SHEPHERD takes the podium. There's a palpable BUZZ in the
room as video operators adjust their equipment, etc. People
starts to stand.
SHEPHERD
That's all right, you can keep your
seats. For the last couple of
months, Senator Rumson has suggested
that being president of this country
was, to a certain extent, about
character...
ANGLE - ROBIN
who's picked up the receiver from a wall phone and punches in
four numbers.
She turns in to the wall to shield her conversation from the
rest of the room.
ROBIN
(into phone)
Lewis...call A.J. and come on down
here...I don't know, but
something's happening.
SHEPHERD
...and although I have not been
willing to engage in his attacks on
me, I've been here three years and
three days, and I can tell you
without hesitation: Being President
of this country is entirely about
character.
LEWIS enters with A.J. and KODAK.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
For the record: Yes, I am a card-
carrying member of the A.C.L.U. But
the more important question is why
aren't you, Bob? This is an
organization whose sole purpose is to
defend the Bill of Rights, so it
naturally begs the questions.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
Why would a senator, his party's most
powerful spokesman and a candidate
for president, choose to reject
upholding the Constitution? If you
can answer that question, then,
folks, you're smarter than I am,
because I didn't understand it until
a couple of minutes ago. Everybody
knows American isn't easy. America is
advanced citizenship.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's
gonna put up a fight. It's gonna
say, "You want free speech? Let's
see you acknowledge a man whose words
make your blood boil, who's standing
center stage and advocating, at the
top of his lungs, that which you
would spend a lifetime opposing at the
top of yours. You want to claim
this land as the land of the free,
then the symbol of your country can't
just be a flag; the symbol also has
to be one of its citizens exercising
his right to burn that flag in
protest." Show me that, defend that,
celebrate that in your classrooms.
Then you can stand up and sing about
the land of the free. I've known Bob
Rumson for years. I've been operating
under the assumption that the reason
Bob devotes so much time and energy to
shouting at the rain was that he simply
didn't get it. Well, I was wrong.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't
get it. Bob's problem is that he
can't sell it. Nobody has ever won
an election by talking about what I
was just talking about.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
This is a country made up of people
with hard jobs that they're terrified
of losing. The roots of freedom are
of little or no interest to them at
the moment. We are a nation afraid
to go out at night. We're a society
that has assigned low priority to
education and has looked the other
way while our public schools have
been decimated. We have serious
problems to solve, and we need
serious men to solve them. And
whatever your particular problem is,
friend, I promise you, Bob Rumson is
not the least bit interested in
solving it. He is interested in two
things and two things only: Making
you afraid of it and telling you
who's to blame for it. That, ladies
and gentlemen, is how you win
elections. You gather a group of
middle-aged, middle-class, middle-
income voters who remember with
longing an easier time, and you talk
to them about family and American
values and personal character. Then
you have an old photo of the
President's girlfriend. You scream
about patriotism and you tell them
she's to blame for their lot in life,
you go on television and you call her
a whore. Sydney Ellen Wade has done
nothing to you, Bob. She has done
nothing but put herself through law
school, prosecute criminals for five
years, represent the interests of
public school teachers for two years,
and lobby for the safety of our
natural resources.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
You want a character debate? Fine,
but you better stick with me, 'cause
Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your
league. I've loved two women in my
life. I lost one to cancer, and I
lost the other 'cause I was so busy
keeping my job I forgot to do my job.
Well that ends right now.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
Tomorrow morning the White House is
sending a bill to Congress for its
consideration. It's White House
Resolution 455, an energy bill
requiring a 20 percent reduction of the
emission of fossil fuels over the
next ten years. It is by far the
most aggressive stride ever taken in
the fight to reverse the effects of
global warming. The other piece of
legislation is the crime bill. As of
today it no longer exists. I'm
throwing it out. I'm throwing it out
and writing a law that makes sense.
You cannot address crime prevention
without getting rid of assault
weapons and handguns.
I consider them a threat to national
security, and I will go door to door
if I have to, but I'm gonna convince
Americans that I'm right, and I'm
gonna get the guns. We've got
serous problems, and we need serious
men, and if you want to talk about
character, Bob, you'd better come at
me with more than a burning flag and
a membership card. If you want to
talk about character and American
values, fine. Just tell me where and
when, and I'll show up. This is a
time for serious men, Bob, and your
fifteen minutes are up. My name's
Andrew Shepherd, and I am the
President.
SHEPHERD exits the press room, leaving a stunned room in his
wake.
room as video operators adjust their equipment, etc. People
starts to stand.
SHEPHERD
That's all right, you can keep your
seats. For the last couple of
months, Senator Rumson has suggested
that being president of this country
was, to a certain extent, about
character...
ANGLE - ROBIN
who's picked up the receiver from a wall phone and punches in
four numbers.
She turns in to the wall to shield her conversation from the
rest of the room.
ROBIN
(into phone)
Lewis...call A.J. and come on down
here...I don't know, but
something's happening.
SHEPHERD
...and although I have not been
willing to engage in his attacks on
me, I've been here three years and
three days, and I can tell you
without hesitation: Being President
of this country is entirely about
character.
LEWIS enters with A.J. and KODAK.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
For the record: Yes, I am a card-
carrying member of the A.C.L.U. But
the more important question is why
aren't you, Bob? This is an
organization whose sole purpose is to
defend the Bill of Rights, so it
naturally begs the questions.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
Why would a senator, his party's most
powerful spokesman and a candidate
for president, choose to reject
upholding the Constitution? If you
can answer that question, then,
folks, you're smarter than I am,
because I didn't understand it until
a couple of minutes ago. Everybody
knows American isn't easy. America is
advanced citizenship.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's
gonna put up a fight. It's gonna
say, "You want free speech? Let's
see you acknowledge a man whose words
make your blood boil, who's standing
center stage and advocating, at the
top of his lungs, that which you
would spend a lifetime opposing at the
top of yours. You want to claim
this land as the land of the free,
then the symbol of your country can't
just be a flag; the symbol also has
to be one of its citizens exercising
his right to burn that flag in
protest." Show me that, defend that,
celebrate that in your classrooms.
Then you can stand up and sing about
the land of the free. I've known Bob
Rumson for years. I've been operating
under the assumption that the reason
Bob devotes so much time and energy to
shouting at the rain was that he simply
didn't get it. Well, I was wrong.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't
get it. Bob's problem is that he
can't sell it. Nobody has ever won
an election by talking about what I
was just talking about.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
This is a country made up of people
with hard jobs that they're terrified
of losing. The roots of freedom are
of little or no interest to them at
the moment. We are a nation afraid
to go out at night. We're a society
that has assigned low priority to
education and has looked the other
way while our public schools have
been decimated. We have serious
problems to solve, and we need
serious men to solve them. And
whatever your particular problem is,
friend, I promise you, Bob Rumson is
not the least bit interested in
solving it. He is interested in two
things and two things only: Making
you afraid of it and telling you
who's to blame for it. That, ladies
and gentlemen, is how you win
elections. You gather a group of
middle-aged, middle-class, middle-
income voters who remember with
longing an easier time, and you talk
to them about family and American
values and personal character. Then
you have an old photo of the
President's girlfriend. You scream
about patriotism and you tell them
she's to blame for their lot in life,
you go on television and you call her
a whore. Sydney Ellen Wade has done
nothing to you, Bob. She has done
nothing but put herself through law
school, prosecute criminals for five
years, represent the interests of
public school teachers for two years,
and lobby for the safety of our
natural resources.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
You want a character debate? Fine,
but you better stick with me, 'cause
Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your
league. I've loved two women in my
life. I lost one to cancer, and I
lost the other 'cause I was so busy
keeping my job I forgot to do my job.
Well that ends right now.
SHEPHERD
(continuing)
Tomorrow morning the White House is
sending a bill to Congress for its
consideration. It's White House
Resolution 455, an energy bill
requiring a 20 percent reduction of the
emission of fossil fuels over the
next ten years. It is by far the
most aggressive stride ever taken in
the fight to reverse the effects of
global warming. The other piece of
legislation is the crime bill. As of
today it no longer exists. I'm
throwing it out. I'm throwing it out
and writing a law that makes sense.
You cannot address crime prevention
without getting rid of assault
weapons and handguns.
I consider them a threat to national
security, and I will go door to door
if I have to, but I'm gonna convince
Americans that I'm right, and I'm
gonna get the guns. We've got
serous problems, and we need serious
men, and if you want to talk about
character, Bob, you'd better come at
me with more than a burning flag and
a membership card. If you want to
talk about character and American
values, fine. Just tell me where and
when, and I'll show up. This is a
time for serious men, Bob, and your
fifteen minutes are up. My name's
Andrew Shepherd, and I am the
President.
SHEPHERD exits the press room, leaving a stunned room in his
wake.
alasdair
