Josh Presses Ritter on Tobacco Funding Amid Haitian Absurdity
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Josh and Senator Andy Ritter discuss the Haitian crisis, with Ritter expressing disbelief and resignation over the situation.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
persistent and frustrated
exits a D.C. building with Ritter, confirms Haitian president smuggled in trunk, pivots to lobby for $30M Justice Department appropriations bill for tobacco lawsuit, questions chairman's scheduling, tobacco donations, vote count, and holdouts Warren and Rossiter
- • Lobby Ritter to advance or support the stalled appropriations bill for the tobacco case
Committed allegiance (inferred)
Cited by Ritter as subcommittee chairman refusing to schedule tobacco funding vote, prioritizing tobacco donors who gave $460K in PACs—'dancing with the girl that brung him'—ensuring partisan deadlock.
- • Protect tobacco industry benefactors
- • Avoid risking 8-7 defeat on record
- • Political survival demands donor reciprocity
- • Bill dies without a vote
Desperate survival (inferred from context)
Referential catalyst: Ritter marvels at his smuggling to U.S. embassy in a car trunk amid coup chaos, framing the surreal international absurdity that underscores Josh's domestic lobbying desperation.
- • Reach embassy sanctuary
- • Evade rebel capture
- • U.S. intervention offers sole protection
- • Coup forces pose immediate mortal threat
Weary resignation tinged with sardonic detachment
Exits D.C. building with Josh, expresses incredulity over Haitian president's trunk smuggling, pivots to reveal tobacco bill's doom via Kalmbach's donor ties, $460K PACs, 8-7 vote loss with Warren/Rossiter holdouts, then pats Josh's shoulder and departs.
- • Realistically apprise Josh of bill's insurmountable obstacles
- • Preserve working relationship without false promises
- • Tobacco money dictates committee loyalty over policy
- • Ideological holdouts like Warren and Rossiter make passage impossible
Contemptuous skepticism (inferred)
Named alongside Warren by Ritter as key Democrat defector in 8-7 committee vote against tobacco bill, rooted in ideological disdain rather than regional tobacco ties.
- • Prevent funding for what he sees as flawed prosecution
- • Resist White House arm-twisting
- • Case is unwinnable 'legal theater'
- • Smokers are 'too stupid' for protection
Principled opposition (inferred from context)
Invoked by Ritter as one of two Democrat holdouts tanking the 8-7 tobacco funding vote, defying party lines and Southern stereotypes through ideological opposition to the lawsuit.
- • Block Justice funding based on case skepticism
- • Uphold personal convictions against party pressure
- • Tobacco suit lacks legal merit
- • Smokers bear personal responsibility
referenced as wanting to support the $30M appropriations bill
- • Advance the Justice Department tobacco lawsuit funding
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
Daylit exterior concrete steps and facade host Josh and Ritter's impromptu exit and tense lobbying exchange, blending Haitian crisis surrealism with tobacco gridlock revelation—symbolizing D.C.'s exposed political brutalism where informal talks yield harsh realities amid broader White House pressures.
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Themes This Exemplifies
Thematic resonance and meaning
Key Dialogue
"ANDY RITTER: "The President of Haiti was taken to the embassy in the trunk of a car?" JOSH: "Yes." RITTER: "I've lived too long.""
"JOSH: "This is a phenomenally important case: it's historic; it has to be won. And we're fighting with paper clips and a slingshot." RITTER: "We were wondering when you guys were going to notice.""