You know who sent me here? The President of the United States sent me here, to this office, to deliver these piles of dirt. I'm not the general. I'm not the bad guy. I'm just an errand boy who doesn't have to garden anymore. President Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III has declared war on you, Olivia, and he does so with the full force of the White House and the legion of men and women who work in the United States Government. May God have mercy on your soul.
I can't have a baby with you. Because I already have a baby and his name is Fitzgerald Grant. And my baby is troubled and angry and exhausting, and brilliant and he might actually change the world if I can keep my eyes on him every minute and make sure he eats his vegetables and so I don't have time or the energy or extra space in my soul for another baby, James. I'm sorry. I don't. I can't. I don’t have it in me to take care of someone else. Because I'm busy taking care of the United States of America.
Let's not play innocent here. Fitz is clean. Fitz walks on water. Fitz makes the fishes and the loaves, and people like Hollis, me, and you... Don't roll your eyes at me. You are one of us Olivia. We march behind him, We sing his happy tune. And then we pick up our hatchets and we chop the Judases into bloody little pieces and dance around the corpses because that's our job. That is what we do. We take care of Fitz. And we don't do it because we are believers, which we are. We don't do it for the rush or the high or the power, which we are most certainly junkies for. We do it because Fitz can't. He can't do it. If he could do it, we wouldn't worship at his altar. People like Fitz, they go down in history. People like us, we create the history. We run this world so he can lead it.
You're willing to bring down the whole Republic because you feel guilty. You know what our electoral process is? It's magical! It's like believing in Santa or the Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny Magical... as long as they believe. What you're doing is telling the people that the shiny presents and the bulging stockings on Christmas morning are just mom and dad staying up all night to do the work. You're telling them we're Santa, we're the Easter Bunny, we're the Tooth Fairy. You're taking the magic away! You're ruining Christmas morning, and the whole Republic is gonna come crumbling down because you're not tough enough to do what needs to be done!
I was made to be the President of the United States. I was made to lead the nation. I was made to ensure this country's place in the world for generations to come. I would've been great at that. I have the stones. I have backbone. I have the will. I would have been a great President. But guess what? I'm fairly short, and I'm not so pretty, and I really like having sex with men. So, instead of being President of this land, that I love, I get to be the guy behind the President of the United States. And sure I have power. I influence decisions. I help steer the country. But I'll never be in the history books. My name will never be on an airport or a doctrine. Being the guy behind the guy is as far as my road goes.
Yes, I am currently on the outside looking in. My nose is pressed up to the glass of life right now. And I want to thank you for that. I do. Because you know, it reminded me never to let my guard down. Not when something Mellie this way comes. So, don't you worry about me. I will once again be his warrior. I will once again sit at the right hand of the father. I'm on it. My guard is up. And as a friend of mine likes to say, "It's handled."
We are the devil. I am actually the devil. You should have seen me handle it. There's a dead closeted hillbilly on the floor and there I am – "Give me your sin, Sally" – without blinking. The devil is at the top of his game.
Sally Langston goes down for murder, and ma and pa kettle's hearts break because how could the president not know that the first lady and chief of staff covered it up using taxpayer money. But forget about the three of us going off to prison. Faith in government will be dead. People will stop paying their taxes. Economic systems, institutions that have lasted for centuries will begin to falter while our enemies pounce on our crippled nation and hack away until the great American experiment is no more. Whatever issues I may have had with your predecessor, he would have taken care of this by now. No qualms, no questions, just action. I expect you to wisen up and do the same.
Jake Ballard is a predator, an animal, a killing machine. And just because you've decided to turn a blind eye to that doesn't make it any less true. So, your boyfriend – your other boyfriend – is currently being interrogated in the bowels of the Pentagon, where he will eventually confess to his crimes after which, it is my profound hope, he will be executed. And the next time you need me, the next time you want to chat, you will find me dancing on his grave.
I made you a warrior. I made you a king! I made you a leader of men and THIS? This is what you leave me with? No! No! I'm done. I quit! And you can take your flowers and daisies, and your "love conquers all" and your hope, and you can choke on it. Because I don't work here anymore.
She is precious to him, you understand? She is his beating heart in the hands of his enemies. With her they can bend him, they can break him, they can make the President of the United States dance like a monkey at a county fair. And as long as his heart is out there, beating in the hands of China, North Korea, drug lords, Russia, God knows who else, we are screwed. We stop it. We stop that beating heart. And that, my friends, is what your President would want us to do, it is what he would demand that we do, if his heart were not out there. If it were in here he would do it himself. So we do what he cannot do. We may need to neutralize the asset.
You see me for what I am. A filthy monster desperately trying to hold on to the last shreds of its humanity. You are a good person. I know that. Ella could use a good person in her life. I'm not promising much, but I will promise this. I may not do it well, but I will do my best to be your someone so you're not alone. Okay? You're not alone.
Red, how does leadership come? Is it given to you? No. You want to lead, be the leader. Everyone else will automatically become the followers. You want POTUS to fall in line, to behave. Be the adult. He'll become the child. That's the secret of the Oval Office, Red. You want the power? You want to be the kingmaker? You want to be the hand that rules? You are the adult. He is the child.
We're living in a new world, Red. A world where Olivia Pope is judge, jury, and executioner. She has his world, our world hoisted on her shoulders. That is a fact. There's no changing it.
Scandal · 268 quotes
Cyrus
