Object
Alabama Ten Commandments Display (Referential Mention)
A civic display typically rendered as human‑scale stone tablets or a mounted plaque inscribed with the Ten Commandments, weathered or polished depending on installation. The item is never physically shown in the processed material; it exists only as Sam's jokey opener about an Alabama town that has adopted such a display. The reference lands as a conversational prop: Sam invokes the image to get a laugh, Toby half‑shrugs, then the mood tightens as the mention segues into a real political problem involving a Georgetown Hoya article and Zoey Bartlet. No character handles the object; it functions as a topical cue that shifts tone from levity to urgent damage control.
2 appearances
Purpose
To publicly exhibit the Ten Commandments as a civic or religious monument in municipal space.
Significance
Serves as a rhetorical catalyst in the scene: the casual reference exposes how small local controversies can become political liabilities, provides a cultural shorthand that prompts staff banter, and helps pivot the conversation toward the Georgetown Hoya story and the administration's emergent damage‑control priorities.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used