History Recap / TheWestWingS02E08Shibboleth

In Leo's office, Margaret tells Leo Josephine is there. Josephine (Deborah Hedwall) comes in, and is very excited about the appointment, even if it means there will be a fight. Leo, however, tells her he wants her to withdraw her name from consideration; the official reason she can give is she feels she can do more as a school superintendent it Atlanta, but the real reason is the picture. Josephine asks why he wouldn't consider standing by her, and Leo recounts how, when he was on a campaign swing through the south, he met a photographer named Odabee Jones, whom Josephine would often call whenever she felt there was something worth shooting; of course, he was the one who took the picture of the band students being handcuffed, meaning that she deliberately set it up. He goes on to say:

In Leo's office, Margaret tells Leo Josephine is there. Josephine comes in, and is very excited about the appointment, even if it means there will be a fight. Leo, however, tells her he wants her to withdraw her name from consideration; the official reason she can give is she feels she can do more as a school superintendent it Atlanta, but the real reason is the picture. Josephine asks why he wouldn't consider standing by her, and Leo recounts how, when he was on a campaign swing through the south, he met a photographer named Odabee Jones, whom Josephine would often call whenever she felt there was something worth shooting; of course, he was the one who took the picture of the band students being handcuffed, meaning that she deliberately set it up. He goes on to say:

* BrickJoke: Everyone of the senior staff who asks Leo about his Thanksgiving plans asks him not to tell President Bartlet what they're doing, as they feel he'd just insist they join his celebrations. Josh in particular states that it's a break for them and no one wants to be subjected to "a lecture about the Latin for 'yam'." Every time, Leo retorts that the President couldn't care less what they're doing, but at the end when he has a meeting with Sam and Josh Bartlet rather pointedly informs Josh that "the Latin for 'yam' is 'dioscorea'." Apparently the subject come up at some point.

In Leo's office, Margaret tells Leo Josephine is there. Josephine comes in, and is very excited about the appointment, even if it means there will be a fight. Leo, however, tells her he wants her to withdraw her name from consideration; the official reason she can give is she feels she can do more as a school superintendent it Atlanta, but the real reason is the picture. Josephine asks why he wouldn't consider standing by her, and Leo recounts how, when he was on a campaign swing through the south, he met a photographer named Odabee Jones, whom Josephine would often call whenever she felt there was something worth shooting; of course, he was the one who took the picture of the band students being handcuffed. He goes on to say:

* DavidVersusGoliath: Downplayed, but when allowing them to go free Bartlet essentially agrees to pretend that this occurred between the impoverished, exhausted and starving Chinese refugees recently arrived in America and the well-armed, well-fed and well-rested immigration enforcement officers staffing the detention center they were located at. Of course, no one seriously ''believes'' this happened, but as part of the TakeAThirdOption it allows everyone to get what they want (or something approximating it) while saving face; the immigrants get to make a new life in America, the Americans get to allow them to do so without publicly alienating China or breaking their laws, and the Chinese get to make hay out of how weak and inept American officials are.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Al Caldwell pulls Josh aside and offers to personally pay the bond for each of the Chinese immigrants.

-->'''Leo:''' These are high school students. Two of them are on their knees praying while being handcuffed, with my sister standing next to the cop whose hand is on his nightstick. [...] One of the students is in his marching band uniform! One of the students is black! And you say it's "not good"?! ''[Toby tries to defend himself but is steamrollered]'' [[SarcasmMode That's a penetrating diagnosis from the White House Communications Director]]!

-->'''Leo:''' These are high school students. Two of them are on their knees praying while being handcuffed, with my sister standing next to the cop whose hand is on his nightstick. [...] One of the students is in his marching band uniform! One of the students is black! And you say it's "not good"?! ''[Toby feebly tries to defend himself but is steamrollered]'' [[SarcasmMode That's a penetrating diagnosis from the White House Communications Director]]!

* {{Understatement}}: Toby feebly tries to downplay the disastrous photo of Leo's sister breaking up a school prayer meeting by saying that it's "not good":
-->'''Leo:''' These are high school students. Two of them are on their knees praying while being handcuffed, with my sister standing next to the cop whose hand is on his night-stick. [...] One of the students is in his marching band uniform! One of the students is black! And you say it's "not good"?! ''[Toby feebly tries to defend himself but is steamrollered]'' [[SarcasmMode That's a penetrating diagnosis from the White House Communications Director]]!

* TrustPassword: Bartlet pulls up an impromptu one when meeting with Jhin-Wei in the Oval Office to test for himself how genuine the Chinese stowaways' faith is to make sure they haven't been coached. He starts by quizzing him on the identies of the Twelve Apostles, which Jhin-Wei recites perfectly but points out that "faith is the true shibboleth". As Bartlet had not brought up the term in front of Jhin-Wei, Bartlet is convinced that their faith is genuine and fully decides to help them enter the US at that point.

* DavidVersusGoliath: Downplayed, but when allowing them to go free Bartlet essentially agrees to pretend that this occurred between the impoverished, exhausted and starving Chinese refugees recently arrived in America and the well-armed, well-fed and well-rested immigration enforcement officers staffing the detention center they were located at. Of course, no one seriously ''believes'' this happened, but as part of the TakeAThirdOption it allows everyone to get what they want (or something approximating it) while saving face; the immigrants get to make a new life in America, the Americans get to allow them to do so without publicly alienating China, and the Chinese get to make hay out of how weak and inept American officials are.

* TheyFightCrime: Parodied at the beginning.
-->'''Sam:''' (''reading'') "Well over three and a half centuries ago, strengthened by faith and bound by a common desire for liberty, A small band of pilgrims sought out a place in the New World where they could worship according to their own beliefs"...and solve crimes.
-->'''Toby:''' Sam...
-->'''Sam:''' It'd be good...By day, they churn butter and worship according to their own beliefs and by night, they solve crimes.
-->'''Toby:''' Read the thing.
-->'''Sam:''' Pilgrim detectives.
-->'''Toby:''' Do you see me laughing?
-->'''Sam:''' I think you're laughing on the inside.

* AFatherToHisMen: In this episode, President Bartlett gives Charlie his family's set of carving knives made by Paul Revere after saying that carving knives are a thing you pass down the family. Specifically, his example is from father to son.

This episode contains examples of:

Mrs. Landingham is sitting at her desk when President Bartlet asks to see a copy of the Thanksgiving Proclamation. Mrs. Landingham wants to know why he can't use the intercom to call her, like everyone else does. Charlie comes into the Oval Office with a Japanese knife, but Bartlet isn't wild about it. Charlie starts to lose his patience, and says all he wants is a knife to cut meat, so there's no need to be picky. Bartlet explains the knife is something to pass along ("My father gave this to me, his father gave it to him, and now I'm giving it to you"), and he wanted a new knife because he's giving his away. Charlie asks whom he's giving it away to:

-->'''Sam:''' I think you're laughing on the inside.

->''[[IHaveThisFriend It's the fourth grader who gets his ass kicked at recess cause… he sat out the voluntary prayer in homeroom. It's another way of making kids different from other kids, when they're required by law to be there. That’s why you want it front and center; fourth grader, that's the prize]].''

* IHaveThisFriend: It is heavily implied (though never outright confirmed) that Toby is drawing on some personal experiences when he describes a lonely non-Christian fourth grader getting bullied by his classmates for not joining in on the school prayers as a reason for making the separation of church and state a priority in education policy.

* TakeAThirdOption: What President Bartlet ultimately decides to do with the refugees. As he tells Josh, he couldn't let the refugees go, and he wanted China to save face, so having them escape so it looked like they overpowered the guard was the best bet.