The scene where Shepard asks the operator how does he get an outside line always bothered me a bit. He had called Sydney Ellen Wade just the night before, so shouldn't he have known from that night? Unless I missed something?
" Why Don't We Do It In The Road"?
we never see him dialling the phone -- remember, he had to get the phone number from the fbi, cia, batf, irs, or whatever, so it's more than likely that his assistant said, "pick up, Mr. President, Ms. Wade's being connected."
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The world doesnt owe you a damn thing.
Oooh, good point.
I was ok with him not being able to get an outside line until he put the florist on hold, called Janie, got the florist back, put the florist on hold again, etc. That was not phone ignorance in action.
He's probably on the phone with his staff and mastered the concept of the intercom... but is generally unaware of getting an outside line. Furthermore, in closed environments such as the White House (was, at one time) it's likely that everyone using the "land line" had to ask for an outside line so that all calls could be monitored.
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There's no place like home.