He felt literally sick.

He remembered the days when he was in college studying law and government. He remembered when his roommates and his friends used to all laugh at him. Trust in government? Oh, hell no, they told him. Government doesn't do stuff that helps.

Government doesn't care about the average, everyday crap that we go through.

Government only cares about the perpetuation of government.

Senators and Congressmen and Presidents want to keep their jobs.

Sam just told them no. All along, he told them no. Government cares. Elected officials care.

"Oh, wake up, Sam. They do that so we'll be stupid and believe them."

Princeton.

Duke.

The Hill.

Gage Whitney.

The 1998 Campaign.

Two weeks before Bartlet's fourth State of the Union.

And that's when it happened. When everything he believed in finally came crashing down around him.

All that matters is re-election. All that the staff can work on is getting Bartlet at his fighting weight.

And that's why he cleared his computer screen. Cancer? Curing cancer?

Who gives a damn?

He slammed his notebook computer closed and let his head fall down on top of it.

Pie sure as hell wasn't going to cure this.