One of my favorite movies is on - "An American President"

[housewolf]

WTBS

I love this movie, with Michael Douglas, Annette Benning, Martin Sheen and Michael J. Fox.

The thing is... we NEED Andrew Shepherd as our president NOW!

[NMDemDist2]

1. yup, but I'd settle for Barlett

but AP is a fave here too!

[ChairOne]

3. I'm always amazed at how many of the cast.....

got into the West Wing...

[TahitiNut]

8. Aaron Sorkin wrote "The American President" and produced "West Wing"

He also had a bit part in "The American President" as the congressional aide in the bar with whom Lewis Rothschild (played by Michael J. Fox) was having a conversation.

So, it's no accident and Aaron Sorkin is the reason.

[ChairOne]

11. You couldn't leave me just a *little* bit of childlike wonder, could you?

LOL

sigh - back to Santa Claus with me...

:)

[Hippo_Tron]

22. Sorkin created and wrote a lot of the West Wing

He wasn't just a producer.

[TahitiNut]

33. Yes, indeed. I didn't wish to imply otherwise. However, ...

... his position as Producer also gave him the creative and budget control. Trivia: some of the unused work he did on "The American President" was salvaged and used in 'West Wing.'

FWIW, it's been my opinion (personal taste) that 'West Wing' is the only show on network TV really worth watching for the past few years. I regard most of the rest as simple-minded and having very little production value (talent, settings, scripts, equipment, etc.). It's the only show I've been willing to set aside the time regularly to watch.

[Hippo_Tron]

34. Same here...

Although last season sucked for the most part.

[gumby]

2. I luv the speech Sheperd gives

that asks Rumsfeld why he ISN'T a member of the ACLU.

Ahhhh, if only we had a real president that spoke like that.

edit: "Rumson." hahaha Too many Rummies.

[chicagiana]

7. Bob Rumsen ...

... and he's running for President!!!

I love the line about "Claims to love America but hates Americans".

[Miami Liberal]

4. Love it too

I watch it whenever it's on tv, I never get bored of it.

[pamela]

5. I watched that tonight, too.

We need Aaron Sorkin to write the speeches for our candidates.

[Hippo_Tron]

23. We really do need to get Aaron Sorkin to be a speechwriter...

Excerpted from West Wing episode, 20 hours in America Part II


More than any time in recent history, America's destiny is not of our own choosing.
We did not seek, nor did we provoke, an assault on our freedom and our way of life.
We did not expect, nor did we invite, a confrontation with evil.
Yet the true measure of a people's strength is how they rise to master that moment when it does arrive.

Forty-four people were killed a couple hours ago at Kenneson State University. Three swimmers from the men's team were killed, two others are in critical condition when, after having heard the explosion from their practice facility, they ran into the fire to help get people out.

Ran into the fire.

The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight. They're our students and our teachers and our parents and our friends. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels.

But every time we think we've measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we're reminded that that capacity may well be limitless.

This is a time for American heroes.
We will do what is hard; we will achieve what is great.
This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars.

God bless them, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

In the fictional world this was written by Sam Seaborn, in the car. Since Sam Seaborn doesn't really exist and since I doubt that Rob Lowe has speechwriting skills like this, we need to do the next best thing and get Sorkin to write speeches for democratic candidates.

[Patsy Stone]

24. I couldn't agree more

There was a great thread going on about Kerry's inaugural speech. We were all writing paragraphs, but I continue to suggest, "Get Sorkin!"

Brilliant writer. I never understood why they don't. :(

[Hippo_Tron]

26. The biggest problem is that he's a liability

Rumor has it that he snorts coke. Then again, so did our President.

[Patsy Stone]

30. Not just

Actually, he wrote this while he was using crack. Maybe, maybe not this speech itself, but during his writing of the movie.

"In an interview in the upcoming issue of TV Guide, Sorkin said he smoked crack cocaine daily while writing the 1995 movie 'The American President.'"

Also in 2001: marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms and -- wait for it -- crack rock.

http://b4a.healthyinterest.net/news/000098.html

Liability perhaps, but definitely brilliant. Plus, I think maybe he's clean now.

[housewolf]

25. I agree, too....

A great candidate delivering a speech like this could move mountains...

And we have some mountains that definitely NEED moving these days.

[Patsy Stone]

6. Any time I can post this, I get joy...

A Press Conference of President Andrew Shepherd
written by Aaron Sorkin

For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being President of this country was, to a certain extent, about character. Although I've not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here for three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation that being President of this country is entirely about character.

For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU, but the more important question is, "Why aren't you, Bob?" Now this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? Now if you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago.

America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say, "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center-stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the land of the free.

I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I'd been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong, Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it; Bob's problem is that he can't sell it. We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections.

You gather a group, of middle-age, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family, and American values, and character, and then you wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them that she's to blame for their lot in life, and then you go on television, and you call her a whore.

Sydney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob. She has done nothing but put herself through school, represent the interests of public school teachers, and lobby for the safety of our natural resources. You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, 'cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.

I've loved two women in my life. I lost one to cancer, and I lost the other 'cause I was so busy keeping my job, that I forgot to do my job. Well, that ends right now. Tomorrow morning, the White House is sending a bill to Congress for its consideration. It's White House Resolution 455, an energy bill requiring a twenty percent reduction of the emission of fossil fuels over the next ten years. It is, by far, the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effects of global warming. The other piece of legislation is the crime bill. As of today, it no longer exists--I'm throwing it out. I'm throwing it out and writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security, and I will go door to door if I have to--but I'm gonna convince Americans that I'm right, and I'm gonna get the guns.

We've got serious problems--and we need serious people. And if you want to talk about character, Bob, you better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I'll show up. This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd and I am the President.

[chicagiana]

9. The line about flag burning should always be ...

... you cannot destroy a country by burning a piece of cloth.

A flag is a symbol, not the thing it represents. Burning flags in DC hurts America about as much as burning crosses in Alabama hurts god. Why any good southern christian would support banning the one while apologizing for the other is beyond me.

America is tough. And tough guys should be able to take tough criticism. Opposing the burning of a flag isn't tough. It's weak. It shows that you cannot take the heat. It shows that you are so weak that any wiff of criticism shakes your nerves and sends you crying for laws against the one who criticizes you.

If your saddened by seeing a US flag burn your probably an American. Because the fact that anyone would want to burn us in effigy should make us weep and reconsider our stance in the world. It doesn't mean they're right, it means you should understand what they're complaining about. No, they do NOT hate us because of our freedom.

If you cannot stand to see an American flag burned so much that you want the practice outlawed, it means you're a wimp. You cannot tolerate anyone criticizing you. You seek to win arguments by silencing your critics instead of championing your cause.

[Patsy Stone]

10. So, so correct!

And...talk about prescient. Who does this sound like to you?

"He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections."

I also love the lines about the middle-aged voters and the happier times.

If this man isn't a philosopher-king, I don't know who is.

[chicagiana]

12. The "happier times" they long for ...

... are the mythical 50s. The golden age when taxes were sky high and society basked and prospered in the wake of liberal reform.

By contrast society stewed and simmered in the wake of Republican domination of the 20s and early 30s.

Why is the party against federal spending the one that drives up deficits??? Why is the party of Lincoln the one that has opposed civil rights and affirmative action???

[TahitiNut]

14. Another "feature" of the 50s ...

... that neoconservatives yearn for is the "golden age" of American business. The right wing regards the 50s as some kind of model for the 'excellence of American business.' What they ignore or forget is that the industrial base of the rest of the world was almost totally destroyed by WW2, leaving the US as the sole intact producer of durable and consumer goods. It's easy to do business when the competition has been bombed out of existence - but the reichbots think of themselves as enterprise's "chosen people."

[chicagiana]

15. American business in the 50s ...

... it was greatly diversified. There were tens of auto companies instead of 3. They still enforced anti-trust laws back then.

The unions were their absolute strongest during the 50s. It was all downhill after that.

[housewolf]

19. Post-World War II

I remember telling my dad, one time, in the early 90's I think, that I thought his generation saw the best of America. Yes, they were born in the 20's and grew up in during the Depression and went to war and fought WWII, but then they helped the world recover from WWII, made massive progress in changing the world and making it a better place, helping to educate and bring rule of law to countries all over the world, and create opportunity at home. 'Course it had its shadow side too, as all of life does - the creation of nuclear weapons, support of repressive regimes in some countries, and degredation of the enviroment.

But to me, that post-war period, through the 50's and 60's and 70's, America seemed a more hopeful place than it does now.

[Jade Fox]

20. Thanks. I was about to post much the same.

[Lisa]

21. plus all those government contracts!

Some of those big corporations in Allied countries had done very well out of the war -- more than enough to offset the temporary loss of access to European markets, and of facilities/property (e.g. German branch plants). Even without the examples where people tried to play both sides, there was a lot of money to be made. To build on TahitiNut's metaphor, "it's easy to do business when the competition has been bombed out of existence" -- "and your government is paying you mega $$$ to produce planes and ammo in plants where you don't have to offer many benefits because most of the workers are women and union activism is viewed as 'unpatriotic'".

[Patsy Stone]

16. Oh, you

asking smart questions.

Why did they embrace the Federal Courts intervening in States' Rights?

Why is it now important that the government get into my bedroom?

Why do those who don't trust government and never have, suddenly put all of their faith in St. George and the cabal to do the right thing, no questions asked?

Why did the * Administration created so many new agencies that the
Government hired 800K people last year?

We could do this for days... :)

[chicagiana]

17. Serve up the Helock ...

... I'd rather drink that than the Kool-Aid.

[catzies]

29. That's good, and I like what Molly Ivins said too

"Better to burn a flag and wrap yourself in the Constitution than burn the Constitution and wrap yourself in the flag."

[housewolf]

18. I LOVE this speech!

Thanks! I tried to write it from memory but couldn't remember it in well-enough detail.

I especially love this part:
"whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things, and two things only: making you afraid of it, and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections."

Replace "Bob Rumson" with "conservative candidate" - truer words have never been spoken.

[CabalPowered]

13. I LOVE this movie too..but..

I really don't like the STRONG anti-gun statements at the end. He speaks of "going door-to-door to get the guns".. assault weapons AND hand guns. This only perpetuates the con myth that dems are out to get ALL guns.

I still watch it whenever it comes on but cringe right at that part..

[barb162]

27. yes, good movie and there's another called "Dave" I think

and it is about a guy who impersonates the prez when the prez has a heart attack. Sigourney Weaver plays the Prez's wife

[Bucky]

28. Shepherd has Bartlett's disdain for the use of "proportional response"

And yet both, despite their anger at any given moment, always settle for proportionate response. Despite the violence and villainy of the precitating event, being a responsible nation that wants to protect its citizens while maintaining the fight for international law always means you have to respond proportionately.

I wish our real time president understood this (or had advisors who understood this).

Remember on September 12th when half the country wanted to nuke Afghanistan? Colin Powell had the president's ear and we didn't nuke anybody that year. Then Powell lost all influence and we went to war with an unrelated third party--the exact opposite of proportional response. An irrational response.

It just occured to me that IRAQ is an acronym of Irrational Response And Quaqmire. That would be signficant if Iraq was simply an irrational act, rather than a constructively greedy and corrupt non-response to the war on terrorism. But I digress. My main point is that Bush is an asshole.

[Patsy Stone]

32. Perfectly Put

All of it. I laughed, I cried. A 10!
:)

[flygal]

31. I watched this for the first time last year in the hospital

The only English tv I could get was CNN and they had non-stop coverage of the Iowa caucus. I knew Kerry was going to be the nominee and then I watched American President on my dvd player and really thought this was a sign - :(

[journalist3072]

35. An American President

I watched it, and loved it! Great movie!