There are a couple almost-lulls, but the great stuff is undeniable. Left- leaning Vinick wins the republican nomination, while the dems are undecided going into the convention. Wanting to pick a veep candidate quickly, he offers it to Rev. Don Butler (Don S. Davis - BEST IN SHOW, STARGATE: SG1), whose pull with the far right would sew up the election. Don is great, but Don passes. The irrepressible Bruno Gianelli (Ron Silver!) shows up, telling Vinick he can lead him to a fifty-state win. Vinick picks Gov. Ray Sullivan (Brett Cullen - SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT, FALCON CREST), who would be spot-on in five episodes. All of those are just the hor d'oeuvres to a scene between Alda and Sheen, working out a bill compromise, eating ice cream, and talking about the separation of church and state. A non-believing republican debating a devout democrat. It's scintillating, and brilliant.
2 Reviews
Yup, another home run for the team
akicork3 June 2023
I'll ignore (no, I won't!) the fact that the Federal use of the motto "In God We Trust" is arguably unconstitutional - they should have stuck with "E Pluribus Unum". The motto is an implicit breach of the first amendment. It may not establish any Roman Catholic, Celtic Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Greek Orthodox, Coptic, or any other variety of the many sects of the Christian religion: nor does it establish establish any Jewish or Islamic sect. But it does imply recognition of an Abrahamic God, cutting off all religions which do not adhere to that single-god model of a universal creator, or none at all. In 1789 the framers of the Constitution may all have been of that mindset, but I'm fairly certain they weren't. Meanwhile, back at the script, I have never trusted the Gianelli character and was pleased to see him kicked into touch. As another reviewer has remarked, the high point of the episode is the two (essentially humanist) pragmatists, Bartlet and Winnick, settling their differences over a selection of ice creams.
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