Quote Leo McGarry Day
Sneaking this in under the wire...
Security Officer: It's a nice morning, Mr. McGarry.
Leo: We'll take care of that in a hurry, won't we, Mike?
Security Officer: Yes, sir.
Bonnie: Don't kill the messenger, Leo.
Leo: Oh why the hell not, Bonnie.
Obviously I was going to use that one. It's in my quote sidebar! One of the best character introductions ever. (Jed Bartlet is at the top of the list, of course.)
From "A Proportional Response"...
Leo: We are behaving the way a superpower ought to behave.
Bartlet: Well our behavior has produced some crappy results, in fact I'm not a hundred per cent sure it hasn't induced it.
Leo: What are you talking about?
Bartlet: I'm talking about two hundred and eighty-six American marines in Beirut, I'm talking about Somalia, I'm talking about Nairobi-
Leo: And you think ratcheting up the body count's gonna act as a deterrent?
Bartlet: You're damn right I-
Leo: Oh, then you are just as stupid as these guys who think capital punishment is going to be a deterrent for drug kingpins. As if drug kingpins didn't live their day to day lives under the possibility of execution, and their executions are a lot less dainty than ours and tend to take place without the bother and expense of due process. So, my friend, if you want to start using American military strength as the arm of the Lord, you can do that. We're the only superpower left. You can conquer the world, like Charlemagne! But you better be prepared to kill everyone. And you better start with me, because I will raise up an army against you and I will beat you!
Bartlet: He had a ten day old baby at home.
Leo: I know.
Bartlet: We are doing nothing.
Leo: We are not doing nothing.
Bartlet: We're destroying-
Leo: Four high-rated military targets!
Bartlet: And this is good?
Leo: Of course it's not good. There is no good. It's what there is! It's how you behave if you're the most powerful nation in the world. It's proportional, it's reasonable, it's responsible, it's merciful! It's not nothing. Four high-rated military targets.
Bartlet: Which they'll rebuild again in six months.
Leo: Then we'll blow 'em up again in six months! We're getting really good at it... It's what our fathers taught us.
Bartlet: Why didn't you say so? Oh, Leo...when I think of all the work you put in to get me to run and all the work you did to get me elected...I could pummel your ass with a baseball bat.
The best part of this how the two then proceed to crack up. John Spencer had a great laugh.
Until this very year, Leo's explanation about why he wants Bartlet to run in "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" basically was my experience voting in every single election since I was 18. I would think of this quote as I waited in line.
Leo: Because I am tired of it. Year, after year, after year. Of having to choose between the lesser of Who Cares. Of trying to get myself excited over a candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low I can hardly look at it. They say a good man can't get elected president. I don't believe that. Do you?
Leo is about to testify before Congress in "Bartlet For America" and yet he and the President still find time to act like teenage boys. I swear, I used to hear my brothers have conversations quite similar to this when they were in high school...
Bartlet: Listen, I don't care that much about your ass but if you need to perjure yourself to protect me you're going to damn well do it.
Leo: Sir, this isn't a secure call, so I'm going to say to the 17 global intelligence agencies that are listening in that he was kidding just then.
Bartlet: Whatever it is Josh does, you're going to let him do it.
Leo: I don't need Josh-
Bartlet: Yeah, yeah. How does she look to you?
Leo: Who?
Bartlet: Her.
Leo: She looks good.
Bartlet: What's she wearing?
Leo: [to Jordan] What are you wearing?
Jordan: What does it matter?
Leo: Why don't you ask the President that?
Jordan: A gray Armani suit.
Leo:[into phone] Spandex.
Bartlet: I like you and her. It's like a '50s screwball comedy
Leo: You're like a '50s screwball-
Bartlet: What was that?
Leo: Nothing.
From "Game On"...
Josh: Ten words: "I will make America's defenses the strongest in the history of the world."
Leo: "In the history of the world?" When we say that, are we comparing ourselves to the Visigoths, adjusted for inflation?
From "The Warfare of Genghis Khan"...
Leo: My generation never got the future it was promised... Thirty-five years later, cars, air travel is exactly the same. We don't even have the Concorde anymore. Technology stopped.
Josh: The personal computer...
Leo: A more efficient delivery system for gossip and pornography? Where's my jet pack, my colonies on the Moon?
Good question! Where are those jet packs, dammit?! Though, I have to disagree with him about the PC. Oh well, you can't be right all of the time.
From "Running Mates"...
Josh: Get some rest. I need you to look pretty for 20 million TV viewers.
Leo: If that's what we're counting on, the campaign is doomed.
And, in honor of the holidays, Leo's thoughts on signing holiday cards in "In Excelsis Deo"...
Leo: Who the hell is this guy and why would I care if he has a merry Christmas?
Margaret: Just sign the damn thing.
I miss Leo and I miss my show.
Security Officer: It's a nice morning, Mr. McGarry.
Leo: We'll take care of that in a hurry, won't we, Mike?
Security Officer: Yes, sir.
Bonnie: Don't kill the messenger, Leo.
Leo: Oh why the hell not, Bonnie.
Obviously I was going to use that one. It's in my quote sidebar! One of the best character introductions ever. (Jed Bartlet is at the top of the list, of course.)
From "A Proportional Response"...
Leo: We are behaving the way a superpower ought to behave.
Bartlet: Well our behavior has produced some crappy results, in fact I'm not a hundred per cent sure it hasn't induced it.
Leo: What are you talking about?
Bartlet: I'm talking about two hundred and eighty-six American marines in Beirut, I'm talking about Somalia, I'm talking about Nairobi-
Leo: And you think ratcheting up the body count's gonna act as a deterrent?
Bartlet: You're damn right I-
Leo: Oh, then you are just as stupid as these guys who think capital punishment is going to be a deterrent for drug kingpins. As if drug kingpins didn't live their day to day lives under the possibility of execution, and their executions are a lot less dainty than ours and tend to take place without the bother and expense of due process. So, my friend, if you want to start using American military strength as the arm of the Lord, you can do that. We're the only superpower left. You can conquer the world, like Charlemagne! But you better be prepared to kill everyone. And you better start with me, because I will raise up an army against you and I will beat you!
Bartlet: He had a ten day old baby at home.
Leo: I know.
Bartlet: We are doing nothing.
Leo: We are not doing nothing.
Bartlet: We're destroying-
Leo: Four high-rated military targets!
Bartlet: And this is good?
Leo: Of course it's not good. There is no good. It's what there is! It's how you behave if you're the most powerful nation in the world. It's proportional, it's reasonable, it's responsible, it's merciful! It's not nothing. Four high-rated military targets.
Bartlet: Which they'll rebuild again in six months.
Leo: Then we'll blow 'em up again in six months! We're getting really good at it... It's what our fathers taught us.
Bartlet: Why didn't you say so? Oh, Leo...when I think of all the work you put in to get me to run and all the work you did to get me elected...I could pummel your ass with a baseball bat.
The best part of this how the two then proceed to crack up. John Spencer had a great laugh.
Until this very year, Leo's explanation about why he wants Bartlet to run in "In the Shadow of Two Gunmen" basically was my experience voting in every single election since I was 18. I would think of this quote as I waited in line.
Leo: Because I am tired of it. Year, after year, after year. Of having to choose between the lesser of Who Cares. Of trying to get myself excited over a candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low I can hardly look at it. They say a good man can't get elected president. I don't believe that. Do you?
Leo is about to testify before Congress in "Bartlet For America" and yet he and the President still find time to act like teenage boys. I swear, I used to hear my brothers have conversations quite similar to this when they were in high school...
Bartlet: Listen, I don't care that much about your ass but if you need to perjure yourself to protect me you're going to damn well do it.
Leo: Sir, this isn't a secure call, so I'm going to say to the 17 global intelligence agencies that are listening in that he was kidding just then.
Bartlet: Whatever it is Josh does, you're going to let him do it.
Leo: I don't need Josh-
Bartlet: Yeah, yeah. How does she look to you?
Leo: Who?
Bartlet: Her.
Leo: She looks good.
Bartlet: What's she wearing?
Leo: [to Jordan] What are you wearing?
Jordan: What does it matter?
Leo: Why don't you ask the President that?
Jordan: A gray Armani suit.
Leo:[into phone] Spandex.
Bartlet: I like you and her. It's like a '50s screwball comedy
Leo: You're like a '50s screwball-
Bartlet: What was that?
Leo: Nothing.
From "Game On"...
Josh: Ten words: "I will make America's defenses the strongest in the history of the world."
Leo: "In the history of the world?" When we say that, are we comparing ourselves to the Visigoths, adjusted for inflation?
From "The Warfare of Genghis Khan"...
Leo: My generation never got the future it was promised... Thirty-five years later, cars, air travel is exactly the same. We don't even have the Concorde anymore. Technology stopped.
Josh: The personal computer...
Leo: A more efficient delivery system for gossip and pornography? Where's my jet pack, my colonies on the Moon?
Good question! Where are those jet packs, dammit?! Though, I have to disagree with him about the PC. Oh well, you can't be right all of the time.
From "Running Mates"...
Josh: Get some rest. I need you to look pretty for 20 million TV viewers.
Leo: If that's what we're counting on, the campaign is doomed.
And, in honor of the holidays, Leo's thoughts on signing holiday cards in "In Excelsis Deo"...
Leo: Who the hell is this guy and why would I care if he has a merry Christmas?
Margaret: Just sign the damn thing.
I miss Leo and I miss my show.