How Martin Sheen never got the Emmy despite scoring six consecutive nominations (2000-2006) is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, he had formidable competition during this period, but Sheen's work IMHO was worthy enough to snare at least one win.
I practically have that first argument memorized. "It's proportional, it's reasonable, it's responsible, it's MERCIFUL! It's not nothing!" is such a beautiful, flowing line, which is then immediately contrasted by the bluntly exasperated "THEN WE'LL BLOW 'EM UP AGAIN IN SIX MONTHS! We're gettin' really good at it!"
To me it was always the part that comes next. "It's what our fathers taught us.". There is so much implied in that statement and the outlook of the show going forward from it.
My all time fav TV series. And didn't Martin Sheen win best actor in a dramatic series largely for his angry dissertation at the National Cathedral after Mrs. Landingham's funeral, the end of the aecond season???
Sure, worked then Dosent work now. When Assad used chemical weapons in Syria, we responded. But he keeps using them. Iran attacked oil tankers, we use cyber warfare and drones to retaliate. Hasn't seemed to deter them. Ukraine is invaded by the country that cannot bake bread. We use sanctions and military aid bills. Hasnt stopped the fighting. Proportional response is the loftier pedastal of morals. But people who are against you in the field dont give a shit about your morals.
Amazing writing and performances!! And to think President Bartlet was supposed to be an occasional, minor character. I'm so glad they changed their minds. He was such a great one!
@@jspee1965Makes sense as Ronald Wilson Reagan was never President in that universe (Which is odd.). Also: "Reagan, often called "the great communicator," was not so sure about those closing lines it turns out. He, too, was familiar with the poem--"High Flight"--and was skeptical that verse from a 19-year-old World War II airman would strike the right tone." They were also quoting that, I swear the man knew more poems than me.
"Then we blow it up again, we're getting really good at it". I hope I laughed the first time just as hard as I did a few seconds ago. It is such a great show. Good writing, good acting, good filming, good sound.. nearly nothing wrong.
Love that scene with Jenna Jacobs. After asking for a good price for Zoey, there’s a few laughs. Once they realize he’s got a point to make, it’s totally quiet.
The only sad part is that the Theology is insanely wrong. It seems out of place for someone who is otherwise a genius. For example his view on abortion, which in my opinion is too weak, which is Pro-Life at least on a personal level.
I fell in love with this magnificent.man’s delivery when I was a 23 or 4 year old and he played Bobby Kennedy. He was magnificent. Very smart, magnificently smart and fast and multifaceted in his concurrent knowledge. He was awesome this as he was in this clip. There are not enough examples of writers and actors firing on all cylinders with so much focused passion on ideas that truly matter. As good as well delivered Shakespeare.
@@MaryAnderson-x9j Surely. Hold on a moment, I've just had another clip recommended. Let's see..."The Paul Revere Knife". That can't be anything, right? .... .... Dammit!!!!!!
@@ScootsFromNewCastle He lied about MS and other things, he assassinated a foreign leader, had bad temper and snapped at everybody (like Rene ^^ whom he gave a firm talking-to), his daughters kinda disliked him, his wife kinda wanted to divorce him... Don't get me wrong I think he's was good man so to speak, but "what would ever imply" is willful blindness isn't it? That's what made WW so great, the characters felt real, organic. They had depth and nuance, they were developped unlike any other show I've watched.
Amerika was Satan's nation from the very beginning, you know that I assume? Hence God's laws, and God Himself, were cast out of your LIBERAL Satanic constitution. And look at the horrors of your past and present. I expect Amerika to suffer greatly in these end times.
We're a democratic-republic with constitutional and presidential characteristics, but regardless I like that you're overty against freedom and liberty of the common man.
@@ugheieiemmmfmfmff Curious who you're speaking to, yalini? There's certainly nothing in my comment to indicate anything about my beliefs. My comment would only be considered Civics (As Pres. Bartlett explained).
@@ugheieiemmmfmfmff Simple. And thank you for asking. As Pres. Bartlett explains we are a Republic, not a democracy. My comment was only based on the accuracy of Sheen's character. Of course, he's a fictional character. Many real people today call us a democracy and that just isn't accurate. Our founders specifically set up a federal plan that wasn't a democracy because they didn't want the populations in 3 or 4 major cities in the colonies making every law for every colony as a simple "majority rule" might do. Certainly we have democratic principles in our nation, but most refer to our nation as a constitutional republic. To say what I like- or don't like- is jumping the shark for sure. My comment only addressed the accuracy of the term Pres. Bartlett used. I think you may have assumed too much.
This show quickly becomes strange when you realise 9/11 did not happen, they sort of endorse the Iraq War (2003-2011) and it is a world where the '90s just continued (Politically.).
In a plutocracy, a society ruled by and for money not people wich is what the US is since the 80s people like that (Bartlet) do not go into politics since the corruption does not seem fun or feasible to them. You'd have to transform back to a democratic republic for a higher quality of elective material. People like Obama/McCain/Romney/Clinton is the best you'll get, and we all now know what the bottom of the barrel looks like - insurgents at the capitol.
I was almost going to type that this is the president we deserve. But, no we don’t. Not with the way 50% of this country votes. Amazing how one party has actually convinced people that minorities, the LGBTQ community, the poor, access to healthcare, and taking care of the environment are somehow socialist, ‘woke’, or whatever nonsensical word is being used to distract them from the fact that corporate profits, big business and billionaires are actually to blame. This country once had so much promise, and unfortunately religious nationals and politics as business is what is going to take us down - sooner rather than later.
It ISN'T 50%. Only some 60% of eligible voters actually voted in the election. Then about 46% of THEM voted for trump. That's only about 28% of eligible voters. We are being run around by an extreme minority who are making us believe that they make up at least 50% of voters. Don't be fooled by them.
Happens when a good education is either pay walled or picked apart by people who have no place deciding what an education should entail. It takes a couple generations but a good education fixes any nations major problems.
07:18 "82% of the people can't possibly be expected to reach an informed opinion. " This right here is the deepest truth of the west wing. Not the quote, because it is horseshi, but what it reveal. Which is the deep arrogance and stupidity of a kind of elitist pieces of shit who preach one thing but really, really think another. While the west wing was a good show, it was deeply flawed at it's core, becauseit was more concerned about loving grandstanding Ideas than understanding them. The point was to reach for that informed opinion, which really is the goal of representative democracy, to build generation upon generation until this state can be reach. Until finally the people can decided their own fate and not delegate to elitist jerk their decision. This show had 0 faith in humanity. It preached a lies even a well meaning one. Because it did, it was hypocritical.
Even this actor makes a better president than Trumpty Dumpty! The stark contract between reality and how people would like their president to be is truly amazing..
Ironically he wasn't better than "Trumpty Dumpty" Just a lot better at portraying it to the masses. But then he wasn't character assassinated 24/7 for 365 x 4.
The fact is that the show is rather insane, the Florida Governor is clearly George Walker Bush (They take wholesale lines from his debates.) and it is really weird. It felt like they straw-manned Republicans meanwhile they showed a reasonable Republican, in their minds, with Arnold Vinick even though the ending undermines that (Why bother putting forward a loser? Ironically the Republicans would do this twice.). The big problem with the show is that after 9/11 it became rather irrelevant, if you watch it the politics is just an extension of the '90s with Republicans going on and on about deficits (To be fair like Clinton the Democrats do so too.) and cutting taxes and a curious lack of *9/11!*
The West Wing was probably the best drama written for TV. The problem is now we think this happens in real life. And it did, until Orange Fat Boy took the escalator to baggage claim in 2015.
Truthfully, no. West Wing was always a liberal fever dream. In the modern era, it wasn’t Trump that ended the era of bipartisanship, it was the midterm elections of 2010. The rise of the Tea party meant that the GOP would be instructed by their constituents to not only not work with democrats, but to do everything in their power to make them fail. But even then, that wasn’t the start of this polarization. That was more or less started in the 90s, BEFORE West Wing even aired. During the 90s, conservative media was in its infancy but it started to heavily influence conservatives voters with clear propaganda without any sense of fairness. They were able to do this because Reagan dismantled a law in media called the Fairness Doctrine, which mandated that news broadcasters were required to make an effort to show both sides of an issue. That’s why Republicans were far more moderate prior to the 80s. The policies of Reagan helped shape the world we live in today. Reagan dismantled the progressive tax system that taxed the wealthy, dismantled much of the welfare state, undid a lot of governmental regulation, allowed conservative propagandists to create media outlets for influence, and overall made the country more right wing. By the time West Wing was airing, much of the political reality was already starting to distort compared to the bipartisan reality of the show. Liberals were out of power and unpopular. With massive populat support across the board, the welfare state was dismantled, the war on drugs was intensified, policing was ramped up, mandatory minimums were instituted, unions were abandoned, etc etc. The liberals only began to re-emerge as the 2000 election was happening, but then 9/11 happened. Once the war in Iraq started, polarization began to show its effects, and the conservatives became hyper patriotic, and the liberals became anti war. It was in the 2000s that society began to become more secular and liberal. But in rural areas, they stayed conservative.
Oodles of people have been in space. There is no such thing as the firmament. Its a concept that was abandoned shortly after we abandoned crystal spheres and bodily humours. The stars are not fixed, they just are too far away to notice their relative motions in the lifespan of a human being. And when the poet Magee mentioned touching the face of God it was an allusion to the yearning of man to explore, to stretch his mind further than his reach, to understand a world that challenges our comprehension. To touch the face of God is to accomplish the impossible.
The lack of a 9/11 is what makes it quickly feel wrong. I just looked at the dates and was like, they are not even acknowledging this thing? The closest I can find is a seeming endorsement of the Iraq War (2003-2011).
@@johnnotrealname8168 They did... the episode "Isaac and Ishmael" dealt specifically with 9/11, and was the 1st episode of the 3rd season, (about) 3 weeks after the ordeal the previous month. America was shut down and was in a trance... It literally took (of all people) David Letterman to give us permission to laugh again, play sporting events, leave our homes, etc. Doing more with TV or Hollywood movies on 9/11 would have been seen as exploiting a major tragedy for money. Nicolas Cage did a movie about it, (like) 3 years after it happened, and his career never really recovered from the blowback.
It's entertaining but it's just so blatant, so it's so ham-fisted. The viewer appreciates Bartlett is brilliant. He may even be overqualified for President ! It's Rambo in the White House, Bartlett mowing down enemies with words. How old is he anyway? Let's say he's 21 when he gets his bachelor's, 24 when he gets his PhD. Postdoc position of say, 2 years at least. Brings him to 26. He's spent two terms as a Congressman, so that's what, at least another 4 years, now he's 30, another term as Governor, making him 34, and I think he served in the Senate too but I'm not sure. If he did serve as a Senator, he's now 40, I'd he didn't, 36. If he's 36 he cannot have run for President immediately being too young. But Martin Sheen is what, 50 here ? And he speaks Latin with the fluency of a seminarian. And he's got a Nobel Prize. So did he get his Nobel Prize after 2 years of postdoc research? Unlikely but possible. How long did he spend in academia ? When and where did he learn fluent Latin ? What did he do in the interim periods ? The entire show is like this. Full of brilliant idealists. The outright corrupt, the people who undercut others to get their positions, the lies and the cheating, even the K Street lobbyists are gone. He does a few charity fundraisers, gets cash from a Hollywood executive. Is that the only guy who gives him money ? It's an action series. Bartlett is Rambo. He's got no weaknesses that are obvious enough to bring him down. His MS isn't a weakness, although presented as one, it's a strength because, hey, now he's like FDR, who had polio, abd like Bartlett, concealed it from the public. His chief of staff is his best friend ? Why ? Because he's smarter than Bartlett ? Bartlett is a genius. McGarry is, frankly, dullard by comparison. None of it makes much sense. It's absent the corporate influence that is so important to politics in the modern era. It's comfort viewing. It's entertaining. It's also very important for Sorkin to show the viewer how much dialogue he can fit into an episode, and how brilliant his characters are. Then you've got the romance side plots. Hey, let's have the White House staffers be either brotherly, or lovers, or pine for each other. Let's have staff go out with the President's daughter, and the Chief of Staff's daughter. The same stereotypical features appear in his characters from The Newsroom to the abominable Studio 60 on Sunset Strip, a show that is just not funny no matter how hard it tries. You could take the characters from any of Sorkin's shows, and put them into any of his other shows, dust them off and change them a little bit, and they'd all be basically the same. The actors save this. But unlike Sorkin's films, there's clearly no rewrites, no script doctors, and so the stories appear and disappear with the lightning pace of the dialogue, with its perfectly chosen words, and, to a point, it's well researched facts (Indonesia doesn't have a single language, but 400 ? The ambassador speaks Javanese, not Indonesian. Of course he'd speak Indonesian, and of course Indonesian is a language. It's junk food TV, that occasionally outdoes itself. It's very hit and miss.
The best president we never had.
How Martin Sheen never got the Emmy despite scoring six consecutive nominations (2000-2006) is beyond me. Don't get me wrong, he had formidable competition during this period, but Sheen's work IMHO was worthy enough to snare at least one win.
Gandolfini
o😅😅😅😊
Agreed he was incredible!!!
Especially since his role was initially supposed to be a minor one. The show was originally meant to be about the staff.
True
"In this building, when the president stands No One Sits."
Gives me chills every time.
Stunning writing, Sheen and Spencer were magic together. Sheen is one of the finest actors of our time. Superb cast.
The best show ever on broadcast television.
Absolutely true. 🤗
*agreed…until Mr. Sorkin left. His dialogue is impossibly good
I practically have that first argument memorized.
"It's proportional, it's reasonable, it's responsible, it's MERCIFUL! It's not nothing!" is such a beautiful, flowing line, which is then immediately contrasted by the bluntly exasperated "THEN WE'LL BLOW 'EM UP AGAIN IN SIX MONTHS! We're gettin' really good at it!"
To me it was always the part that comes next. "It's what our fathers taught us.". There is so much implied in that statement and the outlook of the show going forward from it.
We're getting really good at it.
Yes we are
Leo was a LtCol in the USAF and had actually flown combat missions . . . .
My all time fav TV series. And didn't Martin Sheen win best actor in a dramatic series largely for his angry dissertation at the National Cathedral after Mrs. Landingham's funeral, the end of the aecond season???
Sure, worked then Dosent work now. When Assad used chemical weapons in Syria, we responded. But he keeps using them. Iran attacked oil tankers, we use cyber warfare and drones to retaliate. Hasn't seemed to deter them. Ukraine is invaded by the country that cannot bake bread. We use sanctions and military aid bills. Hasnt stopped the fighting. Proportional response is the loftier pedastal of morals. But people who are against you in the field dont give a shit about your morals.
Amazing writing and performances!! And to think President Bartlet was supposed to be an occasional, minor character. I'm so glad they changed their minds. He was such a great one!
"Decisions are made by those that show up" Facts!!! I miss this series ✍🏾📚👊🏽💜
From time to time, when we might chance to forget how great this show was, we are so easily reminded...
Bravo and well said.. to hell with the Trumplicans.
That is when Inwatch it all again
"We touched the face of God"
Aaron sorkin is too good
He Stole that. Its from a poem called High Flight, by Magee.
@@christopherpardell4418 and Reagan's famous Challenger Disaster address to the Nation..
@@jspee1965Makes sense as Ronald Wilson Reagan was never President in that universe (Which is odd.). Also: "Reagan, often called "the great communicator," was not so sure about those closing lines it turns out. He, too, was familiar with the poem--"High Flight"--and was skeptical that verse from a 19-year-old World War II airman would strike the right tone." They were also quoting that, I swear the man knew more poems than me.
Astonishing quality; depth and delivered by a wonderful Cast.
Totally uplifting. A pleasure to revisit.
Who survives this crap without tearing up? Anybody?? I doubt it. Thank you, TWW, and the Good Mr. Sorkin.
Such a great show! Sheen delivered some of the best lines ever...especially monthly mtg of tight ass club!
From 4:06...should be in a class all its own. BRILLIANT. Actually, BEYOND BRILLIANT!
"Then we blow it up again, we're getting really good at it".
I hope I laughed the first time just as hard as I did a few seconds ago.
It is such a great show. Good writing, good acting, good filming, good sound.. nearly nothing wrong.
Yes indeed. I am watching this as I prepare to watch the debate
The best television in my lifetime and I own the boxed set of all episodes.
Love that scene with Jenna Jacobs. After asking for a good price for Zoey, there’s a few laughs. Once they realize he’s got a point to make, it’s totally quiet.
Also an additional point was the reverence of the office. When the President stands, everyone stands.
I just noticed the eye squint at 5:30 for the first time.
@@pbdye1607 reminds me of Bill Nighy in Hot Fuzz
The only sad part is that the Theology is insanely wrong. It seems out of place for someone who is otherwise a genius. For example his view on abortion, which in my opinion is too weak, which is Pro-Life at least on a personal level.
@@jamesgoines7663 Why though? I thought the President is just some guy.
I just finished watching this show and I loved it, so well written and great actors as well, I’m sad I finished it
I fell in love with this magnificent.man’s delivery when I was a 23 or 4 year old and he played Bobby Kennedy. He was magnificent. Very smart, magnificently smart and fast and multifaceted in his concurrent knowledge. He was awesome this as he was in this clip. There are not enough examples of writers and actors firing on all cylinders with so much focused passion on ideas that truly matter. As good as well delivered Shakespeare.
The best show ever.
LOVE this show
02:45 Goddamn when will this programme stop making me cry!!!!!!!
never I think
@@MaryAnderson-x9j Surely. Hold on a moment, I've just had another clip recommended. Let's see..."The Paul Revere Knife". That can't be anything, right?
....
....
Dammit!!!!!!
One of my top 5 fave shows ever.
Rcommendations?
if he became a preacher, i would listen. What a way of delivery.
That was the first time in history that anyone had ever bothered to write that down.
Sheen was not only great in the West Wing, I think he showed us what a good President he could be.
Love that twitch in his eye when he says that line.
"Go farther and work harder".
Seems like those days are gone. At least for now. 😞
Some speeches here always make me cry a little
The way my eyes get wet every time Bartlet says "That's your chief of staff." 🥲
Also you spelled Bartlet wrong in the title. 🙄
IMHO the best drama ever.
Sometimes Bartlet could be a real horses patoot to his staff (but we still love him)
They loved him too, and vice versa. They all knew even when they stridently disagreed, they were trying to do the best for the nation.
Is he a good man?
@@bstef100what would ever imply that he wasnt a good man?
@@ScootsFromNewCastle He lied about MS and other things, he assassinated a foreign leader, had bad temper and snapped at everybody (like Rene ^^ whom he gave a firm talking-to), his daughters kinda disliked him, his wife kinda wanted to divorce him... Don't get me wrong I think he's was good man so to speak, but "what would ever imply" is willful blindness isn't it? That's what made WW so great, the characters felt real, organic. They had depth and nuance, they were developped unlike any other show I've watched.
I would have liked voting for Bartlet.
He's written that way!
Bartlet was great but Leo was a perfect foil.
And Toby was brilliant as the conscience
This was such a great show before Aaron Sorkin left.
To be fair they did a really good job carrying the torch after his departure too.
Turns out it was an alien ship. They just told Bartlet to lie. Toby wrote this speech
Amazing television of the likes, judging by what we have now, we'll very well never see again..
Just a fictional show but good to hear him declare we're not a democracy. Too many today in real life aren't clear on that.
Amerika was Satan's nation from the very beginning, you know that I assume? Hence God's laws, and God Himself, were cast out of your LIBERAL Satanic constitution. And look at the horrors of your past and present. I expect Amerika to suffer greatly in these end times.
We're a democratic-republic with constitutional and presidential characteristics, but regardless I like that you're overty against freedom and liberty of the common man.
@@ugheieiemmmfmfmff Curious who you're speaking to, yalini? There's certainly nothing in my comment to indicate anything about my beliefs. My comment would only be considered Civics (As Pres. Bartlett explained).
@@dangeroreilly2028 Literally "good to hear him declare we're not a democracy"
Why are you backing out of your axioms my dude?
@@ugheieiemmmfmfmff Simple. And thank you for asking. As Pres. Bartlett explains we are a Republic, not a democracy. My comment was only based on the accuracy of Sheen's character. Of course, he's a fictional character. Many real people today call us a democracy and that just isn't accurate. Our founders specifically set up a federal plan that wasn't a democracy because they didn't want the populations in 3 or 4 major cities in the colonies making every law for every colony as a simple "majority rule" might do.
Certainly we have democratic principles in our nation, but most refer to our nation as a constitutional republic.
To say what I like- or don't like- is jumping the shark for sure. My comment only addressed the accuracy of the term Pres. Bartlett used. I think you may have assumed too much.
Not really, the first time they did that was The Declaration of Arbroath . . . .
James Gandolfini….
This show quickly becomes strange when you realise 9/11 did not happen, they sort of endorse the Iraq War (2003-2011) and it is a world where the '90s just continued (Politically.).
why can america not get a president like this?
We aren't a good enough people to vote for a man like him, as it turns out.
In a plutocracy, a society ruled by and for money not people wich is what the US is since the 80s people like that (Bartlet) do not go into politics since the corruption does not seem fun or feasible to them. You'd have to transform back to a democratic republic for a higher quality of elective material. People like Obama/McCain/Romney/Clinton is the best you'll get, and we all now know what the bottom of the barrel looks like - insurgents at the capitol.
Because America itself is so divided it wouldn’t vote for someone like this. He’s too moderate for both sides.
We had one in president Obama. At least close
Who thought the “Redskins” would date this the most
All it is is a reflection of the times. I still accidentally say the ''Cleveland Indians.''
I was almost going to type that this is the president we deserve. But, no we don’t. Not with the way 50% of this country votes. Amazing how one party has actually convinced people that minorities, the LGBTQ community, the poor, access to healthcare, and taking care of the environment are somehow socialist, ‘woke’, or whatever nonsensical word is being used to distract them from the fact that corporate profits, big business and billionaires are actually to blame. This country once had so much promise, and unfortunately religious nationals and politics as business is what is going to take us down - sooner rather than later.
It ISN'T 50%. Only some 60% of eligible voters actually voted in the election. Then about 46% of THEM voted for trump. That's only about 28% of eligible voters. We are being run around by an extreme minority who are making us believe that they make up at least 50% of voters. Don't be fooled by them.
Happens when a good education is either pay walled or picked apart by people who have no place deciding what an education should entail. It takes a couple generations but a good education fixes any nations major problems.
sadly, there are some gay people who support Trump. Ah, but then I remember Ernst Rohm's support of Hitler...
That argument between the religious women and Bartlet is more truth about God than I’ve ever seen on TH-cam.
Notice…at the end of Bartlet’s toast, the ice cubes in the glass do not float.
07:18 "82% of the people can't possibly be expected to reach an informed opinion. " This right here is the deepest truth of the west wing. Not the quote, because it is horseshi, but what it reveal. Which is the deep arrogance and stupidity of a kind of elitist pieces of shit who preach one thing but really, really think another. While the west wing was a good show, it was deeply flawed at it's core, becauseit was more concerned about loving grandstanding Ideas than understanding them. The point was to reach for that informed opinion, which really is the goal of representative democracy, to build generation upon generation until this state can be reach. Until finally the people can decided their own fate and not delegate to elitist jerk their decision. This show had 0 faith in humanity. It preached a lies even a well meaning one. Because it did, it was hypocritical.
No. You make it sound as if our politicians are the ones who should be brainwashing us. They're supposed to represent us, not reprogram us.
Even this actor makes a better president than Trumpty Dumpty! The stark contract between reality and how people would like their president to be is truly amazing..
Ironically he wasn't better than "Trumpty Dumpty" Just a lot better at portraying it to the masses. But then he wasn't character assassinated 24/7 for 365 x 4.
The fact is that the show is rather insane, the Florida Governor is clearly George Walker Bush (They take wholesale lines from his debates.) and it is really weird. It felt like they straw-manned Republicans meanwhile they showed a reasonable Republican, in their minds, with Arnold Vinick even though the ending undermines that (Why bother putting forward a loser? Ironically the Republicans would do this twice.). The big problem with the show is that after 9/11 it became rather irrelevant, if you watch it the politics is just an extension of the '90s with Republicans going on and on about deficits (To be fair like Clinton the Democrats do so too.) and cutting taxes and a curious lack of *9/11!*
Wow you are truly stupid!!
The West Wing was probably the best drama written for TV. The problem is now we think this happens in real life. And it did, until Orange Fat Boy took the escalator to baggage claim in 2015.
Truthfully, no. West Wing was always a liberal fever dream.
In the modern era, it wasn’t Trump that ended the era of bipartisanship, it was the midterm elections of 2010. The rise of the Tea party meant that the GOP would be instructed by their constituents to not only not work with democrats, but to do everything in their power to make them fail.
But even then, that wasn’t the start of this polarization. That was more or less started in the 90s, BEFORE West Wing even aired.
During the 90s, conservative media was in its infancy but it started to heavily influence conservatives voters with clear propaganda without any sense of fairness. They were able to do this because Reagan dismantled a law in media called the Fairness Doctrine, which mandated that news broadcasters were required to make an effort to show both sides of an issue. That’s why Republicans were far more moderate prior to the 80s.
The policies of Reagan helped shape the world we live in today. Reagan dismantled the progressive tax system that taxed the wealthy, dismantled much of the welfare state, undid a lot of governmental regulation, allowed conservative propagandists to create media outlets for influence, and overall made the country more right wing.
By the time West Wing was airing, much of the political reality was already starting to distort compared to the bipartisan reality of the show. Liberals were out of power and unpopular. With massive populat support across the board, the welfare state was dismantled, the war on drugs was intensified, policing was ramped up, mandatory minimums were instituted, unions were abandoned, etc etc.
The liberals only began to re-emerge as the 2000 election was happening, but then 9/11 happened. Once the war in Iraq started, polarization began to show its effects, and the conservatives became hyper patriotic, and the liberals became anti war. It was in the 2000s that society began to become more secular and liberal. But in rural areas, they stayed conservative.
What?
At least spell his name right, BARTLET
Season 1 was so corny
No one has ever been outside the firmament into 'space'. They didn't touch the Face of God, they made a crappy movie.
LOLOLOLOLOL -- I could go on, but hopefully you get the point.
Oodles of people have been in space. There is no such thing as the firmament. Its a concept that was abandoned shortly after we abandoned crystal spheres and bodily humours. The stars are not fixed, they just are too far away to notice their relative motions in the lifespan of a human being.
And when the poet Magee mentioned touching the face of God it was an allusion to the yearning of man to explore, to stretch his mind further than his reach, to understand a world that challenges our comprehension. To touch the face of God is to accomplish the impossible.
Of all the concepts/discussion presented in particular this clip and you went to firmament/Flat Earth 😂
This show was lame.
The lack of a 9/11 is what makes it quickly feel wrong. I just looked at the dates and was like, they are not even acknowledging this thing? The closest I can find is a seeming endorsement of the Iraq War (2003-2011).
@@johnnotrealname8168 They did... the episode "Isaac and Ishmael" dealt specifically with 9/11, and was the 1st episode of the 3rd season, (about) 3 weeks after the ordeal the previous month. America was shut down and was in a trance... It literally took (of all people) David Letterman to give us permission to laugh again, play sporting events, leave our homes, etc. Doing more with TV or Hollywood movies on 9/11 would have been seen as exploiting a major tragedy for money. Nicolas Cage did a movie about it, (like) 3 years after it happened, and his career never really recovered from the blowback.
@@MarkLewis... Dude that is the episode that was written for 9/11 where nothing happened. It was a terrible episode.
It's entertaining but it's just so blatant, so it's so ham-fisted. The viewer appreciates Bartlett is brilliant. He may even be overqualified for President !
It's Rambo in the White House, Bartlett mowing down enemies with words.
How old is he anyway?
Let's say he's 21 when he gets his bachelor's, 24 when he gets his PhD.
Postdoc position of say, 2 years at least. Brings him to 26.
He's spent two terms as a Congressman, so that's what, at least another 4 years, now he's 30, another term as Governor, making him 34, and I think he served in the Senate too but I'm not sure.
If he did serve as a Senator, he's now 40, I'd he didn't, 36.
If he's 36 he cannot have run for President immediately being too young.
But Martin Sheen is what, 50 here ?
And he speaks Latin with the fluency of a seminarian.
And he's got a Nobel Prize.
So did he get his Nobel Prize after 2 years of postdoc research? Unlikely but possible.
How long did he spend in academia ? When and where did he learn fluent Latin ?
What did he do in the interim periods ?
The entire show is like this. Full of brilliant idealists.
The outright corrupt, the people who undercut others to get their positions, the lies and the cheating, even the K Street lobbyists are gone.
He does a few charity fundraisers, gets cash from a Hollywood executive.
Is that the only guy who gives him money ?
It's an action series. Bartlett is Rambo. He's got no weaknesses that are obvious enough to bring him down. His MS isn't a weakness, although presented as one, it's a strength because, hey, now he's like FDR, who had polio, abd like Bartlett, concealed it from the public. His chief of staff is his best friend ? Why ?
Because he's smarter than Bartlett ? Bartlett is a genius. McGarry is, frankly, dullard by comparison.
None of it makes much sense.
It's absent the corporate influence that is so important to politics in the modern era.
It's comfort viewing.
It's entertaining.
It's also very important for Sorkin to show the viewer how much dialogue he can fit into an episode, and how brilliant his characters are.
Then you've got the romance side plots.
Hey, let's have the White House staffers be either brotherly, or lovers, or pine for each other.
Let's have staff go out with the President's daughter, and the Chief of Staff's daughter.
The same stereotypical features appear in his characters from The Newsroom to the abominable Studio 60 on Sunset Strip, a show that is just not funny no matter how hard it tries.
You could take the characters from any of Sorkin's shows, and put them into any of his other shows, dust them off and change them a little bit, and they'd all be basically the same.
The actors save this.
But unlike Sorkin's films, there's clearly no rewrites, no script doctors, and so the stories appear and disappear with the lightning pace of the dialogue, with its perfectly chosen words, and, to a point, it's well researched facts (Indonesia doesn't have a single language, but 400 ? The ambassador speaks Javanese, not Indonesian. Of course he'd speak Indonesian, and of course Indonesian is a language.
It's junk food TV, that occasionally outdoes itself. It's very hit and miss.
@@jimreily7538 It is the idealism of an intellectual, liberal but popular President that happens to be a rather devout Catholic so religious points.
"Most powerful nation in the world" 😅 Hollywood sit your ass down 😅
It is a wonderful analysis of the unipolar moment.