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This list was originally published May 16, 2019.
Were re-running it in September 2024 to mark the 25th anniversary ofThe West Wings premiere episode.
NBCsThe West Winghas aged … unevenly.
Then theres the political side.
Take a minute to absorb to the idea.
Compared to other prestige television of the era,The West Wingstands out for its fundamental optimism.
It aired concurrently withThe Sopranos, whose anti-hero Tony begatBreaking Bads Walter White andRay Donovans Ray Donovan.
The other big political show of the time was the violent24.
The end of its run coincided withDeadwood, for chrissakes.
And yeah, sometimes it was (looking at you, Crackpots and These Women).
And every time they all lined up to say the same thing one after another.
If his speeches are neoliberal drivel then, dammit, they are well written neoliberal drivel.
Things can be two things.
Im interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7.
Shes a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn.
What would a good price for her be?
While thinking about that, can I ask another?[…
I like to imagine two editors cutting this scene together and having the following conversation.
Thank you, Mr. Lewis.
Except I forgot to launch the garage door.
Abby told me not to drive while I was upset and she was right.
Youll denounce these people, Al.
Youll do it publicly.
C.J., show these people out.
Again with the asses!
Is this a saccharine line that appears more than once in the hysterical supercut of reused Sorkinisms?
Let Ellie have this.
Let them stand in this room.
She was nine years old.
Which isnt, you know, such a bad idea in general.
Think how much better the rest of the show would have been if hed gotten a dog.
One in five, and theyre children.
I stopped some money from flowing into your pocket.
If that angers you, if you resent me, I completely respect that.
Ten-Word Answers
Thats the ten-word answer my staffs been looking for for weeks, there it is.
Ten-word answers can kill you in political campaigns, theyre the tip of the sword.
Heres my question: what are the next ten words of your answer?
Your taxes are too high?
Gimme the next ten words: How are we gonna do it?
But those days almost always include body counts.
Im the President of the United States, not the president of the people who agree with me.
Or maybe its about Twitter.
Hips Dont Lie and Neither Do Assistants
We wont discuss this any more for the time being.
Itll be public soon enough.
The more conversations you have with me, the more lawyers youll have to talk to.
Im confident in your loyalty to me.
Im confident in your love for me.
The characters on this show lie kind of a lot.
Much of it is in service of a greater good, but still.
somehow bring out the best in the politicians around them.
However corrupt Bartlet may have let himself become, he never wants to corrupt anyone else.
Then I worked for a man who was very particular.
Things like sticker size, index card color, and push-pin location had to be just right.
His caring about the little details was proof that he cared about the bigger projects.
He was putting everything he had into his job, down to the office supplies.
The Shutdown
Then shut it down.
Forgive the hyper-dramatic music in this scene and instead appreciate that Bartlets got a backbone.
(Of course, no one evershut it down like the cast of30 Rock.)
Good Works
Catholics dont believe man is saved through faith alone.
Catholics believe faith has to be joined with good works.
Its not enough to have the right beliefs or look to the correct leaders.
You have to actually work.
A good reminder for everyone who posts petitions online!
Liberals
What did liberals do that was so offensive to the liberal party?
Ill tell you what they did.
Liberals got women the right to vote.
Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote.
Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty.
Liberals passed the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act.
Liberals passed the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act.
What did Conservatives do?
They opposed them on every one of those things.
This isnt Bartlet, its Santos!
And its basically morphine for liberals!
And I love it!
Hes making a good point!
Just Be Wrong
No, no however.
Just stand there in your wrongness and be wrong and get used to it.
A useful lesson to us all, and a line my family quotes often.
Government is serious work for serious people.
We did not seek, nor did we provoke an assault on our freedoms and our way of life.
We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil.
And maybe the best response to violenceisto increase funding for public education.
Couldnt hurt, right?
And the fellow fourth from the back called me a socialist.
Which was nice, I hadnt heard that for a while.
Actually, Im an economics professor.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, they said.
That all men are created equal.
Decisions are made by those who show up.
But the invocation of American history is in the service of encouraging the audience to show up.
Specifically, at the polls.
If theres ever a time to allow patriotic pablum, its when youre telling people to vote.
By the way, hey vote!
Crabby Abbey
Let me tell you something, jackass!
Get as chippy as you want if that makes you feel better.
I am your wife …
I love you … you have a crisis … you have to deal with it.
When its done well talk.
Abbey Bartlett
The better Bartlet: Abigail.
This, to me, represents a perfect power couple.
Shes furious with her husband (we had a deal, Jed!)
A powerful man has a wife who is his equal and treats her with respect!
Admission of Guilt
I was wrong.
I was just I was wrong!
Come on, we know that.
I may not have had sinister intent at the outset.
But there were plenty of opportunities for me to make it right.
No one in government takes responsibility for anything anymore.
We fluster, we obfuscate, rationalize.
Everybody does it, thats what we say.
So we come to occupy a moral safehouse where everyones to blame so no ones guilty.
Can you imagine literally any other lead character of a drama saying this sincerely?
How to Make Decisions
You have a lot of help.
You listen to everybody.
And then you call the play.
The Great Debate
Well first of all, lets clear up a couple of things.
Unfunded mandate is two words, not one big word.
There are times when were fifty states and there are times when were one country and have national needs.
You think states should do the governing wall to wall.
Thats a perfectly valid opinion.
But your state of Florida got twelve point six billion dollars in federal money last year.
From Nebraskans and Virginians and New Yorkers and Alaskans with their Eskimo poetry.
Twelve point six out of a state budget of fifty billion.
Smugly demonstrating your superior intelligence while belittling your debate opponent but not calling anyone else stupid in the process?
Plus a subtle call for national unity?
Post Hoc, Ergo, Propter Hoc
After, therefore because of it.
It means one thing follows the other therefore it was triggered by the other.
But its not always true.
In fact its hardly ever true.
AnotherWest Wing-ism I truly use in my day to day life.
Sometimes hoc just happens.
(Another important lesson I learned during aWest Wingepisode:Maps are racist.)
Two Cathedrals
Youre a son of a bitch, you know that?
She bought her first new car and you hit her with a drunk driver.
Is that supposed to be funny?
I dont know whose ass he was kissing there, cause I think youre just vindictive.
What was Josh Lyman, a warning shot?
That was my son.
What did I ever do to yours but praise his glory and praise his name?
Theres a tropical storm thats gaining speed and power.
You know what a tender ship does?
Fixes the other ships.
Gratias tibi ago, domine.
Yes, I lied.
It was a sin, Ive committed many sins.
Have I displeased you, you feckless thug?
Three point eight million new jobs, that wasnt good?
Bailed out Mexico, increased foreign trade, thirty million new acres of land for conservation.
Put Mendoza on the bench.
Were not fighting a war.
Ive raised three children.
Thats not enough to buy me out of the doghouse?
Haec credam a deo pio, a deo justo, a deo scito?
Tuus in terra servus, nuntius fui; officium perfeci.
Cruciatus in crucem you get Hoynes!
This speech is about grief, plain and simple and devastating.
Bartlet Gives Charlie the Knife
Funny you should ask.
Charlie, my father gave this to me and his father gave it to him.
And now Im giving it to you.
The fully tapered bolstering allows for sharpening the entire edge of the blade.
These were made for my family by a Boston silversmith named Paul Revere.
Im proud of you, Charlie.
Sorry, cant key in, something in my eye.
1. thank u, next
Whats next?
