I love me some good Sorkin!

[Greg the dogsitter]

"Because the idea of American exceptionalism doesn’t extend to Americans being exceptional. If you excelled academically and are able to casually use 690 SAT words then you might as well have the press shoot video of you giving the finger to the Statue of Liberty while the Dixie Chicks sing the University of the Taliban fight song. The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it."

-- http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/opinio...orkin.html

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Misread the subject and thought this was about snorking.
Verb: to drink something and have it come out your nose because you're laughing so hard.

It is also another Hanna-Barbera cartoon like The Flintstones. http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/13944-Snorki...ll_Go.html

[graylocks]

oh god, how i miss The West Wing at Sorkin's peak! this is hysterical - thanks!

[guitarist]

Sorkin can write better on a three-day 'shroom and crack hangover than most people can on a cup of coffee after a good night's sleep on the best hour of their day. I'm a huge fan of Sorkin's dialogue-writing skills, his stuff sparkles off the page.

The term American Exceptionalism has been so frequently misinterpreted, misunderstood, removed from its origins, or intentionally distorted, few in contemporary society recognize its original meaning. Lately it's been used as a weapon by critics until the only the negative meaning has currency. Sorkin is educated enough to know this.

Here's the Wikipedia intro:

American exceptionalism (cf. "exceptionalism" ) refers to the belief that the United States differs qualitatively from (note: "differs from", not "is superior to" ) other developed nations, because of its national credo, historical evolution, or distinctive political and religious institutions.
Certain persons view American exceptionalism as a product of veiled nationalistic chauvinism. The term can also be used in a negative sense by critics of American policies to refer to a willful nationalistic ignorance of faults committed by the American government. (See Anti-Americanism, Americanophobia, intolerance, racism, and ethnocentrism.) ...

The term was first used in respect of the United States by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1831...

...Thomas Paine's Common Sense for the first time expressed the belief that America was not just an extension of Europe but a new land, a country of nearly unlimited potential and opportunity that had outgrown the British mother country. These sentiments laid the intellectual foundations for the Revolutionary concept of American exceptionalism and were closely tied to republicanism, the belief that sovereignty belonged to the people, not to a hereditary ruling class. Alexis de Tocqueville stressed the advanced nature of democracy in America, arguing that it infused every aspect of society and culture, at a time (1830s) when democracy was not in fashion anywhere else... ....

That's just a small clip. There's an interesting debate about the pros and cons, and the different shadings of the meaning that evolved over the centuries. As seen in Wikipedia's exploration of its history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Ex...ite_note-0

I'd understood it to mean our particular style of Western democracy doesn't automatically translate anywhere else you try to plant it, that there's something inherently unique about how it developed here (with a strong foundation in English Law, built by Enlightenment-era thinkers, enriched by immigrant who brought their own traditions and ambitions here) that isn't automatically reproducible elsewhere, But I also recognize its been used as justification for all kinds of nefarious things done in the name of liberty or prosperity or divine superiority, etc., until finally, the meaning of the term is as complicated and contradictory as America is.

sorkin is a valueable critic, but also a patriotic fan of history, as reflected in his scripts for west wing.

[mrbigstuff]

The people who want English to be the official language of the United States are uncomfortable with their leaders being fluent in it.

I read that in the NYT and thought, "That would make a great sig line on MRF."

but, then, I thought better of it.

[BCam]

Boy, did he nail it or what? I know it's long, but very worthwhile.
From "The American President":

PRESIDENT SHEPHERD:
(standing at the podium at the White House Press Room)

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 wouldn't 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 spends 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-class, middle-age, 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.

[guitarist]

I liked the patriotic eloquence and righteous energy of that speech, it's a great example of what Sorkin excels at. I've seen that movie (and that speech) about five times, and always enjoy it. The pro-environmental lobby lecturing seemed like a paper tiger to me when I first saw it, though it's proved to be more prescient than we knew, when the movie came out. The line about going door to door to collect guns, even now, is downright nutty, theatrically satisfying but empty and silly. The speech as a whole makes me long for a Democrat Presidential figure with that kind of guts and clarity, who's not a fictional character, but a real candidate. Clinton came close. None of the current candidates on either side can carry a speech like that as universally convincingly as Sorkin and Douglas did, in that performance. Themes that would be further explored in "The West Wing" were hatched in performances like that.

Trivia: I read that Sorkin's original script for "The American President" was hundreds of pages, way too long to fit into a shootable movie. Sorkin had more to say, and shopped his idea to the networks. The material leftover from "President" became the framework for the series he pitched, some of the pages of the script went directly into the storylines of "The West Wing."

[graylocks]

i loved this movie. did sorkin pen this?

[BCam]

Gray: yes he did.

Guitarist: You are spot on with your history of TWW and TAP. At least according to some cast members I got a chance to chat with over the years (oooooooh that CJ looks hot in a long, formal gown!)

[guitarist]

BCam---damnnn...did you get a chance to ask her about "The Jackal"? Remember that episode? ("Six Meetings Before Lunch" ) The actress, Allison Janney, had that (miming the classic R & B song) number down pat, it was a thing she did in her trailer, or to entertain friends and colleagues.



"Did I ever tell you about the man who changed my life? The one I thought, ohhh. Lord, when I saw him walkin' back in that bar, all tall and lean with them broad shoulders, sweeeet lips, I knew that I had died and gone to. . . Chocolate Heaven. . . He had a real deep voice, white pearly teeth, his shoe was always shiny. Long slender fingers manicured perfectly. The man wore 800-dollar Italian suit, straight from, I dunno, what would they call it, Milan or Rome or someplace like that? I knew it wasn't local. I said, I got to get next to that. I haven't seen him in a long time. The man was so fine, he could get any good girl into trouble. . . Can you guess what his name was?. . . Well. . . 'The Jackal'. . . 'The Jackal'. Say. 'The Jackal'. . ."He was fat back cat cool like a Friday afternoon martini, chillin' at a quarter after 5. Twist of lime, Coke on the side. The brother loved the high life. Had a Ph.D. in street strut. They called him 'The Jackal'. "He was big Mack daddy super black stylin' a diamonds in the back Cadillac. Fur-lined boards, white wall wheels, cruise control, built for speed, chrome on evray-thang. And stereophonic speakers, though he really didn't need them. When they called him. . . 'The Jackal'. Say. 'The Jackal'. . .

Background on how this scene came about: from http://westwing.bewarne.com/jackal.html

On a talk show appearance, Allison Janney stated that during her down time on the set she listens to music in her trailer and learns the words. She said that one afternoon she was "performing" her version of the Jackal for Richard Schiff (I believe) and Aaron Sorkin saw it and decided to use it in the next episode.

"The Jackal" is on a Ronnie Jordan album called "The Quiet Revolution"