West Wing Launches New Season with More Liberal Advocacy (NBC's Campaign Contribution To Demmycrats)

Media Research Center ^ | September 26, 2002 | Brent Baker

[PJ-Comix]

Just six weeks or so before a real mid-term election, NBC’s The West Wing returned to the air Wednesday night with its fictional “President Bartlet” campaigning for re-election six weeks before a presidential vote. West Wing creator/writer Aaron Sorkin who has Bartlet, played by Martin Sheen, facing off against a dumb Republican Governor from the South, used NBC’s prime time to advance the liberal agenda.

     The September 25 episode opened with a campaign rally set at an Indiana farm. Bartlet proclaimed: “We need to find energy alternatives....The Republicans are busy. They’re trying to convince us that they care about new energy and that they’re not in the chest pockets of Big Oil. And that’s a tough sell.”

     Later in the two-hour season premiere, in a scene set in the Oval Office, Bartlet lectured his Commerce Secretary about a global warming treaty: “I think what’s lunacy is a nation of SUVs telling a nation of bicycles that they have to change the way they live before we’ll agree to do something about greenhouse emissions.”

     The season premiere opened with the crowd on an Indiana farm chanting “four more years!”

     Sheen, as President Bartlet, related a joke he subsequently used to slam Republicans: “You know the story about the guy whose car gets stuck in a muddy hole. Farmer comes along and says he’ll pull the car out of the mud, but he’s going to have to charge fifty bucks because this is the tenth time he’s had to pull it out of the mud today. The driver says, 'God, when do you have time to plow your land? At night?’ The farmer says 'no, no,’ night time is when I fill the hole with water.”
     “We need to find energy alternatives. We’re getting our cue [cue? Hard to understand what he said], we’re getting it right now. The Republicans are busy. They’re trying to convince us that they care about new energy and that they’re not in the chest pockets of Big Oil. And that’s a tough sell. I don’t envy them because their only hope is that we don’t notice that they’re the ones who are filling the hole with water every night. And I think Americans are smarter than that. I think we noticed.”
     “This isn’t a time for people whose doomsday scenario is a little less at the pump for Texaco and Shell. This isn’t a time for people who say there aren’t any energy alternatives just because they can’t think of any. This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars.”

     A very nice in-kind contribution from NBC to liberal Democrats, the very kind of political promotion that the media will still be able to advance under “campaign finance reform.”

     Later, in a scene set in the Oval Office, Bartlet’s Secretary of Commerce warned him about a global warming treaty’s impact on the United States: “It is shear lunacy to suggest America take unilateral steps while exempting 80 percent of the world’s nations from the same obligations.”
     Bartlet shot back: “Developing nations. And I think what’s lunacy is a nation of SUVs telling a nation of bicycles that they have to change the way they live before we’ll agree to do something about greenhouse emissions.”

     In an interview with the New Yorker in March, even as he claimed The West Wing is “non-political,” Sorkin boasted of how he would use the program to re-play the 2000 campaign. The New Yorker’s Tad Friend wrote:
     “President Josiah Bartlet is up for re-election this November. 'Bartlet is going to be running against Governor Robert Ritchie, of Florida, who's not the sharpest tool in the box but who's raised a lot of money and is very popular with the Republican Party,’ Sorkin said. If this sounds familiar, it should. 'It was frustrating watching Gore try so hard not to appear smart in the debates -- why not just say 'Here's my fucking résumé, what do you got?' We're a completely fictional, nonpolitical show, but one of our motors is doing our version of the old Mad magazine 'Scenes We'd Like to See.'”

     As recounted in the April 3 CyberAlert, on the March 27 episode President Bartlet took a shot at Sorkin’s stand-in for George W. Bush: “Governor Robert Ritchie” of Florida, the Republican presidential candidate. After an interview with the fictional Philadelphia station ends, but while still live with the anchor, President Bartlet is asked about Ritchie’s book in which he advocates drilling in ANWR. Bartlet replied: “I think we might be talking about a .22 caliber mind in a .357 caliber world.”

     That episode also featured a lot of liberal environmental advocacy. For details: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20020403.asp#6

     As for the show being “non-political,” the March 6 CyberAlert contained a rundown from past CyberAlerts of liberal pronouncements and advocacy promoted on The West Wing over the show’s first three years. For links to fuller CyberAlert articles, some of which feature RealPlayer clips of the scenes: http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2002/cyb20020306.asp#4

4

[ThinkDifferent]

I watch the show because it's excellently written and acted, and the RATS do not come off nearly as well as Bozell is claiming.

It is very well written and acted, but it still came off as an extended commercial for the Democrats. In fairness I've only seen yesterday's show, but conservatives were portrayed only as stupid (the GOP candidate), evil (oil companies) or raving extremists (the "how many babies did you kill today" girl). Meanwhile the major failing of the liberals is that they come across as "too smart". I'll give it another chance but I suspect it's going to end up making me yell at the TV too much (the same reason I couldn't watch Clinton's state of the union addresses).

[maxwell]

You won't see intelligent folks on West Wing portrayed as Conservatives and/or Republicans.

I only see this show sporadically-- nothing else on public stations last night so saw most of premiere... Reminded me why I am not a fan-- this show always ends up chapping my Republican a$$ whenever I see it, the above reason being a primary one...
Yeah Toby et al. were made to look a bit foolish tooling around in the boondocks with Actual Human Beings, but one gets the sense that one is supposed to sympathize with them and their travails about having to deal with uneducated illiterate backwoods hicks who didn't vote fer that feller the last time and prob'ly won't THIS time neither...

I seem to recall some smart blonde ultraconservative chick joining the staff last year or so. She and Rob Lowe were always at each other. What happened to her?

[ThinkDifferent]

I thought those were feminazis mad at the first lady?

I thought they were supposed to be militant anti-feminists who were insulted by her statement that she was "just" a wife and mother. Although I wasn't paying close attention during that part, so I could be wrong.

[tbg681]

The Left Wing -- watch it every week. Funniest show on TV!!

Don't worry about its influence on the sheeple. 90% of its audience are already communists anyway (the other 10% -- like me -- just laugh AT it).

Think of it as pornography for the NPR crowd:

"If only -- sniff, sniff -- if only Martin Sheen really was president". Blah, blah, blah.

Oh, and check out the evil Republican "President Sheen" is running against -- Mr Barbra Streisand!!!! LOL!!!

[calljack]

She went to the new CSI show with David Caruso. They did try to slip in a look-a-like, didn't work.

[KeyBored]

Biggest whoppers of the last 10 years. The nominees are:

"I invented the internet" - AL GORE

"We'll have the most ethical administration in history" - WILLIAM JEFFERSON XLINTON

"My husband is the victim of a vast, right wing conspiracy" - XILLARY ROTTENHAM XLINTON

And the winner is:

"The West Wing is “non-political" - AARON SORKIN

[RayChuang88]

And you can tell how liberal Hollywood is by noting The West Wing has won three Emmys for Best Dramatic Series, totally ignoring a lot of other (frequently) more worthy shows like The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and several others. :-p

[amused]

I thought they were supposed to be militant anti-feminists who were insulted by her statement that she was "just" a wife and mother. Although I wasn't paying close attention during that part, so I could be wrong.

Well at least we both know what we are talking about ;-)

I remember the emphasis on "just" but at the same time I thought the protest made more sense from a feminzai point of view(get out the 'shackles" of housewifery and such).

[Wait4Truth]

they kicked all the conservative writers off the show at the end of last season. Peggy Noonan was one of them. They must have big plans to go completely liberal in every aspect from now until 2004. Pathetic but the libs and the media will adore. They won a ton of emmys last week.

[genefromjersey]

I watched all 2 hours of it last night . DEADLY !!!

The Commercials were the best part !

[PJ-Comix]

Sorry but The West Wing is one big slam against Republicans and Conservatives. Governor Ritchie (get it---Rich-ie?) is made to look like an idiot who is a puppet of his advisors while Jeb Bartlett's "problem" is that he seems to be too smart.

[PJ-Comix]

I loved it when the IN teen asked "how many unborn babies did they kill today" and Josh's(?) reaction was retreat.

They made the teen out to be a Yahoo that Josh condescendingly tolerated.

[PJ-Comix]

In fairness I've only seen yesterday's show, but conservatives were portrayed only as stupid (the GOP candidate), evil (oil companies) or raving extremists (the "how many babies did you kill today" girl).

And don't forget that old geezer hick in the country store who was anti-Bartlett.

[Political Junkie Too]

Interestingly, they also began portraying the president as beginning to suffer memory loss due to his MS, and covering it up by hiring staff to remember names and dates. It would be an interesting twist if they began a storyline of covering up a president's incapacity after finishing up a storyline of covering up a president's incapacity.

-PJ

[amused]

They made the teen out to be a Yahoo that Josh condescendingly tolerated.

During the 5 second exchange where she made her statement and his reaction was to put his hands up and say "whoa"? I may have missed more after that, did I?

Even so, I thought it was great to even have a teenager saying that. And considering the theme seemed to be disconnect with regular Americans(whether intended or not), I thought his smug attitude was appropriate.

One last thiong, anyone else notice the disatorous pipe bombing happened in Cedar Rapids, MI. Isn't that close to the largest population of arab muslims in the US?

[amused]

last thiong, anyone else notice the disatorous

Everyone point and laugh....

[sibb1213]

The American President is a chick thing, the Left Wing is a political machine for the dummycrats. I watched one show the first season and no more. Martin Sheen thinks he is the President! I just can't get past the bias.

[Dick Bachert]

"Would that mine enemy had written a book."

They have. And -- God bless 'em -- they read us a chapter every Wednesday evening!

[united1000]

They slammed the people of Indiana in the beginning of the show.  They are walking out of the corn field and Toby says - 'If there was anyone dumber that Robert Ritchie running on the ticket the people of Indiana would vote for him'.   But on the news people interviewed here in Indiana thought it was great to have Indiana represented  (although they filmed it in PA)  just to get the PR - go figure.................

[PJ-Comix]

It would have been fun if they had filmed an Indiana scene at the Speedway during the Brickyard 400 race last summer. I guarantee you the blonde White House Chick would have been constantly greeted with yells of "SHOW ME YOUR T*TS!!!" It's sort of a tradition there.