Josh Pitches Fiery Tobacco Release; CJ Shelves It for Haiti, Both Note Bartlet's Absence
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh enters and initiates a quick brief about the Justice Department's financial shortfall in the tobacco lawsuit, introducing political urgency.
Josh reveals Democratic defections on the tobacco lawsuit funding, escalating political stakes and party loyalty concerns.
Josh presents a fiery press release draft, reigniting Bartlet's combative political style amid current crises.
C.J. redirects focus to Haiti's military situation, prioritizing immediate crises over domestic political battles.
Josh and C.J. share unspoken concern about Bartlet's absence, revealing underlying anxiety about leadership stability.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Amazed by the rhetoric yet professionally anxious, masking deeper worry over Bartlet's absence and cascading crises
C.J. fields Josh's urgent brief in her office, skims the fiery press release with wide-eyed admiration, decisively shelves it citing Haiti crisis escalation, leads walk-and-talk down hallway while voicing concern over unseen President, balancing sarcasm with steely prioritization.
- • Prioritize Haiti crisis communications over tobacco fight
- • Gauge staff visibility on President's grieving seclusion
- • News cycle dominance requires ruthless triage of stories
- • Bartlet's leadership presence is irreplaceable amid multi-front pressures
Calmly focused amid office churn
Carol receives the Air Force One seating folder from C.J. at her desk, queries confirmation on arrangements, then recedes as Josh commandeers the space for crisis briefing.
- • Clarify and execute press seating logistics
- • Support C.J.'s operational handoffs
- • Logistics anchor high-stakes communications
- • Routine tasks persist through turmoil
Conviction-driven resistance
Warren cited alongside Rossiter as ideological Democratic defector on subcommittee, rejecting tobacco funding sans industry ties.
- • Uphold ideological veto on lawsuit viability
- • Resist White House arm-twisting
- • Suit lacks merit beyond political theater
- • Personal convictions outweigh party pressure
Scornful toward lawsuit protections
Rossiter highlighted as second ideological Democrat blocking funding, amplifying partisan 8-7 deadlock in Josh's rundown.
- • Deny resources to perceived folly
- • Defend subcommittee stance
- • Smokers bear personal responsibility
- • Funding chase wastes congressional capital
Defiant in opposition
Kalmbach named as key subcommittee holdout with deep tobacco ties, anchoring the 8-7 funding blockade dissected in Josh's brief.
- • Block funding transfer to protect donor interests
- • Maintain subcommittee control
- • Loyalty to backers trumps White House agenda
- • Budget fights demand hardline stands
grieving
significantly mentioned as absent and unseen by C.J. or Josh today; his 'Bartlet-esque bite' style echoed in Josh's press release
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
C.J. thrusts the bulging Air Force One seating folder at Carol, dictating prime spots for AP, Reuters, Agence France amid Haiti frenzy—symbolizing relentless logistical grind yanking staff from grief into crisis machinery, priming wire services for airborne briefings.
Josh brandishes the venomous draft release blasting Appropriations betrayal, its quotable rage over 'negligent homicides' and 'well-fed' foes evoking campaign fire; C.J. skims, praises Bartlet echo, then orders shelving—narrative weapon forged in Leo's heat but deferred for real-time inferno.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
West Wing hallway hosts the walk-and-talk extension of Josh's pitch, where C.J. kills the release amid Haiti alerts and mutual Bartlet sightings confession—fluorescent-lit artery pulsing with colliding priorities, amplifying isolation in leadership void post-Landingham grief.
Port-au-Prince invoked as powder keg drawing helicopter assault, overriding tobacco row—C.J. cites its dominance to justify shelving release, its offshore steam underscoring global urgency eclipsing domestic gridlock.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Associated Press flagged for prime Air Force One seating via C.J.'s folder handoff, positioned as frontline crisis hound primed for Haiti dispatches over buried tobacco woes.
Senate Appropriations Committee lambasted in draft as 'well-fed' homicide enablers, their subcommittee's 8-7 kill (Kalmbach, Warren, Rossiter) fueling White House ire now sidelined.
Congress targeted in release as lawsuit stranglers, Democratic losses on subcommittee crystallizing disloyalty Josh urges torching—release parked amid higher fires.
Tobacco Companies loom as DOJ's Goliath, their war chest dwarfing lawsuit pleas—subcommittee veto (via Kalmbach ties) sparks Josh's release rage, deferred but emblematic of donor-thwarted justice.
Reuters locked into Air Force One manifest alongside peers, C.J. delegating summons to devour Haiti intel while tobacco release fizzles—wire giant as insatiable conduit in info wars.
Agence France clinches coveted plane seats per C.J.'s directive, teed up for military escalation scoops eclipsing funding scandals—global engine fueled by White House largesse.
Office of the Press headers the drafted release, C.J. as gatekeeper weighing its blast against Haiti blackout—embodies comms arsenal in triage.
Air Force One's seating scramble (AP et al.) punctuates C.J.'s pivot, its airborne vault primed for Haiti primacy over stalled domestic beefs.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"C.J.: "Yeah, it's just not a good time to be losing Democrats." JOSH: "You haven't been in my office this morning.""
"C.J. (reading): "'The White House, for immediate release... perpetrators of hundreds of thousands of negligent homicides while filling their campaign war chests.' [looks up at Josh in amazement] This is like the fire we used to throw in the early primaries." JOSH: "Let Bartlet be Bartlet.""
"JOSH: "Listen... Have you seen him today?" C.J.: "No. Have you?" JOSH: "No.""