The Indians in the Lobby

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“The Indians in the Lobby”
The West Wing episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 51
Written by	Allison Abner & Kevin Falls and Aaron Sorkin (teleplay) Allison Abner (story)
Directed by	Paris Barclay
Guest stars	Ron Silver Gary Farmer Renee Estevez NiCole Robinson Georgina Lightning Armando Pucci Jenny Gago Shashawnee Hall Dave Hager
Production no.	227208
Original airdate	November 21, 2001
Season 3 episodes
Isaac and Ishmael Documentary Special Manchester Part I Manchester Part II Ways and Means On the Day Before War Crimes Gone Quiet The Indians in the Lobby The Women of Qumar Bartlet for America H. Con-172 100,000 Airplanes The Two Bartlets Night Five Hartsfield's Landing Dead Irish Writers The U.S. Poet Laureate Stirred Enemies Foreign and Domestic The Black Vera Wang We Killed Yamamoto Posse Comitatus
List of The West Wing episodes

"The Indians in the Lobby" is the 51st episode of The West Wing.

[edit] Plot

It is the day before Thanksgiving and the President is talking turkey to whoever will listen (and everyone must). He is being very boring in his endless descriptions of how to cook and stuff a turkey. He is also rather disgruntled that the family must spend Thanksgiving at Camp David, rather than his New Hampshire farm. Although he has told Bruno that he and the family are "off limits," Bruno lays it on the line for him that they have to be accessible to the voters. Meanwhile, two Native Americans are encamped in the lobby. They've been stood up by the official who was supposed to meet with them and they aren't about to leave. C.J. is told to make the problem go away. She was all set for the weekend, and is initially dismissive of them—a young, articulate woman and an older man. Eventually, however, she warms to their cause and promises action on several issues. Leo refuses to see them as they are camped in the lobby, and C.J. comes up with a compromise to which they finally agree. Josh is busy with a juvenile who shot his teacher, and who was assisted by his parents to escape to Rome. Now, Josh needs to get him extradited but the Italians are not keen on returning him to Georgia as the state practicescapital punishment. Sam deals with a new economic formula for poverty that will classify millions of Americans as below the line for being impoverished.

The President finally calls the "Butterball Hotline" as there seems to be a query over the actual stuffing of the turkey. When he finally gets through, he pretends to be someone from Fargo, North Dakota. The call center woman deals with his inquiry, but adds: "Your voice is very familiar…"