President Obama should ask President Bartlet for advice
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The best president we never had
President Josiah Edward “Jed” Bartlet
knew how to handle republicans
Josiah Edward “Jed” Bartlet is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is President of the United States for the entire series until the last episode, when his successor is inaugurated. Bartlet is one of the main characters of The West Wing, and he appears in all but thirteen episodes (142 of the show’s 155 total episodes).
In many ways, Bartlet is an “ideal” president. He is handsome and endowed with great personal integrity, a sense of humor, a fierce intellect, and a toughness tempered by compassion. These traits helped boost his popularity in the show to a point where he has been referred to as the “most popular Democratic president in recent memory.
The fictional Bartlet faced a problem similar to the real world Obama. Brinkmanship by Congressional republicans on the debt ceiling and government spending. Republican desire to slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid AND cut taxes is definitely not fiction, but as President Bartlet said, when republicans kept changing the argument: SHUT IT DOWN.
MadMikesAmerica liked President Bartlet a lot and wished he had been President more often, especially from 2000 to 2008.
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SH is right: we don’t even need a cartoon character to guide federal policies.
The Republicans in Sacramento are basically moronic. But we’re hopeful that they can realize we’re on an unsustainable trajectory here, one that is not fiscally responsible and one for which they are at least partially responsible,” Gil Duran, Brown’s press secretary, said in an interview with KPCC. “Those aren’t their reforms. They aren’t smart enough to write reforms. They don’t know the first thing about the details of reforms.”
…
Gov. Brown has no problems refusing Democrats adding debt to California’s faltering economy; he walked out on budget negotiations when the GOP refused to negotiate in good faith.
Gov. Jerry Brown wasted no time vetoing two gimmick-laden budget bills passed Wednesday by Democrats in the Legislature. His veto message was harshly critical, saying the package “adds billions in new debt” and “contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings.” Yet Brown also blamed Republicans (who didn’t give a single vote to the budget package) rather than Democrats for the Legislature’s current predicament… The Legislature isn’t likely to solve the state’s long-term fiscal problems unless GOP lawmakers concede more ground.
By vetoing the bills, Brown kept his campaign promise not to support budgetary shell games. He also presented lawmakers with a stark choice: either agree to his proposal to ask voters to extend some temporary tax increases, or make deeper cuts in schools, universities and public safety.
That’s called bipartisanship.
Imagine that. A politician that keeps her/his campaign promises and refuses to capitulate to either Democrats or Republicans.
Holte,
I think our real president is handling the situation quite effectively. I don’t think we are or he is in such desperate straits that we have to draw upon cartoon characters for advice.
Sagaciously yours,
Hillbilly
Agreed, I think President Obama is doing excellently in handling the bad guys, just like Jed Bartlet would have.
Shut it down, shut it down, shut it down. Please.
I loved West Wing also, as a matter of fact it was one of my favorite shows, Unfortunately life isn’t a TV script. It is learning to expect the unexpected, and for that there is no script.
I loved West Wing, it gave a great feel of what it could be like in the White House.