Bartlet's Turkey 'Pardon' Reversal and Education Sermon
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Bartlet meets Morton and Troy the turkey, initially pardoning the turkey with casual authority.
Bartlet reverses his stance, declaring he cannot pardon a turkey, using the moment to lecture Morton on the importance of education.
Bartlet humorously drafts the turkey into military service, resolving the turkey pardon dilemma with a pragmatic solution.
C.J. instructs Donna and Morton to handle Troy the turkey, showcasing her organizational role amidst the chaos.
Bartlet inquires about the turkey's condition, revealing his underlying concern amidst the absurdity.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Instinctively agitated amid human handling
Troy stands positioned before Donna and Morton near Charlie's desk, becomes direct object of Bartlet's pardon-then-draft decree and Constitution-invoked farce, handled by Morton with hindquarters supported during extraction to pen, embodying disruptive holiday whimsy.
- • Evade restraint and handling
- • Survive Beltway poultry ordeal
- • Flight trumps captivity
- • Barnyard chaos defies protocol
Exasperated professionalism masking frustration with unfolding farce
C.J. introduces Morton to Bartlet, gestures urgently to intervene in the pardon, instructs Donna to escort Troy away while stressing hindquarter support, remains behind as Bartlet enters Oval, then heads to colonnade quipping about 'singing and lute playing' to defuse absurdity.
- • Contain the turkey pardon disruption swiftly
- • Transition Bartlet to urgent refugee briefing without delay
- • Presidential rituals must adhere to protocol, not impulse
- • Staff must shield commander-in-chief from trivial distractions amid crises
Focused impatience tempered by deference
Sam enters Outer Oval with Josh as turkey farce peaks, holds up folder in response to Bartlet's prompt 'I'm still waiting for the thing,' follows into Oval Office, signaling seamless pivot from levity to refugee crisis urgency.
- • Deliver critical refugee documents promptly
- • Advance to Oval for high-stakes briefing
- • Crisis demands precedence over ceremony
- • Preparation ensures presidential decisiveness
Surprised pleasure yielding to respectful acceptance
Morton huddles with Donna and Troy by Charlie's desk, reacts with awed 'Wow' to Bartlet, beams pleased at initial pardon, absorbs the education lecture stoically, agrees 'Okay' repeatedly, then picks up Troy supporting hindquarters and departs with Donna.
- • Secure fair compensation for farm losses
- • Fulfill delivery duty despite complications
- • Presidential word carries compensatory weight
- • Tradition bends to authority's wisdom
playful then passionately fervent
Emerges from the Oval Office, greets Morton, impulsively pardons then revokes the pardon for turkey Troy while lecturing Morton on public education and ignorance of traditions versus law, humorously drafts the turkey into military service, promises a signed compensation check, and enters the Oval Office with Sam and Josh.
- • Impulsively engage in turkey pardon farce
- • Deliver impassioned lecture on public education to Morton
- • Transition to urgent business with Josh and Sam
Genuine surprise blending with steady compliance
Donna stands flanking Morton near Charlie's desk with Troy in front, confirms the turkey's identity when queried, expresses surprise at no-pardon revelation, then escorts Morton carrying the supported bird away per C.J.'s directive amid the chaotic exchange.
- • Verify turkey details accurately
- • Execute C.J.'s extraction order efficiently
- • Presidential actions follow unexpected logics
- • Team coordination resolves West Wing absurdities
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Sam holds up Donna's Folder—bulging with urgent refugee dispatches—as the key prop signaling transition from turkey absurdity to geopolitical gravity, embodying the narrative pivot where holiday farce yields to moral imperative, its heft underscoring refugee peril's pull on presidential focus.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
East Colonnade looms as C.J. points to it for her wry 'singing and lute playing' exile of turkey chaos, injecting barnyard release into stone-pillared exhale; it beckons as liminal escape where released tension mingles laughter with Oval's shadowing refugee gravity.
Charlie's Desk serves as proximity anchor where Donna and Morton huddle with thrashing Troy, feathers adrift across briefs amid flickering urgency; it frames the collision of rural delivery duty and Beltway protocol, heightening farce's intrusion on staff heartbeat.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"BARTLET: (to the turkey) You're pardoned."
"BARTLET: Morton, I can't pardon a turkey. If you think I can pardon a turkey, then you have got to go back to your school and insist that you be better prepared to go out in the world."
"BARTLET: No. I tell you what I can do. I'm drafting this turkey into military service. In the meantime, somebody will be drafting a check, which will have my signature on it, so the folks can buy themselves a Butterball."