Who is jed bartlet

In the ancient world where slavery flourished, the Mosaic Law thus stipulated stringent guidelines such as a year of Jubilee in which slaves were released Lev. In fact, it was the application of biblical principles that ultimately led to the overthrow of slavery, both in ancient Israel and in the United States of America.

In America, many are beginning to wake up to the liberating biblical truth that all people are created innately equal see Gen. Furthermore, slavery within an Old Testament context was sanctioned due to economic realities rather than racial or sexual prejudices. A craftsman could, thus, use his skills in servitude to discharge a debt. Even a convicted thief could make restitution by serving as a slave Exod. Finally, we should note that far from extolling the virtues of slavery, the Bible denounces slavery as sin.

The apostle Paul goes so far as to put slave traders in the same category as murderers, adulterers, perverts, and liars 1 Tim. Indeed, slavery is so abhorrent to God that in the final book of the Bible, He condemns the evil systems that perpetuate it. Using hyperbole, the president suggests that the very Bible that condemns homosexuality mandates that he kill his own chief of staff for violating the Sabbath. Answering this question may pose somewhat of a challenge for orthodox Jews such as Dr.

Laura or Senator Joseph Lieberman, but it poses no problem whatsoever for Christians who recognize that Christ is the substance that fulfills the symbol of the Sabbath. To begin with, as the president of the United States would surely know, America is a democratic republic and not a theocratic form of government; thus, Sabbath-breaking may have had serious ramifications within ancient Israel, but it is not a warrant for executing people today.

Furthermore, there is no more warrant for killing a homosexual today than there is for killing a Sabbath breaker. In fact, the mechanisms required to carry out the death penalty under Mosaic Law are no longer extant. Ironically, the very Jews who believed that Christ was worthy of death for violating the laws of Moses had to convince the Roman authorities to crucify Him. Finally, while Schlessinger and Lieberman have a hard time explaining why Mosaic penalties no longer apply at least in spirit , the answer for Christians is found in Christ.

This redemption from the curse of the law is available to all regardless of ethnicity or gender. Paul continues:. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. The president makes his biggest blunder by addressing the subject of swine.

By implication she therefore is not qualified to speak on matters of personal faith and morals. It appears, however, that the president has not been properly briefed; and, thus, despite his Ph. To begin with, the fact that Dr. It appears she has a better grasp of biblical hermeneutics than that displayed by the president.

If, indeed, the president had an adequate understanding of the rich tradition of biblical Judaism, he would no doubt have been far more restrained in his diatribe against the Scriptures. At best, he proved himself a master at rhetoric and emotive stereotypes rather than reason and evidence. Furthermore, we should note that the footballs used in college and the professional ranks are not even made of pigskin. Rather, they are made of cowhide 8 — the skin of a kosher animal.

Finally, there is a quantum difference between enduring moral principles such as those regarding homosexuality and temporary ceremonial practices relegated to a particular historical context. The distinction between clean and unclean animals symbolized the distinction between that which was holy and that which was unholy within the context of a theocracy.

As we have already noted, however, the ceremonial symbolism of the law was fulfilled in Christ, who makes the unclean clean. Once again he attempts to seduce an audience of more than 11 million with emotive rhetoric.

Yet, once again, he is wrong. First, nowhere in Scripture is there any suggestion that we should kill family members for failing to heed Levitical laws regarding seeding and sewing. Furthermore, Scripture simply uses the object lessons of seeding crops and sewing clothes to illustrate the spiritual and social distinctions between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.

The mixing of different things was associated with the syncretistic pagan practices that Israel was to avoid. Scripture thus provides myriad illustrations to underscore the principle of undivided loyalty. In Deuteronomy, for example, the Israelites were commanded not to plow with an ox and a donkey yoked together Paul, writing to the Corinthians, uses this common sense principle to underscore the fact that as a donkey and an ox do not work together synergistically in the process of plowing, so too a believer and an unbeliever do not harmonize well in the process of living.

For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? The end of its run coincided with Deadwood , for chrissakes. And every time they all lined up to say the same thing one after another. If his speeches are neoliberal drivel then, dammit, they are well written neoliberal drivel.

Things can be two things. What would a good price for her be? While thinking about that, can I ask another? I like to imagine two editors cutting this scene together and having the following conversation. Editor 1: Wow, Bartlet is not here for that woman using the Bible to justify her homophobia! Editor 1: Which examples are we supposed to leave in the episode?

Editor 2: All of them. Thank you, Mr. I get in the station wagon, put it in reverse, and pull out of the garage full speed. Except I forgot to open the garage door.

Abby told me not to drive while I was upset and she was right. And until you do, you can all get your fat asses out of my White House. CJ, show these people out. Again with the asses! This speech functions like a thesis statement for how the show works: personal beliefs influence political beliefs; political actions influence personal feelings; these people are going to govern based on what kind of day they are having; Abbey Bartlet is always right and is much smarter than her husband.

Let Ellie have this. On this day. Let them stand in this room. I like it? She was nine years old. One in five children live in the most abject, dangerous, hopeless, back-breaking, gut-wrenching poverty any of us could imagine. If fidelity to freedom and democracy is the code of our civic religion, then surely the code of our humanity is faithful service to that unwritten commandment that says we shall give our children better than we ourselves received.

I stopped some money from flowing into your pocket. If that angers you, if you resent me, I completely respect that. But if you expect anything different from the president of the United States, you should vote for someone else. BRB, convincing my friend to leave his high-paying job at a white-shoe law firm to come work on a presidential campaign with me. Your taxes are too high? So are mine. Gimme the next ten words: How are we gonna do it? But those days almost always include body counts.

And by the way, if the left has a problem with that, they should vote for somebody else. You understand? The characters on this show lie kind of a lot. Much of it is in service of a greater good, but still. However, those who are pure of heart — Charlie, Zoey, kidnapped journalists, anti-landmine poets Laura Dern! However corrupt Bartlet may have let himself become, he never wants to corrupt anyone else.

Then I worked for a man who was very particular. Things like sticker size, index card color, and push-pin location had to be just right. And I realized that he knew these things were small and insignificant, but he wanted them done correctly anyway because he wanted everything done correctly. His caring about the little details was proof that he cared about the bigger projects. He was putting everything he had into his job, down to the office supplies. Catholics believe faith has to be joined with good works.

In a flashback, Young Bartlet stands up to his asshole father and, sure, fails to mention the gendered pay gap he originally wanted to talk to him about, but he also lays out the most compelling case yet for his Catholicism: doing good stuff. You have to actually work. It's not hard to see how The West Wing drew from the politics of the times for its inspiration for many storylines.

One of those clear parallels comes in the form of President Bartlet himself, who was, according to Martin Sheen, "largely drawn from Bill Clinton. He's bright, astute, and filled with all the negative foibles that make him very human. While Bartlet was a New Hampshire man instead of a man from Arkansas like Clinton, the parallels in their demeanor, their academic persona, their use of humor, and their diplomacy are clearly meant to exist in parallel with one another.

Bartlet would likewise experience some scandal as a result of the disclosure of his Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis, meant to parallel Clinton's own public scandals. As much inspiration as was taken from President Clinton for the creation of Jed's character, it's clear that just as much influence was derived from President John F. Both New England born and bred men with learned histories, Bartlet and Kennedy shared their Catholicism and their similar levels of erudition and composure.

The series also leaned heavily into clear visual parallels between the two men, as countless promotional photos of Jed feature him taking on Kennedyesqsue poses, and one of the shots of his character within the series' opening credits strikingly resembles a famous portrait of the late president. There have been some pretty odd crossovers in the history of television, but one of the weirdest pairings of all time just barely escaped coming to fruition.

During the production of the original series finale of the cult hit science fiction series The X-Files , a scene was considered in which President Jed Bartlet would feature, and the sets from The West Wing itself would also be used. And in fact, we'd even at one point considered asking Martin Sheen who played the president on the West Wing to do this scene, which would have been a nice sort of wink. Bush lookalike, but the scene was cut from the finale in the end.

Shows can be incredibly successful during their initial run but not have any lasting presence after that. It's all too common, in fact. But it takes some truly special shows to have a fan base that's active and vocal over a decade after the series wrapped. Even though The West Wing ended in , the fan community of the series is as vibrant as ever online - and one key player has been making that possible.

Given the number of intense speeches and shouting matches that President Bartlet engages in, it was clear that the series would need an actor with a true sense of gravitas to inhabit the role. Martin Sheen was clearly the right choice for his character; his six Emmy nominations for the role alone more than attest to that fact.

But some other truly impressive Hollywood legends were considered during the creation of the character, including Sidney Poitier, Jason Robards, and Alan Alda, who would go on to play Republican presidential candidate Arnold Vinnick in the series' final years.