The Aloof Senior Staff

As I recall, Al Kiefer was a bit of a schmuck. I'm also pretty sure no one spoke to cj about anything of consequence in the scene you are suggesting.

reply share

add reply

formatting help

I agree that most of the senior staff often appear supercilious and occasionally arrogant. C.J. rarely evidences this behavior.

To me, the point with Al Kiefer (John de Lancie) was not that he wasn’t part of the in crowd, it was that he was opinionated and manipulated his polling results to reinforce his unpopular positions. Joey Lucas describes his inaccuracy thus:

Kiefer asked the wrong questions. His polls said that 80% of the people, when asked if they'd support an amendment prohibiting flag burning said yes, which is roughly the same amount of people that say they support sending litterbugs to prison. He never asked them how much they care.

Incidentally, it’s interesting that Kiefer seems much larger than his actual screen time. He was in two scenes in 20 Hours in L.A. – at the Playa Cantina restaurant meeting and in the doorway of Room 366 of the L.A. Sheraton Universal responding to Josh’s door signal. He was in one scene in Mandatory Minimums, in the Oval Office. Then off to Mandyville.

I too dispute that anyone behaved arrogantly at Ted Marcus’ party. C.J. is approached by Mark Miller, the head of new development at Paragon Studios. He offers C.J. a position. Despite her experience with Triton-Day Public Relations in Hollywood, C.J. does not seem to understand what movie development involves. She was not abrupt and appeared to be honestly trying to understand the offer. She eventually gives up, relates that she is happy in her current position and makes an admittedly weak excuse to end the encounter.

Donna and Josh are then seen talking with David Hasselhoff, who is making a point about the First Amendment. Donna responds with star-struck adulation. No arrogance here, just lust.

Finally, C.J. encounters Jay Leno and Veronica Webb. She is granted Ms. Webb’s pardon and has a private conversation with Leno, expressing the President’s gratitude for Leno not piling on Leo after the revelations about his drug and alcohol abuse history.

C.J. does then avoid a conversation with an unnamed woman (Mary Kathleen Gordon) who calls to her from off screen, by making an excuse that she has to talk with Sam. This avoidance does not seem particularly rude, though the excuse is flimsy.

reply share

add reply

formatting help

[deleted]

Actually, they were not really out of order at all. These are very powerful people. They are not just the senior staff of a corporation, they are the senior staff of the president of the United States. As such, they do expect that things will be done the way they say they will be done, because they say it. They do have that kind of authority.

They are privy to knowledge of people's FBI files, events of national security and lots of things an ordinary citizen would have no right to know. They knew that these officers had made an egregious mistake involving a nominee to the Supreme Court. They knew they had to fix it, fast and use all of the power of the federal and state government they could muster. They had to use their power and they did. This was not a time for niceness.

CJ is the face of the president. She has to keep the press in control. She has to contain the message. This is her job. The press is free, but not unfettered. They are free to report what is going on, but not to speculate. Just look at the mess we have now with the election. This is partially the result of the press unfettered. It used to be called yellow journalism and people used to be able to discern the difference between tabloid press and real news. The line is currently very blurred. CJ is trying to keep that line clear.

TWW takes place in a time were civility still mattered. It was eroding and you can see it. However, no one would treat President Bartlet the way they treat President Obama. There was respect for the office of the President. There was respect for the government and it's officials and recognition of the power of the people who worked for us. They used that power to cut through a lot of red tape, like in the episode "Celestial Navigation".

And one more thing-In the episode "The Midterms" there is one line said by the President that sums a lot of it up. He has entered a room where a reception is taking place. A radio host is sitting in a chair. She is the only person sitting while the President is speaking. Her character is based on a real radio host, a right wing, fundamentalist woman who gives the impression that she is a psychologist giving advice when she is not a psychologist. The President challenges her using biblical quotes and after she is embarrassed he informs her that he is The President of The United States and while he stands, no one sits.

Arrogance? No. Power? Yes. He is not just any other citizen. He is the first citizen. He is the head of government and the head of state. I believe we have forgotten this in this country.

Dr. Erlich

*****************************************
Ignorance is the enemy of civilization

reply share

add reply

formatting help