The West Wing Cipher
Revisiting the 'Life On Mars' Episode
By Goro Adachi
September 29, 2003
© 2003 Goro Adachi
On April 30, 2003, NBC
aired an episode of the popular show The West Wing titled 'Life On
Mars'. I just happened to catch it and was quite intrigued by the fact
that this very mainstream and political TV program had decided to deal with such an controversial
subject. Of course The West Wing, a creation of Aaron Sorkins,
didn't come right out and tell us that there is undeniable evidence of
life on Mars - it was only implied. Still, I found this significant and
also noted that various clues were inserted into the story that demonstrated
his great insights into not only the shady Mars/Cydonia situation but also
what's happening with regard to the Iraq war and such - including,
apparently, future events.
As expected, Richard
Hoagland, well known for his extensive investigation
into the 'Monuments of Mars' (Cydonia), was quick to offer his view on the
show. Just after a week so after its airing, Hoagland posted
on his Enterprise Mission website a lengthy article,
titled Life On Mars?:
The Search for Intelligence in
Washington,
in which was provided his detailed analysis of the 'coded' story. And he
sounded very confident about his observations. He wrote:
If the point of this whole “West Wing” episode --
remember, titled specifically “Life on Mars’ -- was NOT what we
have analyzed, then there must be some other equally complex, equally
plausible alternative… some other equally intricate interpretation,
some other encompassing significance to [the writer/producer] Sorkin’s choice of THAT
specific subject title...
No, this time it will NOT be enough for critics to
simply dismiss our interpretation of this truly bizarre April 30, 2003
episode of NBC’s flagship, award-winning political drama. They must now
put forth a convincing, viable alternative scenario -- not only for
the truly Byzantine, precisely timed Mars and Hyperdimensional
references made throughout this episode… but for what immediately
followed. Sorkin suddenly resigned.
First,
let me state that I'm not a 'critic' of Hoagland, and
I do think Hoagland did an admirable job interpreting the episode.
Having said that, I am writing this article because I have come up with
just such an 'alternative scenario/interpretation' that is indeed capable
of explaining the story with more depth, cohesiveness, and clarity. From my point of view, Hoagland missed
the 'hidden' context, or theme, of the story. And due to this his
interpretation became rather superficial and shaky.
They
key here is that the whole 'Life On Mars' theme was itself actually a simple metaphor.
This was hinted by the following: 1) the episode in question was
(presumably) written and aired during the Iraq war (3/20-5/1), and 2)
traditionally Mars is considered the planet/god of war. 'Life
On Mars' would therefore be a thinly veiled code for 'Life Of War' or
'Story of the Iraq War'. This is the context needed for proper decoding.
So
presented below is my own interpretation of the West Wing episode. I have
copied Hoagland's article (in gray) into which my comments are inserted
(in white). This format will allow the reader to easily compare the
different interpretations.
NOTE:
It is probably necessary for many readers to be first told about
the significance of the number '19.5' and '33'. These are
'hyperdimensional numbers' that have much to do with the 'Monument
of Mars' (Cydonia), as strongly suggested by the investigation led
by Hoagland. As he wrote in the article:
The connection between the two numbers is definitely “non-trivial.”
In fact, it’s fundamental. The actual contact point of a circumscribed
tetrahedron... is precisely 19.47°, rounded up to the canonical
"19.5°." The sine of 19.47° is .3333 (which, by the way, is
where we believe the significance of the mysterious Masonic “33rd
Degree” comes from). We have noted numerous instances of both
"19.5's" and "33's" in various NASA
missions, activities and symbols over the years, and the fact
is that "decimal harmonics," i.e. 3.33 or 33.3, also seem to
show up repeatedly in our analysis.
|
“Life on Mars”
An annotated Synopsis of the April 30th “West Wing” Episode
By Richard C. Hoagland
May, 2003


Dramatis Personae
Josiah "Jed" Bartlet - POTUS
John Hoynes - The Vice President
Leo McGarry - White House Chief of Staff
Josh Lyman - Deputy White House Chief of Staff
Donna Moss - Josh's Assistant
Toby Ziegler - White House Communications Director
CJ Cregg - White House Press Secretary
Charlie Young - The President's Personal Assistant
Will Bailey - Staff Speech Writer
Joseph Quincy - Associate White House Council

The
story opens in the rain outside the White House. It’s Tuesday
morning, 5:58 AM. A cab pulls up and a young woman gets
out. Charlie Young greets her and escorts her into the Oval
office. With Masonic First President, George Washington,
looking over Jed Bartlet’s shoulder, she hands an envelope to
the President of the United States. In a close-up on the letter
inside, WE SEE:

“Dear Mr. President:
“I hereby resign the Office of Vice President of
the United States effective 6:00AM today.
Sincerely,
John Hoynes

The next scene (after the traditional Show opening)
begins:
“24 Hours Earlier ….”
The Science Editor of the Washington Post [a highly
prestigious, high profile news organization that would not make such an
inquiry lightly] is being brought by another Post reporter into CJ's
office. He's asking about a "NASA Commission on Space, Science and
Research [SSR] Report," which states that the Agency found
"fossilized water molecules in a meteorite from Mars" a long
time ago ....
CJ cuts to the chase, calls the first Post reporter
into a back room and says indignantly "Your question is 'is there
Life on Mars?', and 'is the White House hiding that there's life on
Mars?!' -- and what the hell does this have to do with the Vice
President?!"
The reporter answers: "the Vice President is
head of the NASA Commission. He PERSONALLY told a source at the Post that
the White House is suppressing the Report. The source then told another
Post reporter, who told the Science Editor.
CJ then goes back to the Post Science Editor in her
office and says: "I can't imagine that it's true. But I'll
check." The Science Editor then asks the key question: "Will it
be made public? If not, why? And, if not, isn't that ILLEGAL?"

CJ (clearly NOT believing any of this) promises to
find some answers, but in terms of the legality she refers the Post Editor
to the "White House Counsel's Office." In fact, she says, she
knows "just the right guy ...."
She's referring, of course, to the new guy [played by
Matthew Perry, of Friends] they hired as Counsel in last week's
episode, Joseph Quincy, a young Republican lawyer. Throughout this
"Mars episode," White House staff are constantly playing
practical jokes on the "new guy," and CJ (obviously thinking
this is a nutcase story), decides to pawn off the "legalities"
of the "life on Mars" query on Quincy, as part of the Whiter
House hazing ritual for new hires.

Half joking, CJ asks Quincy to look into the matter
to see "if we broke the law, please." A VERY important,
redundant point in the entire episode... a White House which actually
takes the LAW seriously -- and on THIS subject!
Quincy, responding as Associate White House Counsel,
begins to ask questions and starts seeing a disturbing pattern. Following
the clues, he eventually comes to an astonishing conclusion -- which
ultimately results in the Vice President's forced resignation. But, that's
not until much later...
A sub-plot is introduced at this point: Toby Ziegler
[the Director of White House Communications] is being shown an attack ad
on fuel efficiency by his new speechwriter, Will Bailey. Will says they
have to "respond" with their own ad. This running sub-plot will
intersect with the main plot toward the end of the episode.
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
The next major data point on the Mars story line --
the bird tapping at the White House window -- begins at exactly
"19:05," from the start of the show (19.5 in the decimal
variances -- of course!). It peaks at "19:30" -- which is 19.5
again, in terms of actual clock time. So, there is more than adequate
redundancy here to make the key point ... which is that the bird is
tapping a "code" ... related directly to "19.5,"
"33," and ultimately Mars and Hyperdimensional physics. To whit:
The scene opens in black with a slow pan and tilt
from under Donna's desk, in Josh's office. We hear the first three sharp
taps at 19:05 ... followed by a space ... followed by three more ...
another space (as the camera focuses on Donna at her desk), and then three
more. Only after the last three, for a total of "three threes,"
does Donna say "Stop it."
The bird taps three again. Donna now immediately says
"Stop it." Three more taps. Donna again says "Stop
it." [Not "stop," or "cut it out" -- but
"stop it"... as if the phrase was also to refer to something
more]. After a couple more, she says (at precisely 19:30... 19.5)
"You HAVE to stop it."
The entire series of taps -- by both the bird, as
well as by the White House Counsel, Quincy, when he knocks on various
doors throughout the episode -- is ALWAYS in "threes." As we
stated above, the sine of 19.47, or the canonical 19.5, is 0.3333.
And... an equally obvious reference -- in terms of
secrets, implied by "codes" -- to the whole Masonic importance
of "the 33rd Degree."
|
Here I agree with Hoagland's interpretation. But I'll just add
that there also seems to be an deliberate pun involving 'sine' and
'sign'. (The sine of 19.5 is 0.333...) So one of the messages
conveyed here is that the whole thing with the bird is a
significant 'sign' in this story, inviting us to look
into its meaning. It may also be subtly suggesting that this
episode represents a 'sign' (or preview) of things to come in the
near future.
|
It is not until after 19:30 -- and Donna's emphatic
"You HAVE to stop it!" -- that we get a shot of the bird itself... which we now discover is (you guessed
it) --
--
a dove.

Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
All sorts of obvious associations here -- from
Noah, to messages (carrier pigeons), to imminent disasters.... But --
In an Aaron Sorkin episode of “The West
Wing?!”
|
Sure,
the dove, 'Columba', is relevant to Noah's flood. But does it
represent 'disasters' because of that? Doesn't the dove
normally symbolize peace instead? While Hoagland's
interpretation has some merit, it is kind of silly to overlook the
most obvious 'peace' connection.
Another obvious association
Hoagland misses here is that of space shuttle Columbia. The name
derives - via 'Columbus' - from 'Columba' (Noah's dove). The
Columbia disaster occurred in February '03 and this West Wing
episode came just three months after it. So chronologically this is very plausible.
And because of the Columbia
connection, we are now encouraged to associate the dove with
America as well - after all 'Columbia' is another name for the
United States. It is due to this that Hoagland's interpretation is
still applicable - because the shuttle Columbia, the embodiment of
the US, ended in a major disaster. So there is indeed
some ominous symbolism involved here. |
Josh now walks in (at precisely 19:47!) and asks:
"What the hell are you doing?" Donna answers in a way that is
clearly ALSO a code -- as are many, many lines throughout this episode:
"The bird has been sitting here, tapping on the
window for ... a long time. I don't know how long. I've lost track. I'm
moving into certain phases of dementia with this thing."

Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
My interpretation is that this, and other comments
Sorkin injects throughout the script, reflects not only the very long-term
nature of this "conspiracy," but Sorkin's recurring personal
astonishment and disbelief at the absurdity of all this ... that it's all
"nuts" ... but obviously has been going on IN THE WHITE HOUSE
" for a long time. |
Because
he didn't establish the proper context, Hoagland is beginning
to misinterpret the story.
Columbia is both the US and
the dove (Columba) - the latter symbolizing peace - so the bird in the
scene would easily signify 'American peace'. And this just happens
to directly relate to the imperial dream of the 'neo-conservatives'
in/around the Bush administration. (The neo-conservatives, closely
affiliated with the PNAC
think tank, include Vice Pres. Cheney, defense secretary Rumsfeld,
his deputy Wolfowitz, and others like Perle, Bolton, Libby, Feith
etc.) Calling it 'Pax Americana' (meaning American peace),
it had been the dream of the neo-conservative hawks to create a global
empire ruled by the US.
And they had been at it for a
long time. The Pax Americana vision was already in existence by the
time of the first Bush administration (41) in the early '90s. The
'neo-cons' tried to sell their radical idea to Bush Sr. but it was
quickly rejected. They even tried to get Clinton's attention,
unsuccessfully of course. It was not until George W. Bush's
administration and 9/11 that the neo-cons were finally able
to convince the White House and move ahead with the 'Pax Americana' plan.
So yes, those American-peace 'birds' - (false) doves - had
been tapping on the White House window for a long time indeed.
As for the craziness
('dementia') reference, it fits right into this interpretation in
that those neo-conservatives were indeed viewed as 'crazies'
and not taken seriously (until George W. Bush came along).
And it is not a secret today
that the neo-con Pax Americana agenda was actually the driving
force behind the Iraq war - which began in the month of Mars
(i.e. March) just several weeks after the disaster of Columbia (=
dove/'American peace').
Now, let me also point out that the grid pattern
in the scene made by the window/blind in front of
the dove reinforces the relevance of Noah's dove (Columba). In Greek mythology, its version of Noah's
ark, (the ark of Deukalion) comes to rest at Dodona or Delphi. We
can infer that this landing site corresponds to Ararat where Noah's ark descended.
And this is acknowledged geodetically - since both Dodona and Ararat sit on the
same latitude, 39.5°N. (It's interesting to note that Dodona is also evoked by
the name 'Donna', the
lady in the above picture standing in front of the window.)
At any rate, the notion of a
'grid' becomes significant
when we realize that Delphi (the other claimed landing site of Deukalion's
ark) was thought to be the 'navel of the world'
(geodetic center) marked by the 'navel stone', or omphalos.
Traditional depictions of the omphalos show two doves (or eagles)
perched upon the stone, and they are said to represent 'a net of
meridians and parallels', i.e. the grid of the earth.

Further, the omphalos stone
is often equated with the Egyptian 'Benben stone',
traditionally the capstone placed at the apex of the pyramid or
obelisk. Like the omphalos, the Benben stone is often thought to
have come from heaven - i.e. a meteorite. Also being a form of 'seed',
those 'foundation stones' may be easily related to Mars, since we
already have strong evidence of ancient Martian rocks coming here with
microbes, or 'seeds of life', carried inside... And this is of
course a major theme of the West Wing episode.
In terms of Masonic
symbology, the Benben stone (capstone) would definitely turn into the
embodiment of the 'All-Seeing Eye' (as seen on the back of the US
$1.00 bill).
 
In ancient Egyptian terminology this would be the
'Eye of Horus'. Since Mars was also viewed as a form of Horus
('Horus the Red'), we have here a confirmation of the foregoing
'rock from Mars' theory.
To get back to the political
context, these days the 'All-Seeing Eye' is often viewed as
a symbol of the 'New World Order' - a super-elite group allegedly
scheming to control the whole planet. Of course, the 'Eye' of the pyramid
isn't inherently an 'evil'
symbol. For instance, in the Bible it is Jesus to whom the cornerstone or capstone ('that the builders
rejected') is compared. So it is probably more accurate to say
that the 'capstone Eye' is symbolic of a cosmic opportunity
capable of producing either or both 'Christ' and 'Antichrist', so to speak.
The
neo-conservative 'Pax Americana' is clearly a form of the New World Order - especially since the Bush family
traditionally has a big role in NWO conspiracy theories.
So We've come full circle.
We've come back to neo-conservatives. It's now quite evident that, through
'contextual
transposition', Sorkin was primarily talking about the current US
administration and its war.
|
Josh then offers to "scare the bird away,"
and Donna objects, saying "he's a bird. He's not bothering anybody
...." This is one of SEVERAL references to "scaring people"
made throughout the episode [especially, in terms of the sub-plot --
above].
Donna tells Josh that the bird "will not
bother" him, because he's going to want to go see Leo (the White
House Chief of Staff) about another matter just phoned into CJ’s office
from the Washington Post: an accusation that the White House intervened
with the Justice Department to quash an anti-trust lawsuit, involving a
corporation called “Cassion.” This SECOND Post "leak" claims
that the White House was "bribed" to intervene in return for
"100,000 computers in classrooms."
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Again, the linked theme -- because ultimately BOTH
stories are traced to the SAME POST SOURCE -- of "illegality".... And, the second "real world" story puts the first
"Mars" story on an equal footing: an "illegal" White
House classification... and then leak. The law... is the law... is the
law. Sorkin is NOT pulling punches here. |
While
Hoagland's interpretation here probably has some merit, it doesn't
have enough depth and coherence.
In light of my foregoing
interpretation, this one is actually pretty straightforward. The 'leader' of the neo-con gang
in government is Dick Cheney, who personifies big business and
corporate America. And it is no
secret that Cheney had a big hand in making policies for the White
House, especially those related to energy/oil, under the influence of big
corporations (Enron, Halliburton, etc.). If Cheney is to fall, this
issue will surely be part of the cause.
So we see that the 'Cassion'
matter further corroborates the story being about
the neo-cons. |
At this point Joe Quincy taps on Josh's door three
times (again!), and asks Josh if he should go to the Chief of Staff
directly, or run by Josh what he wants to talk to Leo about (his own
investigation of the Mars legality). Josh says he wants to hear a few such
matters first, just so Quincy can learn "how to keep the crazy stuff
out of his [Leo’s] office."
At which point, our dove taps three more times on
Josh’s White House window -- and Josh AND Donna both turn simultaneously
and shout "STOP IT."
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Sorkin's really telling us a lot... between the
lines. This is an obvious statement: it's NOT "crazy stuff,"
it's Real. Take it seriously. Here, the Dove is functioning as a harbinger
of something crucial. |
The
fact that Quincy is subtly being equated with the dove (via
tapping) alludes again to neo-cons in that Quincy is the
only Republican in the show's Democratic White House. This is especially
so when we consider the fact that the group called neo-conservatives first
came into being when a group of democrats defected to the Republican
side decades ago before the Reagan administration. In a reversed fashion,
therefore, the defection is well reflected in Quincy.
As for the bit about keeping
out the 'crazy stuff', it conveys the idea that there is a
filtering system in place so that the 'crazy' neo-con/Pax
Americana agenda doesn't really get noticed by the President.
George W. Bush is kept in a
'bubble'. It is known that he doesn't even read the news himself
and relies on his advisers to tell him what's going on. So it is
quite plausible that Bush is not quite aware that he's being
manipulated by Cheney and his neo-con minions.
|
Immediately following this little by-play, per his
instructions, Quincy reveals to Josh WHY he needs to go see Leo:
"A reporter is looking at the White House
suppressing a NASA Commission."
This is the first that Josh has heard of Quincy’s
special “CJ Mars mission.” He says, surprised:
"This is TWO in one day. I just got 'did the
White House interfere with Cassion anti-trust?'"
After a bit more conversation, Josh, Quincy and Donna
ALL decide to “go see Leo.”
On the way to Leo’s office, Donna proudly traps
Quincy into calling himself a “shyster” lawyer (“I got him to say
it!”) -- more of the hazing mentioned before. Quincy says plaintively:
“But, Josh’s a lawyer.”
Donna disagrees:
“Yeah, I mean he went to law school …”
Josh gives her a look.
“You don’t practice law, is all I was
saying.”
Josh:
“I don’t practice law?” I help write the
laws.. I write the laws … I make the laws.”
Emphatically:
“I am the law!”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Law … again.
Ah, what is Sorkin telling us here, prey tell?
That a senior staff member of the White House actually believes that he -
and not the Constitutional Congress of the United States -
determines the "general laws of the land?" Of course not. He's
making the point that the White House - on this key issue - has
placed itself above the Law of the Land... The fact that this is
the scene just before they meet with Leo McGarry, White House Chief of
Staff, Josh's boss -- and learn a major Truth about the Universe -- is NOT
an accident.
|
Here
I can basically agree with Hoagland's interpretation.
The Bush administration has
certainly been acting as if it is above the law. The notorious 'PATRIOT
Act' is a good example of how this administration doesn't
hesitate to assault the US Constitution if deemed beneficial to
their agenda. |
In response to Quincy’s question, McGarry not only
acknowledges that a "NASA Commission Report" exists (!) – BUT… that it “was classified by the Department of Defense (DOD)”...
NOT the White House! When pressed as to what it said re Mars, he
balks: "I cannot tell you that. It was classified! All I can tell you
is that it exists, and it was classified."

Josh then brings up the Cassion anti-trust inquiry
from the Post, and McGarry confirms that "yes, 100,000 computers WERE
part of the settlement ….”
Josh reaches the obvious conclusion:
"There's a leak! This... the Mars people --
don't even get me started on that, 'cause there's stuff I think you
still won't tell me...."
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
This, coming from the Deputy White House Chief of
Staff, is the closest Sorkin comes to grappling with the magnitude of
Leo’s confirmation – that an official NASA document exists, revealing
“life on Mars.” That it was classified by the military. And
that McGarry is obviously NOT telling Josh the rest of what
NASA’s REALLY found…
In other words: our entire Enterprise Mission
scenario... in one line.
|
The
'NASA Commission Report' corresponds to something like the neo-con
PNAC paper,
'Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and
Resources For a New Century' (2000), that lays out the (questionable)
reasons why it's desirable to attack nations like Iraq in order to
create a Pax Americana empire. So this scene is basically saying
that there is evidence somewhere in the DOD (where many neo-cons
dwell) proving that there was a secret motive behind the Iraq war.
The scene may also be
telling us that: 1) Bush advisers like Rove and Rice (represented by
Leo) are very much aware of, and tolerating, the neo-con
'conspiracy', and 2) that some insiders are beginning to leak such
sensitive information (which is indeed taking place in the real
world, mostly from the
enraged intelligence community). |
Josh then gets Leo to run down a list of the White
House personnel who would know the details of BOTH stories... which Leo
ultimately admits, includes the Vice President.
Leo then says:
"Fix this, would you please! There's a story out
there we're obstructing justice, and another one where we're, like, in a
Ray Bradbury yarn. These things make me crazy...."
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Again, the "crazy" reference.
The choice of Ray Bradbury is also telling, as ONLY
his Mars stories featured "men from Earth" going to Mars for the
first time... and discovering "themselves!" I used him in
"Monuments" for precisely this reason. Interesting that Sorkin
would follow suit here... when ostensibly, the "classified
report" is about "microbes" -- and NOT "mile-long
faces... looking like ourselves."
|
This is
an important
development as it confirms my foregoing
interpretations. It is indeed the real-life Vice President, Dick Cheney,
who represents the major confluence between the 'neo-con conspiracy'
and corporate corruption. Both can be traced back to
Cheney, thus paralleling the two leaks being traced back to the Vice
President in the story. |
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Next, the scene shifts to the sub-plot again: Toby's
new speech writer, Will Bailey -- with his all-girl staff -- is trying to
come up with an answering ad to the fuel efficiency attack ad. Several
times the phrase "scare the soccer moms to death in 15 seconds"
is used... another Sorkin play on the REAL problem. |
The
fuel efficiency is an issue intimately linked to, again, Cheney, the
ex-oil man (Halliburton). And it was none other than oil
that was largely behind the administration's inexplicable move to invade Iraq. |
Another scene shift: Toby is having lunch with
Charlie Young, the President's chief personal aid, in his office --
watching a tennis match. Charlie is reading the Washington Post and
discovers that a certain socialite around Washington -- "Helen
Baldwin" -- has landed herself a seven-figure [more tetrahedral
numbers] book deal with Random House. The Post columnist breaking the
story is "Stu Winkle."

Quincy now suddenly appears at Toby's door during his
and Charlie's lunch. Joe initially raises some objections to Toby's
language for an official White House response to an Appeals Court ruling
[more legalities....]. At precisely 33:00 from the top of the show, Toby
responds to Quincy's assertion that “you can't use certain words in such
a press release” by saying:

"Did you think I was going to have the Press
Secretary, on behalf of the President, compare a Federal judge... to a pistachio
nut?!"
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
"Nutty"... at precisely 33:00. Another
Sorkin comment on 33rd Degree Masonic beliefs -- referenced again by the
previous dove "code" scenes at 19.5 – all being
"nutty?".... |
'33rd
Degree' is the highest degree (apex) in Scottish Freemasonry for
which the pyramid is an important symbol. The apex of the pyramid,
analogous to the capstone/Benben stone, is thus seemingly
representative of '33rd
Degree'. (There are many other reasons to make this association). And as
already mentioned, the All-Seeing Eye of the Masonic capstone in
turn relates to the 'nutty' NWO/Pax Americana crowd. |
Quincy now hears from Charlie about “the Helen
Baldwin book deal” in the Post gossip column by "Stu Winkle"
-- and the final pieces neatly fall in place.


The next scene is set at 5:00 PM script time (well
after the preceding lunch scene).
We open on CJ and Donna walking into CJ's office.
CJ's discussing "negotiated press leaks." Suddenly -- the bird
is back!
The dove is now pecking -- still in the "three
code" -- at CJ's White House window. CJ thinks it's just
pecking at its reflection.

Donna now asks pointedly:
"What's the learning curve on a bird?"

Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
An obvious rhetorical question Sorkin’s asking ALL
of us, comparing his audience to birds (“birdbrains?”) --
wondering just how long the American people can ignore this entire bizarre
pattern in the heart of their own political system… |
Because
the dove is Columba and Columbia is America, I can agree with
Hoagland's view here. (Of course, the context is somewhat different.) But I will add that the
'learning curve' remark is also very much applicable to neo-conservatives
as they are determined but not very
bright people. |
Quincy chooses that precise moment to stop by CJ's
office, knocking three times (of course!). CJ and Donna jump, CJ saying:

"Sorry, we thought for a second you were a huge
bird, knocking on the door."
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
This nails down the connection between
Quincy, his “Mars pursuit,” and the dove/code symbolism. |
I
concur.
|
Quincy then asks: "Is something going on with
birds?"
[More pointed underscoring.]
CJ: "Well, one of them's obsessed with
Donna."
Donna: "It's true. I'm like Tippi Hedren around
here."
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Tippi
Hedren, in case you don't remember, starred in
Hitchcock's classic film "The Birds," in 1963 -- an obvious additional
popular reference Sorkin is making here to “signs of incomprehensible
disaster.” |
Here,
Hoagland's interpretation is off the mark. The Hitchcock-movie reference is
much more likely a clever way of telling us - confirming
my interpretation so far - that the dove/Quincy represents
neo-conservatives, since they are the chief pro-war people, often
called 'hawks', in the administration.
Note that the paradoxical
fusion of the
peaceful dove and predatory birds (hawks) in the scene very nicely
reflects the fact that the neo-con dream of establishing a
'American peace' (Pax Americana) requires perpetual war. |
Here's a sample review from 1996, by film critic Tim Dirks (http://www.filmsite.org/bird.html),
which neatly ties up the reference:

"On an allegorical level, the birds in the
film are the physical embodiment and exteriorization of unleashed,
disturbing, shattering forces that threaten all of humanity (those
threatened in the film include schoolchildren, a defenseless farmer,
bystanders, a schoolteacher, etc.)... In a broader, more universal sense,
the stability of the home and natural world environment, symbolized by
broken teacups at the domestic level, is in jeopardy and becoming
disordered when people cannot 'see' the dangers gathering nearby, and
cannot adequately protect themselves from violence behind transparent
windows, telephone booths, eyeglasses, or facades...."
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Is Sorkin warning us of “some massive impending
disaster, connected to Nature” (as in “The Birds”), and also
connected to “Mars” -- or what...? And using a dove -- symbol of a
well-known Biblical disaster -- to round out the picture he’s carefully
constructed, by endlessly tapping out a specific Hyperdimensional [the
root physics cause of such a pole flip] code…? |
To
say the the dove is a symbol of the Great Flood ('disaster') is
quite misleading. It's just unnatural to entirely overlook the dove's
popular significance as a symbol of peace. |
Quincy then asks Donna to leave CJ’s office,
because he wants to discuss the results so far of his legal
“NASA/Mars” investigation. As Donna leaves, Quincy asks if he can
“close the door.” CJ responds:
“Donna already did.”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
This is obviously NOT a reference to her just
leaving CJ’s office to give them privacy, but to the far larger issues
raised by directly comparing her to “Tippi Hedren” in Hitchcock’s
infamous film. Sorkin seems to be saying “This closes the case: now you
have ALL the clues that I have… that ‘something’ big AND bad
is going to happen to all of us… something ‘connected’ to the
planet Mars.” |
My
interpretation is naturally very different, but I agree that the
key here is the Donna-Tippi identification.
To reflect Tippi Hedren being the
victim of 'birds', Donna would most naturally stand for the victim of
the neo-con Pax Americana. And this victim would be Iraq - the victim of the
illegal war manufactured by neo-cons. (Recall that the war was still on
when this episode first aired). So in this context, Donna
'closing the door' would imply the ending of Iraq (war). Amazingly
enough, this West Wing episode aired on the night of April 30 ('03) - just hours
before Bush (more or less) declared the war over on the Lincoln
aircraft carrier (May 1). |
CJ then immediately says: “I wouldn’t worry too
much about Mars. I gave it to you to give you a hard time.”
[Again … “hard time” … and “Mars.”]
Joe answers:
“No kidding.”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Affirming that Mars indeed implies “a hard time”
…. I wish I could write like this. |
Actually
'hard time' is more likely intended to convey the notion of 'precise
time'. Or in other words, we are being instructed to use Mars to pinpoint
a certain point in time. And
since
war (= Mars) was already
taking place (thus no need for a time reference), it is probably
meant to pinpoint a future event.
As it happens, this year Mars
indeed is a prominent time-marker: the
Red Planet was to have a historic close encounter with the Earth
(closest in recorded history) around the end of August. So
Sorkin's message here seems to say that this 'Life On Mars'
episode is relevant to what's coming in the
summer/fall of 2003. ('Life on Mars' = 'Situation at the time of Mars'
close approach'.) |
He goes on:
“By the way, there was a Report, but it was classified
by the Defense Department -- and we’ll leave how much I didn’t
want to know about THAT for another time…”
[More NOT WANTING TO KNOW ABOUT MARS… about “a
bunch of microbes?” I think not.]
He then proposes that he’s finally discovered the source
of the leak -- the Post gossip columnist, Stu Winkle. He further proposes
that CJ call him directly to confirm! Initially balking, she eventually
does. And, it IS Winkle who was the Science Editor’s “inside source at
the Post.” But… who was Winkle’s source? Where did a
“gossip columnist” get a “hot tip” on a Pentagon/White House
cover-up re Mars!?
As CJ and Quincy (on speaker phone) listen to Winkle
gush on and on, after having received a call DIRECT from the White House
Press Secretary, Quincy proceeds to silently show her on her desk the Post
gossip column, featuring the Baldwin story; a yellow legal pad with the
two Post inquiries re the NASA Mars story, and the Cassion anti-trust
settlement; and a White House log of incoming and outgoing phone calls…
with dozens made by “John Hoynes” -- the Vice President of the United
States -- to one “Helen Baldwin.”

With Winkle still pattering on in the background,
Quincy’s expression is increasingly grave as he lays the evidence, one
piece at a time, on her desk. CJ suddenly sees the whole picture… at
precisely 39:00 minutes into the episode (19.5 X 2!): the Vice
President is the leak… on BOTH stories -- through Baldwin, to the
Post!


The scene ends with a very serious CJ asking her
secretary to arrange a personal meeting between Quincy and the Vice
President -- while she goes to see Josh and Toby.
The next scene is an aerial shot of Washington DC.
Over a moving panorama of the Capitol and the strikingly Egyptian
obelisk-like Washington Monument lit up at night, we hear a voice-over
from the Vice President. The time is 7:45 PM [which is 19:45 on the
24-hour clock]. The Vice President, John Hoynes, is saying:

“I want Cairo to focus on legal [that word
again!] and regulatory reforms. We’ve got the whole regulatory agenda
left over from last time… Seriously, the whole agenda is left over
….”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
The visual underscoring of his voice-over reference
to “Cairo,” with the striking shot of the oblisk known as the
“Washington Monument “ center screen, is unmistakable.
Sorkin’s not missing a beat here. One gets, in the context of the entire
episode and what we know is about to happen, that this last comment is
certainly NOT about “Egyptian regulatory reform” -- but is referring
to the events that stretch back to 1976 and Viking… if not long, long
before… Events somehow connected to “Egypt”… and the planet
Mars.
It’s as if he’s saying, visually: “OK, I’ve
laid out the problem... Mars… and some kind of ‘coming Cataclysm.’
Now, here’s where the political problems in Washington on all
this began… in the Masonic/Egyptian ‘belief system’ and
long, historical Connection.”
|
The
appearance of the Washington obelisk here resoundingly confirms our
earlier interpretation of the dove being the dove(s) traditionally
attached to the
omphalos/Benben stone, i.e. the capstone of the pyramid/obelisk.
Even the related Benben-Mars connection made earlier is
acknowledged here by the mention of 'Cairo', a name meaning
'Mars'. (The reddish light seen at the apex of the
obelisk - Washington Monument - reinforces this point.)
The sudden shift to darkness
(nighttime) in this scene is also a key clue. Together with the allusion to
Mars (Cairo), Sorkin is hinting that there was a jump in time
here. And in light of the foregoing 'Mars timing' interpretation,
it can be inferred that we have now been
catapulted to the time of the Red Planet's close approach, i.e. summer/fall of 2003.
The indicated time - '7:45'
- is suggestive as well. There is no 'July 45', of course; so we
calculate forward into August. Because July 31 is the last day of
July, we would have 14 extra days (i.e. 45 - 31 = 14), giving us
the date August 14. Could it be just a coincidence that the US had
the massive northeast blackout ('darkness') on August
14?
The story is becoming
'prophetic'. |
The scene now shifts to the interior of the Vice
President’s office itself – obviously, an after-hours staff meeting.

One of his aids brings up the Egyptian vice
president
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
obviously, underscoring the role of “vice presidents” in
all this… |
Well,
now it's all about the Vice President. Together with the
earlier reference to 'regulatory agenda' and the subplots
involving fuel/energy and corporate corruption, this is clearly
about Cheney (and perhaps the rest of the neo-con gang,
represented in the scene by those in the room).
Let me point out that the recall
election currently underway in California (Aug-.Oct.) resulted
from a crisis produced by energy emergency, deregulation, and
corporate manipulation. The timing is right on, and Cheney is
indeed deeply involved in all this ugly corporate/energy stuff. |
and “his wish for discussions also on a framework on
trade.” To which the U.S. Vice President, responds:
“Now you understand, it can’t appear as if I’m
saying that the Syrian question is less urgent…”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Is this just another “coincidence?” Or, does
Sorkin also know that Syria’s name is taken directly from
“Sirius/Isis”… and about all THOSE deeply embedded connections to
“Mars,” “19.5,” and “33” as well? Is it the "Syrian
question," or the "Sirian question?" We'd love to get our
hands on the actual shooting script!. |
I'd say no coincidence...
|
Hoynes’ secretary suddenly comes to the door and
gives the Vice President a signal. He calls the meeting to a close, asking
his staff to stay around a few minutes “outside.” Obviously, he knows
what’s coming.
Then, in walk Josh, Toby, CJ and Quincy. The mood is
very somber.

The Vice President begins by remarking to Josh:
“You brought friendly faces. That was
considerate.”
He then turns to Quincy:

“You’re Joe Quincy? This is your first day?
They’re going to put your picture up someplace. You’re going to get
honored at a luncheon ….”

Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
This is VERY curious, very out of place, for him to
be complimenting the man who brought him down… and a Republican at
that! Almost as if Sorkin is REALLY talking about our own Investigation… as the line is almost word for word what I reported in “Monuments”
was said by one physicist about me at one time, while walking through the
SF International Airport… a long time ago. But then, I could be
reaching. |
Okay,
I'm not really serious about this but given Hoagland's comment
here, I think I'm allowed to mention that the name 'Quincy',
deriving from Quentin, means 'The Fifth' - which is exactly what
the name 'Goro' means. :) |
Hoynes then underscores the Egyptian subject of his
just ended staff meeting -- going through the whole Egyptian/Egyptian vice
presidential/Cairo regulatory and trade discussion once again, as the
four senior White House staff stand there, obviously uncomfortable. He
ends with:
“So, look out for shop ‘Egypt.org,’ I
suppose.”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Is Sorkin making another editorial comment here,
having obviously reached the conclusion that deep Egyptian
mythology is also heavily involved with Mars (“Cairo” -- in Arabic,
El-Kahir -- translates as “Mars!” See “Monuments”). Is he saying
that, for most people, Egypt has been reduced to merely “a tourist
attraction and another slot on E-Bay?” When, in fact, it is the ritual
Masonic source of all that has been presented in this bizarre
“Mars” episode…? |
[no comment]
|
Hoynes, apparently for the first time, now notices
his visitors’ grave expressions -- as if he didn’t know what they were
there for. And he says:
“You’re going to tell me I’m not going to Cairo…”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Underscoring -- once again -- the Mars/Cairo
Connection!! |
Yes,
the emphasis is clearly on Mars. And the coded message here seems to be
that the Vice President, i.e. Cheney, will be brought down during or in connection
with the Mars-marked period of summer/fall 2003. |
At exactly 7:47 Washington time in the story [19:47
on the 24-hour clock, 19.5 again!] Josh asks point blank:

“Mr. Vice President, have you been having an affair
with Helen Baldwin, while here at the White House?”
Confronted, Hoynes admits the affair AND the fact
that he “likes to show off.” That he once told her that he’d “seen
proof of Life on Mars.” That, yes, he’d bragged that he’d intervened
with Justice and put “100,000 computers in the classrooms.”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
something
about this number, repeated over and over and over, must be significant.
Maybe it’s the “inside” estimate as to when the last refugees left
Mars… If so, they’re wrong. |
It
is interesting to note that the massive blackout in the US in
August closely coincided with the record-breaking outbreak of
several computer worms (such as 'Sobig.f', 'Blaster', and 'Nachi')
infecting computers world-wide. |
Again, the Vice President goes out of his way to
compliment Quincy on putting the pieces together from so few clues,
saying:
“Boy, you earned your money today!”
He then asks Quincy what’s next, and Quincy tells
him “I think you’ve got to talk to your family now, sir.”
The next scene is the sub-plot, with Toby’s speech
writer, Will, still trying to get his folks to come up with a decent
response to the Republican fuel efficiency attack ad. They’re about to
try one more, when Toby suddenly comes in. Will, in a rush, recites all
their feeble ideas. After hearing them, Toby says quietly:
“Doesn’t really have the feel of high-minded
debate, does it?”
Will responds: “No, but actually you don’t want
it to.
Toby asks: “Why not?
Will: “Cause we’re countering an attack ad. And
when you’re in the trenches on these kinds of thing --
Toby counters: “But, we’re not in the
trenches. Two bodies of government are debating fuel efficiency at the
highest level. We’re not in the trenches.”

He then says, in a defeated tone: “I don’t know.
I know it’s a fifteen second spot. You gotta scare ‘em, I just
don’t feel like doing that tonight.”
Then: “Will, you need to come with me. I need to
tell you what’s about to happen…”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
The point of this sub-plot, in Sorkin’s mind,
seems to be that, while the White House and the media are debating and
scaring the bejeesus out of “soccer moms” over endless trivial issues,
the REAL, awesomely frightening subjects which will determine all our
lives are NOT being openly debated or discussed at all. But are, instead
-- like “life on Mars” -- quietly “classified” under the rubric of
“national security.”
Until, like “The Birds,” their awful truth will
suddenly dawn upon a totally unprepared, totally unsuspecting world…
|
The fuel
efficiency matter - i.e. the issue of energy/oil - is very fitting
here as Cheney, Iraq, the California recall
election, and even the US blackout are all related to energy.
The part about scaring people
may be telling us that the only way to keep Cheney and Co. in power is
to have another major terror event, but Toby's comment suggests
that this scenario is not very likely, at least for 'tonight', i.e.
for the
'Mars window'.
|
The next scene is the Vice President, the President,
and Leo McGarry meeting in the Rose Garden to discuss options to the
scandal. They’re NOT discussing the content of the NASA Mars report the
DOD classified, or the implications of the dove’s repeated tapping
…but the appropriate public POLITICAL response to Hoynes’ foolish
sexual indiscretions.

[Sorkin’s point: if it hadn’t been for the leak
to the Post – NONE of this would be happening … the “law” be
damned!]
McGarry wants him to tough it out, as does the
President. Hoynes reminds them that he leaked CLASSIFIED information, “a
felony” [making Mars, and the DOD, the PRIME legal reason to resign --
not the anti-trust settlement “bragging”]. He also reminds them that
he “took an Oath,” the same as the President, to uphold the
Constitution.” He MUST resign.

Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
This astonishing moment, missed most probably by the
majority of the millions of Americans watching, is a confirmation within
Sorkin’s story-line that the "Mars leak," and subsequent
cover-up, is real. After all, the Vice President can't have
committed “ a felony leak” of a story about "life on Mars"… if the Report wasn't real, could
he? |
The
'Mars leak' is a 'war leak' as per the traditional 'Mars = war'
equation. Hence we get the idea of the
neo-conservative manipulation of the war getting leaked and
forcing the VP to step down.
Hoynes (VP) being the source
of the leaks in the episode, however, brings to mind the illegal
White House leak that took place in July - a move designed to
discredit and intimidate former ambassador Joseph Wilson who
was largely responsible for creating the scandal of the 'sixteen
words' uttered by Bush in the State of Union speech regarding Iraq
obtaining nuclear material from Africa. The leak from inside the
White House (published via journalist Robert Novak)
revealed that Wilson' s wife, Valerie Plame, was a CIA agent
working on WMD matters
(implying that this was somehow what motivated Wilson to go after
the White House).
Mrs. Wilson was working
undercover - a dangerous work for sure. And the White House's leak
blew her cover, and consequently her associates' cover, just to
get back at Wilson who himself had done nothing wrong. So
basically what happened is: Wilson exposes the lies of the Bush administration, the White House gets pissed and goes after
Wilson's wife, resulting in blowing her cover and putting her and
her associates' lives in danger. Yes, this is an appalling story.
And yes, what the White House leakers did was definitely illegal
and treason.
Novak stated in his column
that the leak came from 'two senior Administration officials', and
one of them has been identified by Wilson already - Karl Rove, Bush's top
political adviser. We can't help but wonder if the other official
was Dick Cheney. Or perhaps Cheney just orchestrated the leak... Either
way, what they did is serious enough to get them some jail time.
The story has legs. Just
days ago on Sept. 26, the news
broke on MSNBC that
CIA Director Tenet has directly asked the Justice Department to investigate the
matter. It has become a major news story.
|
At one point the President plaintively asks:
“Didn’t you have any sense that this was the kind of person [Baldwin]
who would do this [kiss and tell]?”
The Vice President replies:
“Hasn’t it been your experience that they look
pretty much like the people who wouldn’t?”
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
Again, the language is pregnant with multiple
meanings. This seems an obvious Sorkin reaction to discovering there are
actual “Egyptian-worshiping, Osiris/Isis ritual conducting” MASONS in
Washington -- who believe “in the power of 19.5 and 33” – AND
THEY’RE IN THE WHITE HOUSE! |
Here
I'd just like to point out that the Benben stone (=
omphalos/capstone/dove/Pax Americana) derives its name from a root
word meaning 'to
copulate, to
beget, to be begotten, virile, phallus'
- i.e. sex. So the sexual misconduct of the show's VP could
easily translate to the real VP's Pax Americana/NWO
manipulation scheme. |
The President wants them to all sleep on it, before
any final decision is made.

In an almost repeat of the opening scene, at 6:00 AM
Tuesday morning (dawn… Horus time), the President opens the letter of
resignation from the Vice President. The last scene WE SEE is the
President handing Hoynes’ letter to Leo, as he closes a White House
study door:
Hoagland's
Interpretation |
Goro's Interpretation |
The symbolic intent of Sorkin here is clear: “This
case is closed. NO action on the really important issue – Mars – will ever
be taken (remember Josh’s flip comment: I AM the law!”?). It’s ALL
about, ONLY about -- Sorkin’s saying -- the need for public political
damage control… summed up in the President’s last words as he closes
the symbolic door.” |
'Tuesday
6 A.M.' - the time of the Vice President's resignation. I
can't help but sense a coded time reference here. While not so
simple, I found a fairly coherent way of decoding this.
Using the earlier decoding
method that turned '7:45' into July + 45 days (= Aug.
14), we would get 'June 1' ('6:00') here, which is not very
meaningful. But this time we were given two additional clues in
the scene - 'Tuesday' and 'A.M.' (previously it was
'P.M.').

First, 'Tuesday' is
traditionally 'Mars Day', which gives us a number possible dates.
One is Aug. 27, the climax of the historic Earth-Mars close
encounter. And adding '6' (i.e. '6:00') months to that yields Feb. 27 or so.
(Not very meaningful.)
Another 'Mars Day' is the
equinox. This is so because, for instance, the Great
Sphinx at Giza, considered a form of Horus by the ancient
Egyptians thus also a form of Mars ('Horus the Red'), faces
due east so that it aligns with the sunrise (another manifestation of
Horus) of the equinox when the sun rises due east. The spring
equinox of 2003 was on March 20 which precisely coincided with
the start of the Iraq war (Iraqi time).
That the equinox would make a
better 'Mars Day' here is revealed when we add '6'
months (i.e. '6:00') to the spring equinox because this takes us
forward to the very
next equinox, the autumn equinox on Sept. 23! And this is
right in the 'Mars window' (around September when Mars is
brilliant in the night sky).
This interpretation is
further corroborated by the episode's opening scene ('preview' of
the final scene) indicating the time as 'Tuesday 5:58 A.M.' (instead of '6:00 A.M.').

Taking the change
from 'P.M' (as was the case with '7:45') to 'A.M.' as signifying the
notion of 'inversion', we are encouraged to read the time code in reverse,
i.e. 85:5 instead of 5:58. Following the method used for 7:45, we
would have 8 and 55, or August and 55 days. Because August has 31
days, the pinpointed date would be September 24. This is only a day away
from the autumn equinox (Sept. 23)! And of course, Sept. 24 in US
time is Sept. 23 in many other parts of the world.
Now, did anything
significant happen on September 23, '03? Yes - on this
very day George W. Bush went to the UN's annual General Assembly,
which happened to be the '58th
Session' - '58' as in '5:58'.
At the UN, Bush asked for
international help on Iraq, and so doing he made official the
administration's decision to move away from the neo-con/Pax
Americana war strategy. (The neo-cons hate the UN.) This was an
important event because it signaled the beginning of the end for the
neo-conservatives and their Pax Americana dream. Just as
foreshadowed by the disaster of the space shuttle Columbia (=
'American peace') earlier in the year, the Pax Americana plan is
falling apart. And certainly this can easily lead to some head
rolling - especially the chief architects of the war, like Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Wolfowitz.
Are Cheney and
Co. about to get 'fired'? Within a month, or perhaps around the time
of the next 'Mars Day', the spring equinox of 2004? It will be
interesting to watch...
|

“Yeah, we’re going to need a new vice
president."
[End of The West Wing: 'Life On Mars']
Further Comments:
As
Hoagland points out, Sorkin stepped down as Executive Producer (and writer) of
The West Wing show right after the airing of the episode discussed
above:
...on Thursday morning, May 1, following the
Wednesday night airing of this specific “Life on Mars” episode, April
30, 2003 -- Aaron Sorkin quit as Executive Producer of “West
Wing.” As did his long-time friend and Co-Executive Producer, Thomas
Schlamme.
And no one, either at NBC, at Warner Brothers
Television, or in Sorkin’s office, is willing to say anything
about the real reasons -- beyond the usual “ratings speculations.”
Hoagland goes on to say that the resignation was another sign of Sorkin
treating the Mars/Cydonia issue as an important subject. While I
happen to have a different take on this, Hoagland was at least insightful
enough to associate Sorkin's departure with Vice President Hoynes'
resignation in the episode:
His sudden resignation from the helm of the
pioneering political drama he created and fought so hard to bring to
network television just four years ago -- coming just one day after
this particular episode aired, and quite obviously foretold in the
resignation of the Hoynes character himself in that same episode -- is
clearly Sorkin’s attempt “to do the honorable thing,” as Hoynes did.
By suddenly resigning, Sorkin’s clearly refusing to participate in the
Washington ruse any further, making as clear a statement as he can make
(under the circumstances): that, “things are NOT as they appear.”
Actually,
the key here is the cause of Hoynes' resignation, i.e. the leaking of classified
information. This was made clear in the 'Life On Mars' episode. By
stepping down immediately after the airing, Sorkin was likely making a subtle
statement that he himself leaked some secret information through the episode.
And this 'secret', or inside information, likely pertains to the future
political events found encoded in the story. If true, this would
certainly give more credence to the political 'prophecy'.
Now,
I need to add here that while the above interpretations mainly concerned
the Vice President, I've also detected clues hinting at the President
getting into similar or worse trouble. Let's begin with the two West
Wing episodes that immediately followed the 'Life On Mars' episode,
i.e. the final episodes of the season.
First,
the President's daughter gets abducted. Then the President, understandably
distraught, decides to step down as President by asserting the 25th
Amendment which allows the removal of the President given the cabinet members
agree that he is not fit to perform his duties. This takes place in the
season finale episode titled 'Twenty-Five'.
I
found it curious that Sorkin would call it 'Twenty-Five' rather than
'Twenty-Fifth', as in 25th Amendment. It's kind of strange - but not so if seen as a subtle reference to another
popular TV show, '24' on Fox. As it happens, '24' is the only other major show
on TV at this time that prominently features the US President in its
storylines


What's
more intriguing, 24's final episodes of the season very closely
resembled those of The West Wing! Here are some excerpts from the 24
website's episode guide
(emphasis added]:
4
AM-5 AM
[US
President] Palmer tells [chief of staff] Novick [a Cheney
look-alike] that he just learned that the bombers did not return to their bases as he
ordered. Novick sullenly invites the President to join him in the conference room. Palmer senses
his aide's unease, and asks Novick what is going on. Novick finally admits that the cabinet
members are questioning whether Palmer is fit to continue as Chief Executive of the country.
Palmer enters the
conference room to find a video screen with panels of feeds. A group of cabinet members, lead by
Vice President Prescott, is assembled in the White House bunker, with the Secretary of State filmed on a
plane and the Secretary of Agriculture in a limo. Prescott tells Palmer that they are invoking the
25th Amendment, which states that the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet can
determine whether that the President can be discharged of powers if he is not capable of
performing the duties of his office. He says that they have decided Palmer's actions over the day
warrant such a query. [...] Palmer consents to this, on the condition that, if
he is exonerated, then Prescott should resign as Vice President. Prescott agrees.
[...]
...Prescott calls for a vote. Novick pulls Palmer
aside to beg him to change his mind and authorize an attack. Palmer
refuses once again. The cabinet begins their voice poll, deciding for
or against Palmer being allowed to remain in office.
With a split in cabinet members, the deciding
vote falls upon the Secretary of State. He goes against Palmer. Prescott tells Palmer that he can
appeal this decision before Congress in four days. Until then, Palmer [President]
must remove himself from the decision making process. Secret Service Agent Pierce arrives with two Marines.
They escort Palmer to a holding room -- not as bodyguards but as wardens.
As the bombers make their way toward the
Middle East, Prescott [Vice President] is sworn in as President of
the United States.
7
AM-8 AM [Season Finale]
Novick alerts Prescott that there is a strong
chance they will have evidence forcing a delay in military actions. Although the
Second Wave terrorist group brought the nuclear weapon into
the United States, a link has come up between the group and Peter Kingsley. This may
exonerate the Middle Eastern countries that have traditionally backed Second Wave and are facing
attack. This also points the finger at an oil consortium who is behind the
bomb. Novick says that Jack Bauer will get a live audio confession from Kingsley.[...]
Palmer listens in as Prescott orders the attack to
be aborted.
A man named Trepkos phones Max with news
that Kingsley has been killed and that the President called off the
war. Max says that they will have to go another way. Trepkos is unsure
about what he means. Max tells him that he will soon find out because it will start today. Max
hangs up and calls someone else. He gives the unknown person the go-ahead.
Before a video screen of the assembled Cabinet,
Prescott informs Palmer that they have decided to annul the earlier action. Palmer is reinstated
as President. Prescott also tenders his resignation along with the other Cabinet
members who voted against Palmer. Palmer tells them that he is not accepting their resignations.
[...] However, Palmer is disappointed that Novick did not stand by him. He
relieves Novick [Cheney look-alike] from his post. [...]
At a press conference outside the federal
building, Palmer pronounces to the public that the nation is safe. As he makes his way through
the cheering crowd and accepts handshakes, a woman calls for the President. She reaches her
hand out to him. The woman is Mandy, who was hired by Ira Gaines the previous year in the
plot to assa**inate Palmer. Palmer clasps Mandy's hand in a kind shake. She leaves the crowd and
walks alone into a stairwell. Using tongs, Mandy peels off a sheer layer of some substance from
the palm of her right hand. She places the filmy peel into a metal container. Mandy phones Max
and says, "It's done."
After reaching his limo, Palmer looks down at his
right hand. The flesh on it has been eaten away. His breath is shortened and he
[President] falls to the ground. The crowd panics as the Secret Service
agents scan the scene with their guns. Palmer gasps for air helplessly.
So there you go. Not
much clarification required.
Putting The West Wing and 24
together, we can infer conservatively that the real White House is in for a
big 'earthquake'. And the central figures involved will be the President and the
Vice President. It will be interesting to see their interaction,
especially now that George W. Bush is beginning to move away from the
neo-con/Pax Americana war strategy championed by Cheney. It's almost as if
the existing situation is that either Bush or Cheney will have to go, i.e. President
vs. Vice President/neo-cons...
I'm not sure how the
'prophetic' scenario will play out in reality, but things so far seem to
be developing more or less according to the 'plan'.
I will certainly be monitoring
the situation closely...
.