Internal political/rhetorical struggle over the State of the Union language — the speech team (Toby and allies) insists on defending an affirmative role for federal government while party operatives counsel caution (NEA controversy).
Internal political/rhetorical struggle over the State of the Union language — the speech team (Toby and allies) insists on defending an affirmative role for federal government while party operatives counsel caution (NEA controversy).
Events in This Arc
A short, combustible policy meeting erupts into a culture‑war confrontation when Congressman Burns attacks the President's proposed 50% NEA increase. Toby answers with dry fiscal perspective and international comparison, then …
In the Roosevelt Room Toby publicly corrects a Congressman who clumsily misattributes canonical works while arguing against N.E.A. funding. Toby's brusque factual correction — naming Rodgers & Hammerstein, Arthur Miller …
In the President's bedroom, a brisk policy and moral triangulation plays out: Lord Marbury outlines a pragmatic "carrot-and-stick" approach to the India crisis, then Toby and Josh arrive to settle …