Sir, have you read the talking points?
I'm an economist. Some would say half-decent. I don't need a primer on this.
Due respect,sir, your answers on economics can be a bit---
Polysyllabic?
Academic.
I was going to go with incomprehensible.
“Talking Points” · Season 5
In this episode: Josh Lyman (4), Josiah Bartlet (3), Leo McGarry (3), Ryan (2), C.J. Cregg (1), Charlie Young (1)
Anybody got any crayons so I can color in my Ph. D.?
Where you going?
To meet Congressman McKenna.
That's funny, actually.
No, it isn't funny. He's a two-bit jerk of a House member. He holds us hostage every time we have a budget or a trade deal, or enough discretionary authority to buy an ice cream cone. I've got the Speaker of the House in ten minutes. I'm gonna smile, bob my head, and stick him in the outbox.
[The two walk into the Roosevelt Room together]
Beat it. I've got a meeting.
So do I's the thing.
It's just me and McKenna.
I'm his new Legislative Director. Hi. He figured it'd be leverage enough that he's on two authorizing committees and can stall half your budget priorities. Is this the part where you smile and bob your head?
'You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose'.... We run a country; we deal in abstractions.
Today's my last day at the White House.
Thank you.
I was hoping you'd give a toast at my going-away party.
How about a plaque, for best impersonation of a blue blazer?
So, you're coming to the party?
I'm having my own celebration with five cloves of garlic and the cast of The Exorcist.
We made a promise.
There was a man named Canute, one of the great Viking kings of the 11th Century. Wanted his people to be aware of his limitations, so he led them down to the sea and he commanded that the tide roll out. It didn't. Who gave us the notion that Presidents can move the economy like a play-toy? That we can do more than talk it up or smooth over the rough spots? It's a lie. What we really owe that union is the truth.
We run around saying free trade creates high-paying jobs.
And it will. But I've been trying to tell you it's not that simple.
I'll set up a call with Bill Parsons.
It'd be nice to roll back that tide, wouldn't it?
Yes, Mr. President, it sure would.
These quotes come from Wikiquote's The West Wing pages and are available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.