Fridge / The West Wing S 03 E 01 Isaac And Ishmael

Fridge Brilliance

• This is a play and not an episode within the show itself. The senior staff are not themselves at the same time they are themselves because they are delivering one important lesson to the American public: Terrorism cannot be branded lightly. Nearly every character is representing a part of the discussion that needs to happen when discussing terrorism.
  • The children from the Presidential Classroom is representing the American public at large. They are mostly ignorant of the situation at hand and they jump to conclusions without the full information. Which is a bad thing when it comes to identifying threats within the system. Billy was the voice of reason, using the US Constitution, US Law, and citations from the Founding Fathers to point out flaws in modern-day reasoning, and is ignored in order to put forward certain ideas.
  • Josh, with a little help from Donna, is putting himself up as the levelheaded person, who says that the terrorists in question are Extremist Muslims and not just all Muslims. He even goes on to say that since there are Extremist Muslims, there are also Extremist Christians, like the Ku Klux Klan.
  • Toby is making the case of terrorists being political and religious. He makes a comparison between the Taliban who took over the government of Afghanistan and the Nazis who took over the government of Poland. It is mostly the same ideological purpose, to impose their beliefs and ideas over a population they intend to control. The point here is that that is what terrorism is in a broad sense; committing acts of fear and violence against the civilian population for political purposes.
  • Sam proclaims terrorism to be a 100 percent failure rate and yet the terrorists keep ongoing. The unintentional point here is that terrorists have a specific goal in mind: For instance, the IRA which is brought up has been pushing for Irish independence from British rule and keep on doing it to unite all of Ireland. Sam plays up the part where the arrogance of those who claim to know terrorism is overshadowing the actual truth.
  • C.J. puts forward that spies are needed to root out the terrorists. "Some of these guys, you just have to walk up to and shoot them." Unintentionally, C.J. is technically in favor of State Terrorism, where the government is keeping the populace in a state of fear. And that is a trap that the US can't really afford to do in order to be better than the terrorists. Because while C.J. has a point that it will take more than law and order to stop certain terrorists, the methods to ensure safety and liberty aren't fully planned out. Hence why Toby objects as he points out the US has more than once used draconian measures to keep itself safe, such as with the Japanese Internment Camps.
  • Charlie makes the comparison of terrorists and gangs. The two draw a lot of similarities: They prey on those desperate for something in life, be it work, food, and pay. They need something to focus on, with gangs, it's keeping their people intact, with terrorists, it's achieving a goal, etc. This is pointing out that terrorists are not monsters: they're people just as well, having been put to the brink of desperation and in turn, lashes out against the forces that drove them there. Gangs are effectively the same, filled with people who have had the worst moments in their lives, and now they're belonging somewhere, with pride. Gangs give you income and pride in being with them, why quit something good?
  • And now we get to the elephant in the room. Leo is racist and angry towards Ali, who represents the wrong target in the whole situation. But here's the thing: It's a play, it's not the exact portrayal of Leo, as it is Leo portraying the United States as it was back during the 9/11 crisis. He's channeling the anger and fury that America felt once it shook itself of shock and found out who to blame. This is key because while you have a right to be angry with those who attack you, you have to be very careful with how to manage that anger while at the same time maintaining focus on the goal. Here, Leo is mishandling it as part of his role in the play. Leo has also been known to go apeshit at anything that is a direct threat to the President, and there it was, a suspected terrorist working in the White House. How would you react if you found out there was a potential assassin in the same workplace you work in with the intent of killing your friends?