Andrew Jackson, in the foyer of the White House, had a big block of cheese.

[pocochina]

I have only myself to blame for getting sucked into a West Wing rewatch binge, you guys. I started out trying to watch the Wells seasons all at once the way I like to watch shows, but they were even less enjoyable than I remember them being from week to week, so I just went back to watching all of S2 and large chunks of S3/4. I've mostly been

Comments

[percysowner]

The MS story on West Wing left me so incredibly conflicted. My mother had MS back in the late 1950s-early 1960s. She worked part time as a librarian in a hospital. She brought the book truck to the rooms and helped get reading materials for people who were going to be in the hospital for several weeks or more (hospital stays have changed a LOT since then). She was fired from her job not because she couldn't do it, but because either the library or the hospital (I was 9 so I wasn't clear as to which one) felt it was "too depressing" for the patients to see her struggling to do her job. I will never forget the day they told her they were letting her go. She came home and said she always got to every room. She had to use the book truck for support but she delivered and picked up every book. She was devastated. This was long before anyone even dreamed of an Americans With Disabilities Act, so there was no recourse

[pocochina]

Wow, I'm so sorry that your family went through all that.

They can go from minimal problems to not being able to get out of bed. That wouldn't have disqualified Jed from being President. The problem is that MS can also affect cognitive functions just as quickly and arbitrarily. It can also cause huge emotional swings. And that is something I felt the public should have known before voting for the President.

I mean, that's a serious concern, for sure. I just have a hard time giving the narrative credibility because my concerns are also very serious, and they never got an airing. You know? I'm okay with the argument that there's a public interest that outweighs privacy concerns here, but I don't buy it because there was (ironically) dishonesty by omission in the failure to acknowledge how serious those privacy concerns were.

[percysowner]

Oh, I don't disagree with you. I HATED that storyline. It was one of the reasons I quit watching West Wing. They didn't deal with the issues of what privacy does a public servant deserve. How much does a public, that often doesn't have enough knowledge to know how a disease will affect the candidate, deserve to be told? Who makes the decision of what is and isn't relevant to a candidate's ability to serve? Should that decision be made by the candidate's spouse? Will the media handle a question like this and give it an honest evaluation of how a condition will affect a candidate? Will the media hide a medical condition voluntarily, as they did with FDR and to some extent JFK? The idea they wanted to explore was a really valid one, and yes, they wanted a secret that didn't impact the ability to govern, (the Lewinsky scandal) but not one that would make Jed look like he cheated on his wife. So they went with an illness and messed it all up.

[rosaxx50]

Danny Concannon: FLOP.

Is this the reporter guy? If so, DEFINITE FLOP.

[pocochina]

I didn't know you watched The West Wing! also I love that you know exactly who I meant.

[rosaxx50]

I've only seen a few episodes. I best remember him for pestering CJ around the office and for asking her out in front of everyone--though she tried to get him to leave her alone.

[ever_neutral]

Gahhhhhh, I haven't pulled out my TWW DVDs in so long! Stop with this emotional manipulation at once!

Danny Concannon: FLOP.

Never change.

[pocochina]

Stop with this emotional manipulation at once!