H. Con-172

Infobox Television episode
Title = H. Con-172
Series = The West Wing


Caption =
Season = 3
Episode = 54
Airdate = January 92002
Production = 227211
Writer = Aaron Sorkin (teleplay)
Eli Attie (story)
Director = Vincent Misiano
Guests = Mary-Louise Parker
Joanna Gleason
Mark Feuerstein
NiCole Robinson
Episode list = List of "The West Wing" episodes
Season list = Infobox The West Wing season 3 episode list
Prev =
Next ="H. Con-172" is the 54th episode of "The West Wing", an American television series.

Plot

Leo defiantly rejects the Congressional Oversight Committee's offer of a public censure of President Bartlet that would finally bring an end to the investigation into Bartlet's concealment of his illness and spare Leo any possible personal repercussions. He is committed to protecting the President and continuing the testimony that was suspended in Bartlet for America, even though his lawyer says (correctly) that the hearings will return to testimony revealing Leo's alcoholic relapse, spelling the end of his career.

Donna figures out that Cliff Calley got the Republican committee leader to stop the questioning before Leo was ruined, and relays the information to Josh. In a conversation with Leo, President Bartlet reveals that he will accept the censure and bring and end to the proceedings. When Leo protests, the President tells Leo that he was wrong to hide his illness and that he must take responsibility for his mistake.

In other stories, Bartlet's staff reacts to an exposé published by a terminated White House photographer. Sam is angry because the photographer, who was bad at his job and didn't last long, is getting media coverage for his outrageous and insulting fabrications. Sam later admits he is driven by his own guilt, in part because he hired the photographer in the first place. While other staffers urge Sam to ignore the book's lies, Sam tells the President that they should not be casual about the truth. The comment clearly clearly resonates with the President: it is implied that this leads him to decide to accept the humiliating censure deal. C.J. understands Sam's agony but tells him she will not respond to every idiotic lie in the exposé, and Toby makes a strong analogy about not fouling basketball players who can't shoot the ball, instead letting them instead shoot and miss repeatedly.

Josh awkwardly schemes to socialize with a women's rights leader, Amy Gardner, whom he finds attractive. He is annoyed when Toby tells him they're in great shape on issues important to women, but a $500,000 funding gap allows Josh the excuse he needs to meet with Amy. Things go well until, Josh being Josh, he decides to talk about his own history instead of listening to Amy's.

Also, Bartlet wants to frame an eighteenth century map that Charlie got him from a flea market, and put it in the Oval Office, but C.J., Toby, and Leo warn the President of the political implications, since the historical map excludes Israel and would be construed in the wrong way if it was put in the office of the President of the United States. The President is irritated that anyone would be offended by the fact that the map excludes Israel, given that the map was drawn when Israel was not a country.

Episode title

The title is the United States House of Representatives reference number for the concurrent censure resolution.

External links

* [http://epguides.com/WestWing/ The West Wing Episode Guide]