Bartlet Sarcastically Dismisses Ten-Year Projections
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet dismisses the importance of ten-year economic projections with sardonic wit, showcasing his frustration with bureaucratic formalities.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Determined insistence veiled by respectful deference under presidential fire
Toby's Office Staffer grips the sheaf of projections tightly, doggedly insisting Bartlet review them despite admitting inaccuracy on trillion-dollar scales, parrying sarcasm with persistence before gratefully accepting the mocking directive to fetch props alongside the report.
- • Secure presidential review of the ten-year economic projections
- • Advance bureaucratic process despite evident flaws
- • Projections warrant executive attention regardless of precision limits
- • Duty compels pushing institutional materials to the President
deferential
informs the President about an incoming fax from Jonathan Bartlet, explains the library site issue citing notes on the Historic Barn and Bridges Preservation Act, seeks approval for the second site
- • brief the President on the presidential library site complication
- • obtain a decision on proceeding with the second site
exasperated
sarcastically dismisses the staffer's request to review ten-year projections, mockingly requests a Ouija board and magic wand, discusses a fax from his brother about the presidential library site, initially approves then retracts approval for the second site
- • dismiss and mock the unreliable ten-year economic projections
- • express frustration with bureaucratic minutiae and institutional absurdities
- • postpone decision on the presidential library site
significantly mentioned as the President's brother who sent a fax and has been speaking with Neda Wallin about the library site
- • resolve the presidential library site selection issue
significantly mentioned as counsel to the Bartlet Presidential Library Commission with whom Jonathan Bartlet has been speaking regarding the site
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Staffer clutches and presents the dense sheaf of decade-spanning fiscal forecasts in the hallway press, its inaccuracy savaged by Bartlet's trillion-dollar sarcasm; it embodies overreaching bureaucracy, tasked for retrieval post-mockery to underscore prophetic delusions amid presidential haste.
Bartlet invokes this imagined Ouija board as satirical counterpart to projections, its spectral alphabet and planchette evoking absurd prophecy; the demand wilts staffer earnestness, injecting witty absurdity that humanizes impatience without physical manifestation in the corridor clash.
Paired in Bartlet's biting quip with Ouija and projections, this ethereal 'magic wand' waves over dubious forecasts as mocked lifeline for precision; its invocation sparks hallway levity, slicing bureaucratic gravity and revealing presidential wit amid institutional grind.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
West Wing hallway pulses as improvised arena for Bartlet's skirmish with staffer projections, its continuous flow halting for sarcastic evisceration amid distant activity; shadows and motion amplify transitional frenzy, contrasting bureaucratic trivia against episode's moral weights like spy betrayals.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
"Bartlet's sardonic dismissal of bureaucratic formalities continues into his later, more profound frustration with the challenges of his presidency."
"Bartlet's sardonic dismissal of bureaucratic formalities continues into his later, more profound frustration with the challenges of his presidency."
Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: "Have the ten-year projections ever been close to accurate?""
"STAFFER: "Depends on what you mean by 'close'.""
"BARTLET: "Within a trillion dollars.""
"BARTLET: "Okay. Bring me the ten-year projection, a Ouiji board and a magic wand.""