and then after was probably the moment he knew he needed to marry her XD

Shame the actress did not have more major roles after WW.

My favorite part of this bit is the deadpan delivery. "I located the light switch." "Could you locate it again?"

"An order form to buy a copy of 'Owning Yourself', a follow-up to the worldwide best-seller..." "'Leasing Yourself'?..."

Not its even more accurate. Well maybe its burger king not mcdonalds

There's another episode where Josh states that his IQ "doesn't break the bank" but you can see here that he's selling himself short

You can watch a series of lectures on Justice from Harvard here! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oaiUmcaDkp7MdY0.html

American public libraries are truly one of the least-respected resources. If you didn't need a college degree to get the job of your choice, you could get an education for free from a library. we take it for granted unless we've traveled to other countries where access is limited by censorship. (not that libraries in certain states are suffering the burden of censorshp, i know).

@@alertgasper Unfortunately it's not just by censorship but also by neglect and apathy in some cases. I live in India. I remember when, as a child I could go to a public library with an extensive, international children's section. I read Verne, Jack London, the Asterix comics and a bunch of other things which first introduced me to other cultures and sparked my reading habit. When I returned to India two decades later, the country's population, GDP and stature had all grown leaps and bounds, but the libraries had deteriorated. Today, with reading anyway declining among youth, libraries are pretty much gone, with a few exceptions. Really sad.

@@ninadbhave5133Very true. around here at least, a public library's possibilities can depend on the head librarian. i've seen new ones arrive and make a small library bloom.

Was he "borrowing" or "stealing" from Picasso? Or from T.S. Elliot, who Picasso had stolen that line from?

Is it possible to 'touché' oneself? Actually, don't answer that...

As creators, we’re only as good as the obscurity of the references we steal from. - Matt Colville

Aaron Sorkin steals from himself!

@@flankspeed lol

Low road? Bullshit, we're in below the fucking subway at this point.

You're the morons who kept voting in the swamp. You voted for bush and that scumbag obama. We the People had enough of your idiocy so we elected the only person running who could put the brakes in the jackassery of people like you. You did this. Be a man and own up to it.

You see how you don't quote any policy or values but your trash opinion?

@@markarmage3776 It was never about policy. He just has joined the cult of trump. Its pretty typical for dictators to form a cult of personality, or people that believe that the dictator was sent by the gods to save the country.

@@JusticeFrogs So you have no argument at all, kid? I was against the person who write the comment, don't assume that people are as stupid as you. Dictator? Cult? All of those words are your delusion to cover up the fact that you useless unemployed morons are deadweight of society and you're having a President that does not support those things. Go back to school, idiot.

Yes! It gives me hope!

I think all of us.

what is dark about these times?

River Smith You bet

Yes. Things are not so great in Canada either right now.

Marv Albert: "What?"

The problem is most voters (both sides) have neither. Which is exactly what both sides rely upon.

reach for everything, and watch the whole show, not just the McNuggets.

@Dead Meme So that means that it's ok to be stupid? Is it so wrong to expect our elected officials to be the best and the brightest? Or at least know how to use the English language properly?

@@DarrylJHenderson "Is it so wrong to expect our elected officials to be the best and the brightest?" - Not at all. You can only hope and pray our elected officials are the "best and brightest", and do your best to see that happens. But you're a complete moron once you drink the kool-aid and believe, even for a moment, that they actually *are*, especially when the only source of their truth is their own mouths or a media juggernaut. Accountability must be constant, incessant, and it must be absolutely non-partisan.

@Dead Meme then they should try harder to get out of their echo chambers. Our country depends on that.

From the looks of it 2024 to 2028 is a real possibility

America from 92 to 24 lol

DJT doesn't even read about himself. He needs charts, photos, and videos to understand anything. Then, he discards what he doesn't like.

@@theolamp5312 and he's still more awesome than the effete pseudo-intellectual Obama

Why don't you assholes have a pity party somewhere else? We the People are trying to fix what you arrogant morons did to this country. Obama is the reason we got Trump. Did you vote for obama? Of course you did. GFY

Really, and where's your source? Something you idiots never paid attention in these TV shows. The guy called the President just did everything his subordinates give him. Watch closely, national security, or speeches, even policy. Briefing? The guy understand briefing which also fits in a fortune cookie and make decisions based on what he grasp from that fortune cookie. So what's wrong with the summary?

@@theolamp5312 The reason we makes charts, idiot, it's because it's more easy to comprehend then writing. You're so smart that you took the hard way? That's what you call an idiot.

To quote Shadout Mapes, "Get out of my head"!

Donald Trump: "Hold my bleach".

Donald Trump: "Hold my bleach".

02-2021 Wow!

@@stevechance150 Was Gaius Helen Mohiam, reverend mother Bene Gesserit

Great statement

I decided to "change my major" instead................(8^P

Is a t-shirt any better than a fortune cookie?

LOL. Reach for *all* of Immanuel Kant? You really want someone reaching for *all* of Plato's Republic? Like, the upper class having women in community who give them sex whenever they want it? Sounds kinda misogynist, dude, and not really what Josh's party would have been about. But then, you'd actually have to read these books to understand why you may not want to reach for *all* of it.

I like that idea

Both their heads would have exploded. Which was almost the case for everyone in this country that actually uses their brain.

@@timothy9596 The actors that played them are as aware as their characters. I think that's why the show worked so well. They believed in what they're saying with Sorkin's dialog. And these 2 have great chemistry. Their first meeting is a classic scene.

They'd probably just as crazy seeing what the left has become. Saying you can be whatever gender you want etc.

Its every candidate let alone president.

"Reach for it all not just the McNuggets" it was a metaphor but for Trump that was literal too. We all know Ritchie was a stand in for Bush, to show how dumb he was. W. looks like a genius when compared to Trump. My fear has been what comes after Trump is gone. President Marjorie Taylor Greene?

I'm not a philosophy major but I was certainly impressed that Josh's first-years were reading Kant 🤣 The "public treatment" of philosophy still leaks through in this act that is meant to somewhat give praise to it, and it vexes me to see. Reading philosophy text is not like reading Twilight or Harry Potter; just understanding the words is nowhere near enough.

Not sure why I feel the need to reply to this but....I without question remember reading Kant in my intro to philosophy class. Our textbook was something called 50 readings plus, and one of said readings was a 15 page section of Critique of Pure Reason. I knew for a fact I recognized that name, and I’ve only every taken one philosophy class in my life and I just so happened to still have my textbook and sure enough, there in the index was Immanuel Kant page 198 hahahaha. Again, not sure why I felt the need to do that, but there’s proof that freshman philosophy students definitely read Kant.

If you dwell on the detail, it will drive you nuts. There are episodes where i skipped entire scenes bc of the crap way Africa is represented in the show... the AIDS vaccine storyline is one. But the rest of the episode (Ainsley coming in for her second interview) was still great, so i watched those bits. It's a tv show. 🤷🏾‍♀️

@@moimeself1088 yeah there’s a lot of stupid stuff like that throughout the series that you really take seriously. One that comes to mind for me is the episode with China and the whole time there is this chess metaphor going on with the different games Bartlett is playing with the staffers. As someone who plays chess I kinda just roll my eyes at those parts because the writers are clearly just winging it.

@@vdinh143 So KZfaq didn't let me know that people replied to my comment, so this comment is 4 months old. Thanks Google. Like I said in my comment, I'm happy that at least Philosophy was venerated rather than lampooned in the show. However, I think Sorkin missed the irony of his own words. By using these famous excerpts of famous thinkers as a way to lampoon Ritchie's candidacy as trite and unoriginal, he himself has done just that by bastardizing Kant. Like, if you're going to quote a famous line from Kant, or Descartes, or Hume, then at least make Josh's reaction to the fortune cookie line fit the actual meaning of the famous line so that people understand what is meant by it. For the vast majority of people, people heard him quote that line and thought it was just some motivational speech bullshit. It's not. What Kant is saying here is among the most profound things written in the 18th century. So I just find it ironic that Josh ends up being just as guilty of being a shallow thinker as the Ritchie consultant chastising, and that's due to the sloppy writing. That's what stuck out to me the most about the scene. Oh, and you absolutely can understand Kant in a 4 hour seminar. It just has to be done by a Kant scholar. Honestly, rewatching the scene leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Mark Fey I don't know about you, but I'd take Richie right this second.

Unlike reality, fiction is required to make sense.

Mark Fey Trump is a reality tv show president. And don't forget although he can read, he doesn't. That book would take far more effort to read, than he would be willing to give.

Bartlett ,Leo ,Ritchie and Vinnick together could not carry Trump's briefcase for animal instinct -that's why he's a real president rather than a fictional progressive one or even a republican one.

Tim Mullens Oh, give me a break, will ya? Trump is the real buffoon here. Sure, this show was pie-in-the-sky and, of course, a work of fiction. But it demonstrates what the White House could be, and should be. Do you really think Trump and his staff care about each other. Do you really think they care about you, or your family? Get a clue, pal. "The low road?" This is the real West Wing, and you voted for it!

I studied philosophy, about 20 years ago that is. I was fascinated by Kant. But it took me at least 10 reads of every single paragraph before I got a sense of maybe starting to get a sense of what he was saying. Which is exactly what Josh (and so, Sorkin) is saying here. It’s supposed to be complicated and nuanced, because our behavior is complicated and nuanced as well.

A Fuller explanation at last!

Ouch!

Two years later and I bet you've tried to recall a done so well tell me I've made a mistake here

Sorkin always gave Republicans far more credit than they ever deserved.

Short for Fernando?

I know right. We just had a recall election for the governor of California, of course I voted no, being a centrist Democrat and he's one too and doing a good job. But even the moderate guy among the Republicans -- John Cox -- was saying he was against masks and social distancing :-( It's like really, John? You're like the smartest candidate on your side, this should be a bipartisan issue, come on man! He wasn't the front runner, though. The front runner was a Trump supporter. :-( Well, I'm glad Newsom won. I don't agree with everything he does but I think for the most part he has California going in a good direction. He certainly provided leadership against covid-19 that was needed when Trump was in office, him and Cuomo of New York.

too soon

KAAAAAAAAAAAAANT!

"Ehh manual Kart? No, I think it's an automatic.... whatever, ask my driver." -Trump, probably

Ritchie was Dan quayle. While Trump is Quayle lite with a side of sinister. It was Quayle who Pence reached out to for advice over counting the electors.

@@marcopl17 IMO, Quayle is way more polished and educated than Trump is/was, and that's saying a lot.

Actually 'Emmanuelle' was a famous soft-porn film. That's who Trump would think Emmanuel Kant was......

Trump's actively worse than the idea behind Ritchie....

Trump doesn't even reach for the McNuggets.

I think Josh was a little put off by the guy speaking _only_ in slogans, with no substance behind it. Ritchie -- who probably couldn't _spell_ syllogism, much less form one -- was an empty suit held upright by simplistic philosophy and empty platitudes.

...Which followed a book called "The Audacity of Hope" and another called "Dreams of My Father". Love him or hate him (or both, and there are reasons for both), there's no question that Barack Obama is capable of abstract thought and nuance. That's not the kind of person being discussed here.

Oh, you poor soul. Didn't make it through school, don't give up, go back.

Throw in the ghost of Leo and I'd be on my knees bawling like in that picture where apparently Jesus wrote the Constitution. And oh yeah, Fitz-wallace too.

It's just that; a dream. None of the recent Democrats in the Executive branch had this level of sophistication or dignity. They are petty, venal politicians and nothing more

They would loose, to your kind of idiot, The West Wing wit and rhetoric is only smart because they'r'e countered with equally average arguments, Sorkin can only write what he knows. Give Ben Shapiro a few minutes and he'll wipe the floor with Seaborn, Ziegler or Lyman. It's necessary to understand Kant? How about the simple argument that millions of philosophy students who studied Kant and can't figure out a thing because simply enough, studying Kant is a waste of time? Because Kant's theory itself, sometimes can not be used to apply into daily lives and daily matters, therefore only parts of his theory is used to make a new set of theory, which is called common sense and knowledge. Stop overrating the nonsense. Go ahead, explain the argument of transcendental idealism, we smart people will spend our actual time doing actual stuff that actually matter such as using that summarized concept to create wealth and values for the society.

And here we have the conservative archetype trio: the Obama basher, the bigot, and the troll

They are real. You are that person. You just need to walk in a say this is important, will you let me do this if it will go others do this I've got a sign out front that says I'll be here for the repercussions. People who tell you to believe in getting something done by building walls and making deals to look over things isn't the same as learning about what it's like to paint human hope onto a killer of people of all things. Why the worst things happen. Why are the going to happen forever if you're not there to step into a place and say this is better because I believe in even you a killer of humans. If the white house won't do it. If people break the law. Paint the law as a sign of hope to stay at home and be someone who doesn't depend on the bullshit. You're here for a long time. Someone I love said that to me. Please go ahead and respond if you do dare to.

california in ruins? it's the greatest state in the union and always will be. you haven't learned to think for yourself if you're buying that pathetic lie; you just switched fortune cookie makers.

Europe in disarray? 😆🤣😆🤣😆 sure whatever

Fox news keyboard warrior 🤡

I think it means "we would be willing to require anything less [than the low road]"

It's possible that he meant something along the lines of "would we want someone in the Oval Office, who when faced with a crisis, looks for the easy option, the one that requires the least effort to think about and do, rather than the harder, high ideal". Remember he is talking about a man running for the office of President, who is using phrases he has plagerised from others and hoping no-one will notice - i.e. rather than taking the high road (thinking for himself, the hard option) he is taking the low road (stealing ideas from others, the easy/lazy option)

In answer to your question about the structure of Josh's question, I think the phrase "the low road" is a restatement or an example given of "requiring anything less", essentially a more direct restatement of the more abstract terminology. Something like: "Is it possible we would be willing to require any less of the person sitting in that chair? To accept the low road?"

"Understanding these thinkers"? Hey idiot, they think the same thing that people think without knowing them, study! If you're smart, you can rebuild and deduct every single part of Greek or modern philosophy in the matter of minutes. Try to think and stop quoting somebody. There are certain values that are correct, and it doesn't help you no matter how much you "understand" why those are correct. Here's an actual example and not a trash opinion like yours. A person kills a lot of people, there's no way to charge him or put him on trial, what do you do? The philosophers like Bartlet in the show can't make a decision. A smart person, knows that no matter how much you dive into the matter, you won't be able to find any better solution than what you can actually do, which is get rid of the killer through an "illegal" process because the "legal" term is a myth created by people to sustain an illusion of order. Clear? There's a reason people take the quote, it's everything you need to know from their whole chain of reasoning. Every thesis, every law of nature is just assumption by human that those are the correct ones because they can be used to explain certain aspect of nature, that's why laws can be changed, and sometimes even found out to be wrong. So yeah, study, kid!

@@markarmage3776 you're an idiot, thanks for playing.

@@JusticeFrogs Nice try, kid. Go back to school, don't drop out. Pathetic.

Fascism lost. Need a tampon?

LOL. Of the three things you named, only one is a book. How embarrassing for you.

Pound sand commie

If you think his tweets were the problem, you're only hitting the tip of a much larger iceberg with that guy.........

Buy a clue. Rent one if necessary.

Fox news keyboard warrior 🤡

Pretty much yep.

@woohooboy Your Biden West Wing utopia is a third world hell hole bitch!!!

The Republicans nominated McCain, then Romney. The American electorate roundly rejected them both. What stronger sign can you ask for that he's the right man for the job?

Who ended up with amazing policies