Shibboleth (The West Wing)

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For other uses, see Shibboleth (disambiguation).

“Shibboleth”
The West Wing episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 30
Written by	Aaron Sorkin (teleplay) Patrick H. Caddell (story)
Directed by	Laura Innes
Guest stars	F. William Parker Annie Corley Deborah Hedwall Kathryn Joosten NiCole Robinson Sam Anderson Henry O
Production no.	226208
Original airdate	November 22, 2000
Season 2 episodes
In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part I In the Shadow of Two Gunmen, Part II The Midterms In this White House And It's Surely to Their Credit The Lame Duck Congress The Portland Trip Shibboleth Galileo Noël The Leadership Breakfast The Drop-In Bartlet's Third State of the Union The War at Home Ellie Somebody's Going to Emergency, Somebody's Going to Jail The Stackhouse Filibuster 17 People Bad Moon Rising The Fall's Gonna Kill You 18th and Potomac Two Cathedrals
List of The West Wing episodes

"Shibboleth" is the 30th episode of The West Wing.

[edit] Plot

The episode begins with a scene on the California coast, where a group of Chinese Christians have been apprehended by US agents. It turns out that they are seeking asylum in the United States because of what they call "religious persecution," a claim that causes a stir amongst the religious community. Josh and Sam are dispatched to appease the religious leaders, who come to meet with them at the White House.

Meanwhile, C.J. is given the responsibility of pardoning the national Thanksgiving day turkey, which she has considerable difficulty doing. Ultimately she chooses a turkey, but begs the President to pardon a second turkey when she discovers that the non-pardoned turkey will be slaughtered and eaten for dinner. This leads to a funny scene in the Oval Office where President Bartlet announces that he has pardoned the turkey, and then launches into a tirade about how he cannot actually pardon a turkey and how the young man who thinks that he can should ask his teachers for a better education.

Meanwhile, President Bartlet has sent Charlie on a never-ending hunt for a carving knife. Unbeknownst to Charlie, President Bartlet is replacing his own personal knife, which he gives to Charlie. A touching scene in the oval office occurs when Charlie receives the knife and asks the President about the markings from the manufacturer—a P.R.—and is told that the knife was made for the Bartlet family by a silversmith named Paul Revere.

The episode concludes with the President meeting with a dignitary of the Chinese refugees who convinces him of their need for asylum by answering considerable Bible trivia and then admonishing President Bartlet that "faith is the true Shibboleth." President Bartlet notifies the Red Cross and asks the Governor of California to have the National Guard stand down, and the Chinese government is told that the refugees "overpowered and escaped" from the United States military.

[edit] Title

The title, Shibboleth, is a word commonly used to mean any language usage indicative of one's social or regional origin. It originates from the Book of Judges in the Bible, where the pronunciation of the word was used to test those claiming to be from Gilead.