The episode in which Jed Bartlett announces his reelection campaign ends with an apology. Jed is an educated man, with both a PhD and a Nobel Prize in Economics. One thing I really love about the series is his strong marriage with Abby, and the honest portrayal of their effort to stay connected to each other as well as to their faith within forces inherent to his job.
At this point in the story word has gotten out about the President's multiple sclerosis, and there is damage around having kept his staff in the dark. They feel deeply resentful about his apparent absence of regret.
There is a book within arm's reach of me now with a bold title.
"Apologize, Apologize!"
I picked it up at the thrift store, thinking that that twenty five cent purchase could perhaps bring me closer to mastery on the subject but alas I have not yet cracked the cover. I notice that Jed Bartlett too, seemed to keep the words at arm's length. The tension spread like smoke at a campfire, clouding everyone's vision. Back stage in the last moments before walking on to the platform to greet the thronging crowds he stopped himself mid sentence in another erudite monologue. There was
no where left to hide. The President faced the people who had given their full measure of devotion to elevate him to the highest office in the land.
"It occurs to me that I haven't said I'm sorry. I am."
The staff who had been "serving at the pleasure" for three years deserved as much. Or maybe deserve is entirely the wrong sentiment. They were hungry for it. Not the fleeting temptation that surfaces in the presence of warm pancakes doused in pure maple syrup, but the deep ache for Vitamin D after a New Hampshire February.
In that instant of remorse, the men and women of his staff swiveled from resentful duty to resurging commitment. It was hard for Jed to say it. It felt good to them to hear it.
From the comfort of my rocking chair I can observe the seismic shift from that brief confession. It was the cleaver between pride and vulnerability. May I remember the impact of those two words when my own thick tongue renders me dumb.
