History Recap / TheWestWingS01E20MandatoryMinimums

-->'''Josh:''' It is like that scene. I'm James Caan. (''points to Sam'') You...you're Creator/AlPacino...Toby, you're the guy who shows Pacino how to make tomato sauce.

** Leo admits that he's uncomfortable with this exercise, given his own history of alcohol and drug abuse.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Played with: Leo gets the senior advisers of several congressmen who are likely to attack the President's drug abuse initiatives into the White House, confronts them with evidence that said congressmen [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections have used their influence to ensure softer penalties for relations of theirs who have been involved in drug-related offenses]], and bluntly informs then that the White House will not tolerate even the whiff of hypocrisy on this matter:

Also along the lines of campaign finance reform, Toby brings out [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E16TwentyHoursInLA Al Kiefer]] (more on him below) to provide numbers, and Joey Lucas to work with Josh on the issue of English as the national language. Josh tries to act as if it's fine, but he ends up wearing a special suit for her, and while he tries to order her around, he also ends up giving her a coffee mug at the end of the day. Finally, Leo has Toby go out to lunch with his ex-wife Andrea "Andy" Wyatt (Kathleen York) to assure her the White House won't unilaterally ask the Democrats to give up soft money, and while she warns him there'll be opposition, she says the White House can count on her support.

* ShoutOut: Bonnie calls Josh Franchise/{{Rambo}} after his PrecisionFStrike. Also, when Josh and Toby tell Sam about the fact the Republicans know about Laurie, Josh compares it to the scene in ''Film/TheGodfather'' when Michael tells Sonny he's going to kill Sollozzo.

* ContinuityNod: Joey tells Josh (through Kenny) [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E16TwentyHoursInLA she's not sleeping with Al Kiefer anymore]]. Also, Leo expresses misgivings about his meeting with the congress staffers, given his drug history.

* TheyCallMeMisterTibbs: When telling President Bartlet about having lunch with Andy, Toby calls her Congresswoman Wyatt, and Bartlet asks if he called her that while they were married. Bartlet then admits he sometimes calls his wife "Dr. Bartlet", but [[FetishFuel only for the turn-on]] (which counts as a ContinuityNod, since we already saw [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E12HeShallFromTimeToTime how sexy he thought his wife was in doctor mode]]).

-->'''Josh:''' It is like that scene. I'm James Caan. (''points to Sam'') You...you're AlPacino...Toby, you're the guy who shows Pacino how to make tomato sauce.

* BerserkButton: C.J. doesn't like it when Danny calls her "bush league" for freezing her out:

* NoExceptYes: Josh asks Donna if she was afraid to tell him Toby was bringing in Al Kiefer. Donna denies she was afraid, but when Josh realizes Joey Lucas is coming as well, Donna admits she was afraid of telling him that. Also:
-->'''Josh:''' It's no big deal. And I'll tell you what else.
-->'''Donna:''' You're a pro.
-->'''Josh:''' I... I am a pro. But that's not what I was going to say.
-->'''Donna:''' What were you going to say?
-->'''Josh:''' That's what I was going to say.

* PrecisionFStrike: "Hi, Senator. Why don't you take your legislative agenda and shove it up your ass."

* {{Hypocrite}}: Played with: Leo gets the senior advisers of several congressmen who are likely to attack the President's drug abuse initiatives into the White House, confronts them with evidence that said congressmen have used their influence to ensure softer penalties for relations of theirs who have been involved in drug-related offences, and bluntly informs then that the White House will not tolerate even the whiff of hypocrisy on this matter:

* HeyItsThatGuy: [[Series/HillStreetBlues Sgt. Belker]] is the Senate majority leader.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Played with: Leo gets the senior advisors of several congressmen who are likely to attack the President's drug abuse initiatives into the White House, confronts them with evidence that said congressmen have used their influence to ensure softer penalties for relations of theirs who have been involved in drug-related offences, and bluntly informs then that the White House will not tolerate even the whiff of hypocrisy on this matter:

Meanwhile, Sam and Toby are briefing President Bartlet on drugs. Despite protests from Kiefer that they'll look like they're soft on crime and he can't sell it, they insist they can make a case for treating drug addiction as a disease to be treated, rather than to jail the offenders. To neutralize those who think, like Kiefer, that emphasizing treatment equals soft on crime, Leo brings in the staff members of seven different Congressmen and reveals he will publicize the drug-related misdeeds of the offspring of the Congressmen that garnered them lighter sentences than they should have received by law unless the Congressmen agree to play fair in debating the issue. Sam feels the President should also talk about how [[TitleDrop mandatory minimums]] (mandatory sentences for crack cocaine users as opposed to regular cocaine users) are racist (Andy presses him on this as well). Toby thinks they should only deal with one thing at a time, but at the end of the episode, he confesses both Sam and Andy are right and they should be talking about mandatory minimums as well.

-->'''Josh:''' It is like that scene. I'm James Caan. (''points to Sam'') You...you're AlPacino...Toby, you're the guy who shows Pacino how to make tomato sauce.

* GiliganCut: As usual, within the same scene:

-->'''Ginger:''' In [[{{Joisey}} New Jersey]], we encourage it.

[[Recap/TheWestWingS01E19LetBartletBeBartlet As promised at the end of last episode]], President Bartlet comes out swinging in regards to campaign finance reform, nominating John Bacon and Patty Calhoun to the F.E.C. Steve, the Republican staffer who clashed with Josh about it, goes to Sam, hoping to get him to see reason, and telling Sam the Republicans can work with Sam on drugs (more on that below) if Sam convinces the President to hold off on campaign finance reform. Sam refuses, but when he tells Josh and Toby about what happened, they realize the Republicans know about [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E01Pilot Sam's]] [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E02PostHocErgoPropterHoc relationship]] [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E07TheStateDinner with]] [[Recap/TheWestWingS01E10InExcelsisDeo Laurie]], and are waiting for the right moment to expose it. Also along the lines of campaign finance reform, Leo has Toby go out to lunch with his ex-wife Andrea "Andy" Wyatt (Kathleen York) to assure her the White House won't unilaterally ask the Democrats to give up soft money, and while she warns him there'll be opposition, she says the White House can count on her support.