Guns Not Butter

Season	Episode
4	12

Info

Original Airdate

January 8, 2003

Written By
Eli Attie & Kevin Falls, Aaron Sorkin

Directed by

Bill D'Elia

Episodes
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"Holy Night"	"The Long Goodbye"

"Previously on the West Wing" spoken by Charlie

On the administration's agenda: a foreign-aid bill. However, Senate Republicans - and some Democrats - have other ideas. And it's up to Josh (Bradley Whitford) to get the vote to come out right. So he sends Donna (Janel Moloney) in search of one freshman senator who doesn't seem to want to be found. Then there's the fence-sitter who'll vote the administration's way if it will agree to fund a medical study on the efficacy of prayer.

Danny Concannon (Timothy Busfield) is getting closer to the truth in the Shareef affair; and Charlie (Dule Hill) wants to help a female soldier whose family needs food stamps. When Zoey's (Elisabeth Moss) new French boyfriend (Trent Ford) makes fun of Charlie being powerless to help, Charlie gets further involved than he planned to, receiving reports from some pretty important people.

Meanwhile, C.J. (Allison Janney) has set up a photo op for the President to promote Heifer International which helps poor families around the world by giving them farm animals. She had thought they would send a cow but they sent a goat. In order to haze newcomer Will (Joshua Malina), she deposits the goat in his office.

Later, the goat gets his photo op with the President, who insists that Leo (John Spencer) and Josh are next to him when the picture is taken.

Summary

Opening

Josh is meeting with several staffers of a Republican Senator on a foreign aid bill being debated in the Senate. Josh is trying to squeeze all the votes he can - as it is going to be very close. He's not getting the vote of the Senator these two work for.

Act I

C.J., Charlie, and the President are walking down stairs - the President is lamenting Zoey's new boyfriend and his schedule for the day - he is supposed to have his photo taken with a cow (from Heifer International). The President begins to work the rope line when Josh calls C.J. to tell her they are one vote down. Back at the White House - Josh is meeting with staff in the Roosevelt Room trying to find another vote. Will comes to see Josh about a legislative section of the Inauguration speech - Josh is not in the mood to be talking about bipartisan cooperation. Josh returns to Donna discussing Senators they may be able to persuade to vote for the foreign aid bill.

Outside the Oval Office - Charlie is sorting through the mail and the items received on the rope line. Jean-Paul is making fun of Charlie. Charlie pulls the envelope he got from a woman on the rope line to look into the matter further.

C.J. is briefing the press on issues, including the impending vote on the foreign aid budget. Danny comes back to C.J.'s office with her to discuss more evidence he has uncovered on the Shareef plane disappearance.

Act II

Josh is incredulous that they cannot locate Senator Hardin - who they believe can be flipped if she receives a call from the President - they realize that she is laying low to avoid the call and having to be in a position to tell the President no. Josh sends Donna to National Airport to try and intercept the Senator.

The President is giving a speech on foreign aid - and when finished asks Leo what is going on - who tells the President about Senator Hardin. The President is still asking C.J. about the photo-op with the cow and keeping an eye on Zoey and Jean-Paul. Jean-Paul continues to needle Charlie and Charlie gets the envelope back to try and show Jean-Paul that what he does is important. Walking out of the speech, Toby is met by Senator Hoebuck, a Republican - who tells Toby that he will vote for the foreign aid bill and wants to meet Toby in his office in an hour.

Back at the White House, Charlie makes a call to a friend who works at the Pentagon and the call gets sent to his friend's boss - who asks Charlie what he can do for the President. Charlie explains the situation with the woman from the rope line and tells Charlie to send the letter over to him and he will take care of it.

In the Roosevelt Room, they are still trying to find Senator Harding. Will comes back to see Josh - Will is still trying to work out the legislative section - but Josh is still in no mood to discuss it. Toby comes by and Josh asks him about the meeting with Senator Hoebuck, who is waiting in Toby's office. The Senator wants $115,000 to be used for dedicated prayer.

At the airport, Donna sees one of Senator Hardin's staffers - who stonewalls Donna on the Senator's whereabouts. Donna tricks one of the other staffers into telling Donna where the Senator is - she rushes out to call Josh with the information.

Act III

Leo and C.J. are outside the White House looking at a goat (which is not the cow they were promised). Leo tells C.J. to clean it up.

Ginger comes to see Charlie with a memo from the Pentagon - that Charlie didn't order - yet it is an exhaustive study on military families receiving federal aid. Charlie asks Ginger who else may have seen the memo and Ginger checks - the memo is cc'ed to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of State, the President, the Vice President, and Leo.

Donna is waiting in the kitchen of the Women in Media luncheon, trying to catch Senator Hardin. Her Chief of Staff appears and tells Donna the Senator had to cancel at the last minute. Donna takes a call (allegedly from Josh) and she relays to Ellen that they have two yea votes and Senator Hardin can come out of hiding (back at the White House, one of the staffers hangs up the phone - the ruse complete).

In the White House Mess, Will and Elsie are talking about the speech. They walk back to Will's office and find the goat, which was put there by C.J.

Josh comes to see Toby and tells him about Donna's meeting with Senator Hardin's aide. Because Donna named names, the Senator confirmed the Senators were not, in fact, voting for the bill and went back into hiding. Josh asks Toby about the meeting with Senator Hoebuck and Josh tells him that even though it's crazy - he's taking it to Leo.

Act IV

The President is reading the memo that Charlie got - Charlie explains that he wasn't trying to do anything like this - he just wanted to show off for Zoey. The President explains there really isn't anything that can be done - but tells Charlie to put the letter from the woman in his bag. The President also tells Charlie that he is on his side about Jean-Paul.

C.J., Toby, Josh, and Leo arrive to talk to the President - as it is nearing the vote and Josh wants to try and sell the President on the $115,000 for Senator Hoebuck. The President tells Josh it can't happen. As the others leave - the President tells Josh that they are going to lose the vote - but that's OK.

Josh comes out into the hall where he finds Donna. The two talk about the vote and how she messed up - Josh tells her to not worry about it. Josh has another impromptu meeting with Will, Josh promises to meet with him after the vote. Will sees C.J. and goes to talk to her about the goat in his office. She tells him that she put the goat in the office of someone they were trying to give a hard time to - then realizes that person is Will.

Donna goes up to the Hill and finds Ellen. Donna tells her to take the phone to the Senator - but the yays and nays are ordered just as she does that. Donna chides Ellen, telling her that in all the time she has worked for Josh - he has never asked her to hide him from anything.

Back at the White House - C.J. and Danny are eating while watching the vote. C.J. gets up to leave to deal with the goat photo-op. The President comes into the Mural Room where the staff is also watching the vote - and agrees to the photo but only if Josh and Leo are in the picture as well.

Trivia/Goofs

Toby notes that C.J. was the focus of intercessory prayer "a few months ago". In fact the prayer was first mentioned in an episode that took place a few months earlier. but the events in question occurred during a flashback. The prayer happened the week of the first inauguration, four years earlier.

When Donna is in the airport trying to find Senator Hardin, an announcement comes over the intercom announcing "Delta flight 378" from Atlanta. Delta flight 378 from Atlanta lands in Nassau, not Washington D.C. Similarly, Donna states that the district office said Senator Hardin was on Delta 15. Delta flight 15 runs from Atlanta to Salt Lake City.

When the President calls Josh Maxine, he refers to Hallmark Cards character Maxine, known for demanding people to agree with her.

Quotes

Josh Lyman: It's not going to be no. Put the senior senator from Colorado in the nay column. Move Grace Hardin to undecided and start the clock.

Larry reaches over to a large digital clock on the table and presses a button. It begins to countdown from 14:20:00.

Josh Lyman: I hate that clock.

President Bartlet: We live in an interdependent world and we should act like it. We live in a global community and we should sustain it. We should cross borders. We should cross borders to build sustainable democracies that can banish privation and fear. And we should cross borders to bring food and medicine and roads and schools and teachers to parts of the world forgotten by all but the warlords. We're going to pass this Foreign Ops bill. This should be a century of hope and prosperity everywhere. And America's going to lead the world and not just bully it.

C.J. Cregg: Well, first of all, that's not a cow. It's not! It's a goat. Yeah, I may have agreed to something about a goat.

Leo McGarry: Did the First Lady get you drunk and take you shopping?

C.J. Cregg: Leo ... yes. The name of the group is Heifer International. I-I ... I was under the impression it was going to be a cow.

Leo McGarry: Lending Presidential aura to the photo?

C.J. Cregg: Okay. I think what were going to do is, I think we're going to wait until after the vote at 10:30, 'cause if we don't win, then it would be a mistake for this picture to run tomorrow.

Leo McGarry: How big a mistake?

C.J. Cregg: One from which my job certainly would have hung in the balance.

Josh Lyman: [passionately] I'll toss it all overboard if it means winning, and I think that's not true, and I'd ask you to support that with evidence... I'm sorry. I don't know why I keep doing that.

President Bartlet: You're not willing to toss it overboard to win. You're willing to toss it overboard to avoid disappointing Leo. You know what the difference is between you and me? I want to be the guy. You want to be the guy the guy counts on.

Donna Moss: Can I tell you something? Josh has asked me to work Saturdays, work Sundays, and at least once a week he has me there after 1:00 AM. He's asked me to transpose portions of the federal budget into base-8, go to North Dakota and dress as an East German cocktail waitress. In five years of working for him, he's never asked me to hide him from something. Can I have my boss's phone back?

Cast

Co-Starring

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Guns Not Butter

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