A scene from "The West Wing: The Movie."

Ok, really it's The American President, the movie which started my devotion to Aaron Sorkin's writing. Going along with my found theme today of fantasizing about what it would be like to have a smart president.



One thing: The bit at the end about guns stands out to me as out-of-place, somehow. Not because I don't agree with the position, I do. But because, well, I think I have a pretty good ear for Sorkin dialogue (it warms my heart) and that doesn't sound like him.

For me it's like listening to a Beatles song and suddenly Ringo Starr takes over for John Lennon. I don't know this for a fact, but it wouldn't surprise me to hear that section of the speech was dropped in by director Rob Reiner or maybe Michael Douglas.

PS: For a West Wing fan, the weirdest thing is having Martin Sheen standing at the back of the room...

PPS (ETA): This editorial from WaPo seems to go well with that speech. It begins:

IT'S HARD to think of a presidential campaign with a wider chasm between the seriousness of the issues confronting the country and the triviality, so far anyway, of the political discourse.