Madam Secretary quotes

Hey. I'm sorry to interrupt. I just wanted to apologize for Jose.

Henry

No need. I've met a hundred guys like him in the Marines.

He's an ops guy. He spent a little too much time outside the wire. And he's naturally suspicious of analysts like me, who sit indoors with highlighters, looking for odd discrepancies and patterns.

Henry

Or professors who spend their day doing close readings of obscure texts. So you're an interrogator, too, yeah?

Yeah, it's not as edgy as it sounds. You just get them in a room and establish a rapport and talk and talk and talk until some little detail reveals what's really going on.

Henry

Sounds like raising a teenager.

Where do you think I got my skills?

Russell

So for a few days of quiet, we buy ourselves a political problem that'll dog us all the way through the election? No thanks.

Elizabeth

What happened to protecting our way of life, Russell?

Russell

What happened to your argument about losing strategic advantage? I mean, how do you propose to just keep the transfer of 243 people from an Italian naval vessel to an American one out of the news?

Elizabeth

Oh, Russell, don't you know me by now?

Daisy

Joint naval exercises?

Elizabeth

Well, you're not really selling it, but yeah. If the media asks why an American cruiser is docked to an Italian warship, we say...

Daisy

Joint naval exercises.

Elizabeth

Better.

Elizabeth

Matt.

Matt

Hmm?

Elizabeth

Help the Pentagon craft a carefully-worded statement to that effect which actually reveals nothing.

Matt

That's the only kind they write.

Elizabeth

Three cheers for the bland Soviet-style pronouncements, because I want the media to walk past this. Got it?

Elizabeth

Okay, so remind them that the asylum vetting process is so thorough it takes a minimum of two years. Hell, remind them what the plaque on the Statue of Liberty says. But only if they get shirty with you, okay?

Henry

The CIA's improvising a safe house in a country overrun by terrorists. Mimi's on a plane as we speak. It spooks me how quickly we're moving.

Elizabeth

Hey, the government could take months to send a tax refund; when it comes to spy stuff, we move fast.

Stevie

Okay. So, just to put your mind at ease about my social life, guess who's coming to dinner tomorrow?

Elizabeth

Jared?

Henry

Jareth! Like the David Bowie movie.

Stevie

You guys, you have to get all this stuff out of your system now. You can't embarrass me with him.

Henry

Oh, I think we can.

Elizabeth

Like falling off a log.

Stevie

Seriously. I like him. Plus, he's British, so he might not even get your sense of humor.

Henry

I heard we're huge in the U.K.

Elizabeth

(Fake British Accent) We will be proper citizens. Should I cook? Of course not. What should we order?

Stevie

I'll cook. You just show up and be cool.

Elizabeth

We can do that. I swear.

Elizabeth

God, it'll be nice to do something normal.

Henry

I wonder how old he is.

Elizabeth

We like him.

Henry

Got it.

Elizabeth

Uh oh. Anxious Daisy face.

Daisy

So, I swatted back most reporters, but one called his senator for comment. That senator would be Carlos Morejon from Arizona.

Matt

It's not a good thing.

Nadine

He ran on a strict anti-immigration platform. His slogan was--

Elizabeth

Yes, yes, I remember. "Keep Arizona secure for the Arizonans." Really just rolls right off your tongue.

Elizabeth

Morejon-- that's a Cuban name, right? When did your parents arrive in the U.S.?

I'm guessing that you know the answer to that.

Elizabeth

Of course I do; I'm the Secretary of State. They were Marielitos, part of the boatlift of 1980.

They were fleeing a repressive regime.

Elizabeth

Which is why the good folks in these parts gave them visas--

That you and your president have cravenly cozied up to--

Elizabeth

--instead of smearing them a potential Communist sleeper agents sent to destroy our way of life. But, hell, your boat made it here; what do you care, right?

Henry

What went wrong? Nothing about Shamekh presents as Jihadi. Somehow they played us.

Elizabeth

Because that's what they do. They sit around and think about how to kill people all day long.

Jareth

Good morning. I come bearing delicacies of my homeland.

Elizabeth

Oh, God, I hope you mean scones.

Jareth

Well, it's not bangers and mash. Madam Secretary, hi. Dr. McCord, pleasure. I'm Jareth, like the David Bowie movie.

You won't silence me again. What I'm doing is legal.

Elizabeth

So is this.

The U.S. Refugee Act of 1980?

Elizabeth

Section 207. It gives the president authority to admit refugees to the U.S. in emergency situations.

Doesn't apply. My injunction is about his executive order.

Elizabeth

True. You can still ban these 243 refugees, specifically. But when the president pledged to accept 20,000 Libyans, he also will have the authority to place them in any state he sees fit. For instance, they might feel right at home in the dry desert climate of your great state. And they'll have you to thank. Well, some of your constituents might not see it that way. But then again, one of those young refugees could grow up to become a United States senator. And isn't that what America's all about?

Elizabeth

Okay, who is excited for some college tour action?

Um, maybe you should hang back. Stevie said she could take me.

Elizabeth

What?

Stevie

I actually wouldn't mind a break from studying.

And it does sound like you have your hands full.

Elizabeth

What? That? That's uh.. it's a little kerfuffle at a gold mine in Chile. Just ten minutes at the office. That's it. Okay?

It's just... college is supposed to be my thing, and if we show up in a motorcade with diplomatic security and you and Blake constantly on the phone...

Elizabeth

I know, total bummer. Which is why I got us down to two cars, and I asked Blake specifically to tell the school not to make a fuss about anything. Because I get it, Ali, you want to be normal, but that goes for me, too, you know. And this is a really big deal, and I don't want to miss out on it, and I really want to come.

Okay. Let's go.

Elizabeth

Okay! Okay, okay. And you know what? I'll tell you what. Stevie'll come, too. It'll be... Look at that, you already packed a bag.

Stevie

Yeah, you know, just in case.

Elizabeth

G'morning.

Blake

Morning. Here's a copy of today's agenda.

Elizabeth

Thank you. And did you get the--

Blake

Four lemon-blueberry and a vegan scone, in case Stevie joined us.

Stevie

That's just eerie.

Blake

Mm. Thank you. Uh, also, I took the liberty of highlighting various students' online reviews of professors at Rafferty College. The debate professor is wonderfully polarizing.

Mom, I don't think you pay Blake enough.

Elizabeth

Oh, I am sure I don't.