West Wing - College Kids

[gotgame292]

So, just throw money at the public schools and everything will magically improve? Sounds like the wonderful strategy we've been using for the last 40 years, and to no avail. School choice. Now that's a winner.

[ManUntdForever]

I was crying the entire time. Such a wonderful show and brilliant acting. I had goosebumps.

[Karthos1000]

For many terrible, horrifying years, from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009, Josiah Bartlet was my President, and there are days even since January 20, 2009, when he becomes my president again, even if only for an afternoon.

I have more hope now than I did eight years ago, but there are days when we need a fictional President for inspiration. Thank you, Aaron Sorkin.

[WillBraden]

@Karthos1000 God dammit. Now I'm crying because of a YouTube comment? Fuck....

[KelpStalker]

When school vouchers happen, then we will have positive change!

[MatthewS8590]

when sam says that, oh, one of my favorite scenes in entire show

[1burnman]

i wached this in its frist run thats my preident

[adeafningsilence]

This is so American; so idealistic, so sweeping and with so much rhetoric.

[NeotericLefty]

Clearly 6 people don't understand outstanding writing and a fabulous acting performance when they see or hear it.

[SamAndPatrick]

Although I agree with the message. We too need to be sure we're doing more than nearly enough oversight on HOW we spend more money on education. Wasted bureaucratic administration helps no child learn.

My message? More RESPONSIBLE money for education.

[sumskater999]

Throughout all seven seasons of the West Wing, the first word that comes to mind when thinking about Martin Sheen's acting is PRESIDENTIAL.

He should've won the Golden Globe seven times in a row.

[younghoss]

Gosh, if only we could throw more money into the schools, terrorism would stop.

According to Bartlett.

[RichardJosefMax]

@younghoss No, don't be flippant, that really isn't what he is saying. He is saying that there will be always be people who hate America, there will always be people who are willing to stoop to such low levels as killing innocent people and that can't be changed, but what can be changed is education, healthcare and such and they should be changed. But yes, maybe if education was better, if we had more social equality, fewer people would feel disenfranchised and marginalised.

[pubuman]

@RichardJosefMax There is will always be "great" nations willing to murder innocent people in far away countries as "collateral" for their own self interests too ... there is indeed great evil in this world!

[rodwyer]

@younghoss why must everything be reduced to the lowest common denominator of idiocy?

[960506999517]

this really reminded me about how we must treat Osama Bin Laden. the idea "he/they wasn't born wanting to do this..." Agree?

[stringerboi]

i gotta watch this show

[lemonNlime1000]

@stringerboi youll love it and hate it at the same time. youll love it because its brilliant in both the writing and the acting, and it is without a doubt the best show i have ever heard of or seen. youll hate it, however, because since the show has ended, you will in fact one day run out of episodes. youll also notice that after watching it, every other show doesnt even seem to come close. so basically its amazing but the price you have to pay is it ruins tv for you forever. i should know

[adrianmichaelrook]

@lemonNlime1000 spot on. the day i ran out of episodes i felt like my life was over

[eltimo12]

who's the blonde at 1:02 ?

[1BigBen]

Sam "at the last minute " Seaborn joy comes in the morning but every time we think we have 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.

decision to end the show to end the show was wrong , eight more year

[monkeytypist]

Five people weren't born wanting to dislike this.

[gunnerone]

I always find it funny. We can make the perfect president on the screen but how come we can't find the perfect on in real life? Is it really that hard to find a real american that cares about the people?

[NobleHam]

@gunnerone

More than 100,000,000 people vote, and not nearly enough put any thought into it.

[tyu3456]

@gunnerone Well, if only Obama had Sam, Toby, and Josh on his staff...

[gtrmagic]

This whole show was an education in itself.. for the political process, how things got done, but also a beautiful presentation of the English language, with the emotive use of words and phrases and delivery techniques that hammered the point home, all without thinking the orator is a fool...

Obama & co would do well to hire Aaron Sorkin's screenwriters to his staff!

[Ovrkyl]

BARTLETT FOR AMERICA!

[DonaldMele]

Rest in peace Ron Silver!

[nyraider91]

This has not nearly enough, not nearly enough, not nearly enough views

[JoseJimeniz]

@nyraider91 Wow, that was very, very, good. Well done. +1

[kagasan2008]

Not enough money? The Dept. of Education budget has been *hugely* increased every year or two since Clinton. Yes, even under GWB. How come is it that the federal education budget gets billions extra but our kids get less and less in the classroom and the cafeteria? There's something not right there, and it's in the government, not in the popular culture.

[Richcelt]

@kagasan2008 What the Federal government giveth, the states taketh away. I'm in CA, and the ONLY times that the state government has done anything with the education budget over the past 20 years is to CUT it. They have not ONCE increased the funding to education in that entire time. They have either left it alone, and let better economies bring more tax money from higher wages, or CUT it when the economy went sour. Now, one teacher is forced to teach 25, 35, or 45 kids per class.

[nitaipoddar5]

Breathtaking.

[dbassplayer]

JOY COMETH IN THE MORNING

[JohnStamosIsLame]

Purposely uploaded on the day of Virginia Tech's tragedy?

[gagothesith]

An impeccable speech.

If only it reflected the realities of the real-life Teachers Unions on which the real-life Democratic Party depends for votes and some funding--the unions oppose the dismissal of even the most incompetent teachers.

How can you have a good education when even those unfit to teach keep their jobs. How can you inspire good teachers when bad teachers get as much protection as the good ones.

[joelfeig]

The fact is that 50% of all new teachers, good and bad, leave the profession after only 5 years.

There are bad teachers, and they do get weaned out, but there are bad students and bad parents too. It's easy to blame teachers because there's fewer of them than those other groups but the fact is until we make education as glorified in this country as athletics kids are going to dream of being basketball stars and not mathematicians.

We can fix that.

[gagothesith]

1 "Bad teachers get weaned out" contradicts the reality that Teachers Unions oppose the dismissal--even the retraining--of incompetent teachers.

2 It is not about blame--it is about the fact that even good students with good parents fail to get a good education under a bad teacher, and the fact that good teachers are even more needed to save all but the incorrigible ones among bad students cursed with bad parents.

. . .

[gagothesith]

3 The need to dismiss incorrigibly incompetent teachers is a separate issue from the need to exclude incorrigibly bad students--feel free to do both.

[EnhancementSmoker]

i love the internet...

this part just popped into my mind and now im watching it...

gotta love sorkin

[grumpytosnowwhite]

Amazing scene. How can one man hold so much charisma?

[DeimosEclipse]

With two hands and a heart as big as a wheelbarrow.

[grumpytosnowwhite]

Agreed! :)

[Elensila2718]

Indeed. If only Aaron Sorkin were president!

[Craigipedia]

genius

[SJT9791]

Martin Sheen's not full of "lefty crap." He's a smart guy maybe a little soft and over diplomatic.

[pregiscregis]

we'll have to agree to disagree on that one. his views are a little too close to the socialist bone for my liking but if you disagree, I respect that

[macspectrum]

one wonders how sorkin would react to sarah palin

[pregiscregis]

or Barack Obama even

[kmyesq]

@macspectrum - See the Midterms dressing down Bartlett gives to a Dr. Laura wanna be.

[LindwurParty]

Yeah, it's depressing...

[DonaldMele]

@lucas27 OBAMA is a bit Bartlett like. He's not as old though. Bartlett's age gives him more gravitas... I'm happy to be living under OBAMA.... I feel he's the closest thing to Bartlett since Kennedy...

[natergator34]

EXACTLY!!

[FrozenEMT]

@lucas27 You need to pay more attention to Martin Sheen. He is extremely devoted to political activism and is a very eloquent speaker in his own right.

[WOI999]

@lucas27 Well, that's the point, isn't it, to show us how it could (and should) be done in the real word!

[bumshka21]

the camera work is just freakin' great

[faceprecious]

Again it is posted not where it is supposed to be I am saying that the line that is all bull is posted out of context for some reason as stated in the one I hope this posts next to

[marym499]

I love this show, wished they'd make a west wing movie with Santos as president.

[gagothesith]

Don't people already say that the character Santos was written with BH Obama in mind . . .

[gagothesith]

Gawd, I hope the person who gave my comment above a thumbs-up recognized the sarcasm.

[scj16]

PRESIDENT BARTLET= GENIUS.

[andreicmello]

(cont.)

After President Bartlet said he'll just "talk for a little bit" he comes up with one of the most brilliant lines that could ever be said by a president. "They weren't born wanting to do this". After witnessing this speech, Bruno mentions that there is no way Bartlet is losing the election.

I hope this helps you guys appreciate this scene as much as I do.

[andreicmello]

Just adding a few facts...

President Bartlet is campaigning for his second term and the Kenniston bombing happened. Bruno and all the campaign headers were discussing whether they should talk about the bombing when the focus of the speech he was about to give was education. Some thought mentioning may not fit with the topic while others thought that the event could not go by unacknowledged by the president. This explain Bruno and Sam's fumbling around at the beginning of the clip.

[largetalons22]

life affirming television

[tsefcik]

"They weren't born wanting to do this..."

One of my favorite lines from the whole series. I work w/ troubled kids, and that line comes to mind all the time.

[RexAlban]

if only our leaders had the wisdom of script writers

[ferociousmadman]

By our leaders are you referring to President Bush? hehe I don't know if even the knowledge of a script writer could help him out! lol!

[IraqVetNY]

Bush is pretty good on script when he tries. Extemporaneously on the other hand....ehhh.

[ermineermine]

Careful, FEROCIOUSMADMAN. Lest we be reminded why GW Bush won.

1 GW Bush won in 2000 because the offered alternative was so uninspiring that he could not even get his and his father's home state to support him. (Which would have made FL irrelevant and the SC decision unnecessary.)

. . .

[ermineermine]

2 GW Bush won by an overwhelming margin in 2004 because the offered alternative--in his words, conduct and reactions, from post-Vietnam, throughout his political career and during the campaign--was rightfully seen by the electorate as an even more alarming prospect than four more years of the incompetent incumbent.

[ferociousmadman]

uh yes, I know WHY he won, I'm a political science major lol.. but I still don't have to like our president's speaking abilities.

[ermineermine]

Nobody does--that's one consensus across party lines.

[auntbecky]

he won in 2000 because he stole it. we should have known then what we were getting into.

[ermineermine]

There you go again with your imagined 'justifications'--any excuse to avoid facing the fact that

| Gore could not win even his home state--

| which would have made FL irrelevant

| and the Supreme Court decision unnecessary.

Tell me, what EXCUSE did you have for Carter's miserable loss against Reagan? And what EXCUSE did you have when Kerry lost by an overwhelming margin to the incompetent incumbent in 2004?

[ermineermine]

II

AUNTBECKY:

> we should have known then

> what we were getting into

Yes, we should have known then what we were getting into when you put up a candidate like Carter after a disastrous first term, like Dukakis, like Mondale, like Bush Sr after an economically-disastrous first term, like Dole, like Gore, like Kerry.

Or--Heaven forbid--Quayle, Buchanan, Paul, Dean, Edwards, Sharpton, Jackson, ... .

. . .

[ermineermine]

LESSON LEARNED: It is not enough that the opponent is bad.

IF YOUR SIDE IS EVEN WORSE, then you lose--the other side WINS BY DEFAULT.

[airdriver]

Carter's loss was due to the fact that he was pressured conservatives into letting The Shah into this country which bought on the Hostage Crisis. Kerry lost because cowards who never served in Vietnam questioned the character one one who did(Kerry), came home and told the world the truth about that war and naive naive sheep believed the Swiftboat For Truth lies.

[ermineermine]

There they go again--excuses and more excuses.

1 Anything to avoid facing the fact that

(i) Carter was a failure in every other area of foreign policy (Begin/Sadat at Camp David being a welcome exception);

(ii) Carter was as much a failure in domestic policy.

. . .

[ermineermine]

2 Anything to avoid facing the fact that (i) from post-Vietnam, (ii) throughout his political career, and during the campaign Kerry did not inspire TRUST ... and that was displayed with CONSISTENCY (i) in his choices, positions and decisions, (ii) in the changes he frequentyly made in those choices, positions and decisions, (iii) in the reasons he gave for those changes, (iv) in his words, (v) in his actions, and (vi) in his reactions.

[airdriver]

Hey who's talking points are those?  Limbaugh's, Coulter's or O'REALLY's?

[ermineermine]

I neither know nor give a damn whose--not "who is"--talking points the following are:

1 "Carter's loss was due to the fact that he was pressured [sic] conservatives into letting The Shah into this country which bought on the Hostage Crisis."

and

2 "Kerry lost because cowards who never served in Vietnam questioned the character one one who did(Kerry), came home and told the world the truth about that war and naive naive sheep believed the Swiftboat For Truth lies."

. . .

[ermineermine]

For someone who mouths slogans, classic "stories" and epithets written in every standard Propagandist's Handbook

1 "____ loss was the fault of the Conservatives"

2 "Conservatives made the electorate do this and that"

3 "the truth about ____"

3 "sheep"

4 "lies"

you are remarkably bold in dismissing everything which does not fit your style as "mere talking points".

[17hands]

obama

[kmrs1959]

the allowing of the Shah into this country did not bring on the Hostage Crisis. The Hostage Crisis was brought on by the US, Israel and England getting involved in overthrowing the Prime Minister of Iran starting in 1954! The lash back dates way back to that and has little to do with the Shah being allowed into this country. They already knew we were involved in his rise to power. That is why the US Embasy was known as the Den of Spys.

[faceprecious]

THAT IS ALL BULL.

[kmrs1959]

Learn a little history.

[faceprecious]

I think this is out of context for some reason. Don't remember what it was posted to or why I posted it. Sorry. As far as the statement above it, it would be iteresting but doubt that it will happen. As everyone has moved on. Sorry for the comment. Especiall since I don't know now why I posted it to begin with

[Wolfe1798]

You are such a tool

[bpeter3196]

LOL that's the best you got? Your a facist commie & in for a huge let down when nothing your cult leader promised gets done and he spends more then bush did doubling the national debt and yet creates no jobs fixes no economy and is worse then bush was. 1459 days left till he's out.

[grabmygoblin]

"I think I'm just going to talk for a little bit"

can you imagine what would come out of the mouths of our real-life politicians if they had to go off their scripts occasionally?

[ermineermine]

No need to imagine.

1 Remember JF Kerry whenever he opened his mouth? (He's the reason why GW Bush won a second term.)

2 Remember BH Obama whenever he is without a teleprompter and he has to deal with a question which has not been relayed beforehand and which cannot be answered by a soundbite, a slogan or a chant?

3 Remember JD Quayle whenever he opened his mouth? (He provided comedians with abundant material.)

. . .

[ermineermine]

4 Remember JE Carter? You can't figure out if it's scripted or not because every statement is as somnolent and as deludedly idealistic as the rest.

5 Remember AA Gore? Few of us do--we all dozed off soon after he started talking.

[a07002]

when I watched this show and heard Bartlet speak in complete and eloquent phrases of hope and destiny, I felt like crying when I compared him to the mean, crass, inarticulate thug currently in the White House.

[teufelkim]

@a07002 You don't even know the man personally, so how can you tell he's a thug?

[chrissline77]

I hated Bush too.

[younghoss]

@a07002

I don't think I'd exactly agree he is a thug. Sort of, but not exactly. He does want to take away wealth from Americans that have earned it, but not with a gun, but through redistribution.

He is out-of touch certainly, but I strongly disagee with "inarticulate" . Obama is an excellent public speaker.

[adrianmichaelrook]

@younghoss comment was posted 3 years ago, he was talking about George W Bush

[younghoss]

@adrianmichaelrook

On closer look, I see you are right, adrian. Amazing. The post didn't name names, so I thought the "thug" robbing Americans referred to our current president, who wants to take away money from people that earned it.

My mistake- wrong thug!

[adrianmichaelrook]

@younghoss one of them started a pretty expensive war that the other one had to work out how to pay for

[sumskater999]

@younghoss What do you mean robbing Americans? There was a THREE PERCENT tax increase on the wealthiest Americans from when Republicans had the White House. Where in that 3% does it suddenly become robbing Americans?

[Ry28952]

@younghoss He commented that 3 years ago, it was referring to Bush not Obama

[wuzzman]

too much liberal in our class rooms.

[bouloux29]

what exactly is too much liberal?

Is it the exposure to ideas that aren't exclusively based on the bible? Or just a lack of corporal punishment? Can you clarify your comment if it's not any of these things, and instead something completely different.

[London755]

Don't feed the trolls.

[kingwilson06ad]

why don't we just go back to the pre-Guttenberg days... no books, no thinking, just conservative monks reminding us how worthless we were... liberalism shaped western civilization: the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the American Revolution, heck yeah, and Rock'n Roll... conservatism kept us in a 10-century cocoon called the Middle Ages... oh yes, and for the past 7.5 years, as well

[hallsirius]

The best terrorists want nothing.

[jokr8790]

Right or wrong and I do think they're wrong. It would probably be wise to recognize that the "terrorists" have specific complaints and an agenda. I suggest you see "Why do they hate us?" and "Mrs. Bartlet explains how it all began." Both posted by Sarakatheryn I believe. Everyone involved in posting these is great.

[noniggers001]

The best terrorists want ballz across their moms chin! :-)

[jokr8790]

He's not curious George. Unfortunately, he was never very curious about anything. That is a major part of the problem. He has a 22 caliber mind in a 357 Magnum world. He wouldn't want anyone who could write like this and he wouldn't understand them if they did.

[saulpaulus]

My condolences to the people of Finland and especially the town of TUUSULA. This video seemed pertinent.

[scj16]

BARTLETT IS GOD.

[scj16]

WOW! I LOVE IT! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!

[herodotus53]

Why couldn't the current president hire some WW speech writers?

[mr3856a]

How painful would it be watching Curious George enunciate this magnificent writing?

[baybuy14]

Amen

[jokr8790]

I just saw a documentary called "No End in Sight" about the lead up to the Iraq war. Shrubblegruber was given some one page summaries along with the reports, detailing why the Iraq army should not be disbanded. He didn't bother to read even the one page summaries. I'm not sure he reads anything more complex than "My Pet Goat."

[stevetoy]

Obama is probably the only candidate who could pull off this sort of rhetoric. Aaron Sorkin and Obama would be the kiss of death for any Republican candidate.

[timfox329]

you realize rhetoric has a negative connotation stevey?

[psatm]

I'm sure he meant well, though rhetoric is a negative term.

[justin324925]

nope, it is not. read a little before making statements

[psatm]

rhet·o·ric - [ret-er-ik]

--noun

1. (in writing or speech) the undue use of exaggeration or display; bombast.

You may not call that negative, I do. Read a little before making statements.

[justin324925]

where exactly did you find that quite elementary definition, champ? Rhetoric is the use of language for means of persuasion. There is more intellectual life than dictionaries. Try it some time.

[psatm]

Websters. They know something about the English language, certainly more than a loser troll like you. Get a life.

[Darkhawk1234]

Can I say that one rhetoric doesn't have a negative connotation when your talking to me, but people unfamiliar with writing may feel that it does have a negative connotation.

Also Websters website produces this definition (others as well): 1: the art of speaking or writing effectively.

And before anyone calls someone names, I think it wonderful to meet people that are willing to engage in a discussion about rhetoric.

Obama + Sorkin should get together, though there would be a chance of coke use.

[filegirl]

Oh man. Very appropriate. Thanks for posting.