across this meme that I had started but never finished. If memory serves, it became a victim of November 2008. Thing is, I was almost done and it seems a pity to let all that good work go to waste. So without further ado, here it is.

( Better late than never... )

When you see this on your f-list, quote "The West Wing" 

JOSH: What does it remind you of? (He mimics Ritchie) "I believe in hope, not fear!" ... "I'm a leader, not a politician!" ... "It's time for an American leader!" ... "America's earned a change!" .... "I before E except after C!" ... It's fortune cookie candidacy! These are important thinkers! And understanding them can be very useful, and it's not ever going to happen at a four-hour seminar when the President's got an embassy surrounded in Haiti or a keyhole photograph of a heavy water reactor or any of the 50 life-and-death matters that walk across his desk every day. I don't know if he's thinking about Immanuel Kant or not - I doubt it, but if he does, I am comforted at least in my certainty that he is doing his best to reach for all of it, and not just the McNuggets.    (Beat)    Is it possible we would be willing to require any less of the person sitting in that chair? The low road? I don't think it is. 

(Quote from Political Affairs.  Meme from cantbesilent.  Much thanks to both!)

I've worked on this all week.  (And have mostly avoided other people's commentary for the same amount of time.  So, I'm not entirely sure what people have been saying.)  My thoughts on the subject haven't changed, but it has taken me a while to able to articulate what I’m feeling.  Not too surprisingly, this turned out to be long. So, I’ve divided it into three sections.




Sigh.  My show has ended.