CAPS

CJ.circulates around the room. Danny approaches C.J.

DANNY

C.J., look....

C.J.

Yeah. You're not going to want to miss this.

The crowd applauds again.

REPORTER

C.J., what is this? What's going on in there?

C.J.

The President's going to throw his cap over the wall.

REPORTER

What does that mean?

C.J.

You're about to find out.

CUT TO: THE PODIUM - CONTINUOUS

BARTLET

My Father was very fond of the analogy of the Irish lads whose journey was blocked by a brick wall, seemingly too high to scale. Throwing their caps over the wall, the lads had no choice but to follow. 

How many times in the great history of our country have we come to a wall seemingly too high to scale only to throw our caps to the other side?

FADE TO: INT. A DARK ROOM - NIGHT

The Senate Majority Leader is inside with his staff. Steve Onorato is watching Bartlet from a TV screen.

SENATOR

This was given to me by a constituent who read in Time Magazine that I like Cognac.

The problem is, that this is Brandy and not Cognac. Anyone know the

difference?

ONORATO

Senator?

SECRETARY

The Cognac is supposed to come from the...

SENATOR

...The Cognac region of France. That's right.

ONORATO

Senator?

SENATOR

Steve, sit down with us over here, would you? The man's not going to say anything we're interested in.

ONORATO

I think he is.

SENATOR

What are you talking about?

ONORATO

Listen.

BARTLET

[on T.V.] Tomorrow... tomorrow morning, we're going to begin to change the way elections are supervised in this country.

ONORATO

He's going to name two finance reformers to the F.E.C.

SENATOR

What the hell are you talking about?

ONORATO

Listen.

SENATOR

You said it wasn't going to happen.

ONORATO

I was wrong.

SENATOR

You were wrong?

ONORATO

He's going to name... damn it! Somebody....

SECRETARY

John Bacon...

ONORATO

John Bacon and Patty Calhoun.

SENATOR

You told him, they take on campaign finance reform, I roll out a legislative agenda that'll make his boss sit down and cry.

ONORATO

I made it very clear.

BARTLET

[on T.V.] I am proud to nominate John Branford Bacon and Patricia Calhoun to the Federal Election Commission.

SENATOR

Get him on the phone.

SECRETARY

Who?

SENATOR

Josh Lyman. Get him on the phone. I'm going to reach down his throat and take out his lungs with an ice-cream scoop.

CUT TO: INT. SHERATON HOTEL/MONITOR AREA - NIGHT

Josh, Toby, and Sam are all decked out in tuxes.

SAM

You're about to get a call.

JOSH

Yeah.

SAM

Big call.

JOSH

Yeah.

SAM

Powerful guy.

JOSH

Yeah.

SAM

I'm just saying you're probably rocked back from your meeting last week.

JOSH

A little.

SAM

They threatened you with a legislative agenda.

JOSH

Yeah.

SAM

They made you feel powerless and you're a little off your game.

JOSH

Yeah.

SAM

A little gun shy.

In the background, a phone rings. Toby had sidled up by Sam.

TOBY

Leave him alone.

SAM

I'm bucking him up.

TOBY

Leave him alone.

SAM

You asked me to buck him up.

TOBY

Now, I'm telling you to leave him alone.

JOSH

Guys, I'm trying to watch this speech.

DONNA

Josh.

JOSH

The call?

DONNA

On the cell. [hands him the cell phone]

TOBY

Josh, if you need us, we're standing right here.

Josh turns away to answer the call.

JOSH

[into phone] Hi, Senator. Why don't you take your legislative agenda and shove it up your ass.

He closes the phone as the crowd applauds again. He turns back to everyone.

JOSH

Turns out I was fine.

He tosses phone to Donna, who catches it as we--

SMASH CUT TO: MAIN TITLES.

END TEASER

* * *

FIVE VOTES DOWN

THE QUEST IS THE QUEST

“The World as Forum for Action is “composed,” essentially, of three constituent elements, which tend to manifest themselves in typical patterns of metaphoric representation. 

First is unexplored territory – the Great Mother, nature, creative and destructive, source and final resting place of all determinate things. 

Second is explored territory – the Great Father, culture, protective and tyrannical, cumulative ancestral wisdom. 

Third is the process that mediates between unexplored and explored territory – the Divine Son, the archetypal individual, creative exploratory “Word” and vengeful adversary. We are adapted to this “world of divine characters,” much as the “objective world.” The fact of this adaptation implies that the environment is in “reality” a forum for action, as well as a place of things. 

Unprotected exposure to unexplored territory produces FEAR. 

The Individual is protected from such fear as a consequence of “ritual imitation of the Great Father” – as a consequence of the adoption of group identity, which restricts the meaning of things, and confers predictability on social interactions. When identification with the group is made absolute, however – when everything has to be controlled, when the unknown is no longer allowed to exist – the creative exploratory process that updates the group can no longer manifest itself. This “restriction of adaptive capacity” dramatically increases the probability of social aggression and chaos. 

Rejection of The Unknown is tantamount to “Identification with THE DEVIL,” the mythological counterpart and eternal adversary of the world-creating exploratory hero. 

Such rejection and identification is a consequence of Luciferian Pride, which states: ‘All that I know is all that is necessary to know.’ 

This pride is totalitarian assumption of Omniscience – is adoption of “God’s place” by “reason” – is something that inevitably generates a state of personal and social being indistinguishable from HELL. This Hell develops because creative exploration – impossible, without (humble) acknowledgment of the unknown – constitutes the process that constructs and maintains the protective adaptive structure that gives Life much of its acceptable meaning. 

“Identification with the devil” amplifies the dangers inherent in group identification, which tends of its own accord towards pathological stultification. Loyalty to personal interest – subjective meaning – can serve as an antidote to the overwhelming temptation constantly posed by the possibility of denying anomaly. 

Personal interest – subjective meaning – reveals itself at the juncture of explored and unexplored territory, and is indicative of participation in the process that ensures continued healthy individual and societal adaptation. 

Loyalty to personal interest is equivalent to identification with the archetypal Hero – the “Savior” – who upholds his association with the creative “Word” in the Face of Death, and in spite of Group Pressure to Conform. 

Identification with The Hero serves to decrease the unbearable motivational valence of the unknown; furthermore, provides the individual with a standpoint that simultaneously transcends and maintains the group.

Molly In Bloom

She's The One

Who like all our pretty songs

And she likes to sing along

And she likes to shoot her gun

But she don't know what it means

Don't know what it means

And I say ‘Yeah...’

Molly Bloom :

Dad? 

You all right? 

Sorry about that. Sorry. 

Professor Bloom :

How's it going? 

Molly Bloom :

What are you doing in New York? How'd you know I was at the skating rink? 

Professor Bloom :

I'm a Doctor of The Mind. 

Molly Bloom :

Oh, Dad. 

Professor Bloom :

I'm here in New York because that's where you are. 

I called your mom at the hotel and she said you were here. 

Listen, it's not a big deal, but from what I saw out there, I think you're having a small breakdown. 

That's weird. 

Molly Bloom :

I can't think of why. 

Professor Bloom :

Probably because of the arrest and not knowing what's going to happen next. 

Molly Bloom :

Old Man, do you really not recognize sarcasm? 

Professor Bloom :

Do you? 

Here, drink this. 

Molly Bloom :

I'm an alcoholic, I can't drink but thanks for remembering.

Professor Bloom :

It's hot chocolate. 

Okay. 

Professor Bloom :

And for diagnostic purposes, 

Do you think that we're on a cocktail lounge right now? 

You seeing waiters with trays of champagne? 

I want to check your pulse. 

Molly Bloom :

Have you found a pulse? 

Professor Bloom :

Yeah, just admiring my watch. 

Molly Bloom :

I can see you're getting warmed up but I really don't have the emotional bandwidth to defend my "as usual irresponsible behavior." 

Professor Bloom :

I know, I got your e-mail. 

I get that I'm not welcome in your life right now as Your Father though you should know 

I could give a shit if I'm welcome or not.

But I'm not here in my capacity as Your Father. 

I'm indifferent to whether Your Father lives or dies. 

I'm a very expensive therapist and I'm here to give you one free session. 

Molly Bloom :

You think what I need right now is a therapist? 

Professor Bloom :

Yeah. 

Molly Bloom :

I have to be back at my lawyer's office soon. 

Professor Bloom :

Do you like your lawyer? 

Molly Bloom :

I wasn't asking for money when I called you, Dad. 

I just needed My Dad. 

God forbid you part with a nickel. 

Professor Bloom :

Yeah, Tiny Tim, you grew up on a lake and you've skied all over the world, were those work houses tough? 

Molly Bloom :

I gotta go. 

Professor Bloom :

Molly.

Molly Bloom :

I gotta go. 

Professor Bloom :

Molly, sit the fuck down! 

All right, we're gonna do three years of therapy in three minutes. 

Molly Bloom :

How? 

Professor Bloom :

I'm gonna do what patients have been begging therapists to do for a hundred years, 

I'm just gonna give you The Answers. 

Molly Bloom :

To what? 

Professor Bloom :

Well, let's start with this -

Why does a young woman who, at 22, has a gold-plated resume, why does she run poker games? 

Molly Bloom :

Why did I choose to make a ton of money? 

That's a head scratcher. 

Professor Bloom :

You were gonna be a success at anything you wanted, you know it. 

If you'd gone to law school you'd have you'd have owned the law firm right now. 

Professor Bloom :

Why did you do... 

The Other Thing instead? 

Molly Bloom :

I don't know. 

Drugs. 

Professor Bloom :

You didn't start with the drugs until the end. 

They weren't The Problem, 

they were The Medicine. 

It was so you could control Powerful Men. 

Your addiction was having power over Powerful Men. 

Molly Bloom :

Is that what you really think? 

Professor Bloom :

No. I know it for sure. 

You've now completed your first year of therapy. 

Molly Bloom :

I saw an opportunity, 

it wasn't about you. 

Professor Bloom :

Nah, it wasn't just about me. 

Molly Bloom :

It wasn't at all about you.

Professor Bloom :

It was. 

Second year, second question. 

Molly Bloom :

Do you think you were a good husband? 

Professor Bloom :

What do you care? 

Molly Bloom :

I care, because you were married to my mother. 

I care because My Father's an asshole. 

Professor Bloom :

Congratulations, you've completed Year Two. 

And for The Record : —

Your Father raised three kids on a college professor's salary.

 

One of them is a two-time Olympian, a sixth round draft pick of the Philadelphia Eagles and a leading philanthropist.

 

The other is a cardiothorasic surgeon at Mass General 

and 

The Third managed to build a multi-million dollar business using not much more than her wits. 

Molly Bloom :

I'm about to plead Guilty in federal court. 

Professor Bloom :

Well, Nobody's Perfect.

 

The Point is I did a few things right.

 

Last Question. 

Molly Bloom :

No, I have to go. 

Professor Bloom :

Last question, Mol. 

I'll answer it but you have to ask it. 

You have... to ask it. 

Molly Bloom :

Why didn't you like me as much as my brothers? 

Professor Bloom :

There it is. 

I did. It only from time to time appeared that I didn't. 

Molly Bloom :

It only appeared that you didn't? 

Professor Bloom :

Yeah. 

Molly Bloom :

That is some Schedule 1 bullshit. 

Why would--

it only appeared-- 

Why would-- 

Okay, I had an attitude problem. 

I talked back. 

I broke some normal adolescent rules. 

I snuck phone time after curfew, 

I took your car when I wasn't allowed to-- 

And drove it into a McDonald's. 

And kids get punished for that, but they don't-- 

Professor Bloom :

Did I not say the McDonald's? 

I mean, did you misunderstand what drive-thru meant? 

Molly Bloom :

You turned into a different person, your voice, your face. 

Professor Bloom :

It's because I knew you knew. 

Molly Bloom :

I didn't hear what you said. 

Professor Bloom :

I said I knew you knew. 

Molly Bloom :

You knew I knew what? 

Professor Bloom :

What do you uh, think about the following concepts? 

Just gonna run 'em by you. 

‘Marriage.’ 

Molly Bloom :

It is a trap. 

Professor Bloom :

That I was cheating on Mom. 

I knew you knew. 

‘Society’ 

Molly Bloom :

It is a joke. 

Molly Bloom :

No, I didn't know unt-- until I was 20. 

Professor Bloom :

‘People.’ 

Molly Bloom :

I don't trust people. 

Professor Bloom :

No, you'd known since you were five. 

You saw me in my car and you really didn't know what you saw. 

Molly Bloom :

I don't have any heroes. 

Professor Bloom :

You knew, honey. 

And I knew you knew, and that's...

 

That's how I reacted to the shame. 

And you reacted by showing seething contempt for me, by driving my car into a McDonald's 

Molly Bloom :

And wanting to have power over Powerful Men? 

Professor Bloom :

No. That was a red herring just to make you mad. 

Molly Bloom :

You're such an-- 

Professor Bloom :

You tripped over a stick. Okay? 

Twelve years ago you tripped over a stick. 

It was a one-in-a-million thing. 

You tripped over a stick.

 

That's what you did wrong. 

There's your session. 

It's funny how much faster you can go when you're not charging by the hour.

I'm Your Father. 

Trying to comprehend how much I love you would be like trying to visualize the size of the universe. 

I didn't know you got beaten up until I read it in your book. 

It was a hell of a way to learn about it.

You should know that I'm hiring someone to find the guy who did it then I'm hiring someone to kill him. 

Molly Bloom :

Don't even joke about that. 

Professor Bloom :

I'm not. 

Molly Bloom :

It wasn't a purse snatcher, Dad, it was the mafia. 

Professor Bloom :

I don't care if it's the leader of Hamas.

Someone put their hands on you. 

They're gonna suffer. 

Molly Bloom :

Dad, I'm fine. 

Professor Bloom :

No, they're gonna suffer. 

Molly Bloom :

Dad, I'm all right. 

Professor Bloom :

No. They're gonna suf-- 

Molly Bloom :

Really, I'm fine.

MOLLY

A survey was taken a few years ago that asked 300 professionals one question: 

"What's the worst thing that can happen in sports?" 

Some people answered losing a Game 7. 

‘ He scores! Bruins win in seven games! ’

And other people said getting swept in four.

Some people said it was missing the World Cup. 

‘Guatemala is eliminated!’ 

And some Brazilians said it was losing to Argentina. 

Not just in the World Cup-- anytime, ever, in any contest. 

But one person answered that the worst thing that can happen in sports was fourth place at the Olympics. 

This is a True Story, 

but except for my own, I've changed all the names and I've done my best to obscure identities for reasons that'll become clear. 

I'm Molly Bloom and right now, I'm ranked third in North America in Women's Moguls. 

I grew up in Loveland, Colorado about two hours north of Denver. 

I have a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado where I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.9 GPA. 

The median L-SAT score at Harvard Law School is 169. 

My score: 173. 

Number 87 up. 

56 on deck. 

I've spent 16 years chasing winter and being coached by the best in The World. 

Sundays were for working out with my father. 

‘Something's really wrong.’ 

When I was 12 years old, for no particular reason, my back exploded. 

‘Tough it out.’

Good advice. 

‘And lose the attitude.’

 Less than ten minutes later, I was in the back of an ambulance. 

I had what's called rapid onset scoliosis. 

My spine was curved at 63 degrees and I'd need a 7-hour surgical procedure that involved straightening my spine, extracting bone from my hip, fusing 11 vertebrae together and fastening steel rods to the fused segments. 

She's gonna be fine. 

I wouldn't let her ski anymore. 

“Definitely not moguls. 

And obviously, skiing competitively is out of The Question.” 

Oh, I know. 

I was on skis again in a year, running moguls in 18 months and by my 20th birthday, I'd made the U.S. Ski Team. 

It's the last round of qualifying for the Salt Lake City Olympics. 

This is the Champion Run at Deer Valley. 

The altitude's 8,100 feet and the pitch is 52 degrees which is the same as the sides of the Great Pyramid. 

The wind's 20-25 miles an hour blowing left to right. 

It's three-below zero at the top of the slope and with 17 skiers in front of me, it's gonna be like trying to stick a landing on a frozen infinity pool.

Kiki blew out of her line. Shannon was off-balance on her second landing. 

He's talking about Kiki Bandy and Shannon Keebler, my two toughest competitors who had significant point deductions on their final runs. 

I can make the Olympic team right now. 

Go get it. 

And if I had three perfect runs in Salt Lake... 

The best runs of my life... 

I can beat the Austrians and the Swiss and have a realistic shot at the podium. 

Then law school and then a start-up. 

A foundation that seeds entrepreneurial women. 

My father's at the bottom of the slope telepathically telling me to check my line. 

“Check your line.”

I check my line.”

“Competitor ready.” 

Good snow contact, calm upper-body, legs together, good shape, no line deviation, set up for the D-Spin, and... stick the landing. 

Now two things you need to know before the second trick which'll be a 720. 

The first is that when visibility is bad the way it is now, race officials toss pine boughs on the course so the skiers have some foreground depth reference. 

The second is that the tightness of your bindings is determined by what's called a DIN setting. 

If you're a beginner, your DIN setting is probably a two or three. 

If you're an experienced weekend skier, it's probably seven or eight.

 Mine's 15. My boots are basically welded to my skis. 

Right...so how does this happen? 

It happened because I hit a pine bough that had become frozen in the snow. 

And I hit it so precisely that it simply snapped the release of my bindings. 

Right in that moment, I didn't have time to calculate the odds of that happening because I was about to land pretty hard on my digitally remastered spinal cord which is being held together by spare parts from an Erector Set. 

“Back up! Back up! Move!

Watch out! 

Give her room! 

That way, move! 

None of this has anything to do with poker. 

I'm only mentioning it because I wanted to say to whoever answered that the worst thing that could happen in sports was fourth place at the Olympics... 

Seriously, Fuck You.