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While the focus of this week's West Wing was on Josh and his treatment for post- traumatic stress disorder relating to the gun shoot wounds he received in the season premiere, the show provided for a multitude of comments, from an insider's perspective, about the holidays at the White House.

First, however, a comment on the treatment of Josh's post-traumatic stress disorder. The show portrays Josh being treated in a room at the West Wing with White House valets delivering coffee and refreshments to the room. The West Wing, although connected to the west side of the White House, is an office building. A staff member, not even a senior staff member like Josh, probably would never be treated for a personal physiological problem in a West Wing office, and White House valets probably would never serve a staff member for such a personal meeting. There is, however, a doctor's office on the ground floor of the White House and another doctor's office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, or EEOB, where the majority of the White House staff work. The White House staff are permitted to use the doctor's office in EEOB for aches and pains, and the President and the President's family use the doctor's office in the White House.

Also, a comment on the flip and cocky greeting that Josh provided to the doctors treating him for the trauma disorder. (In his defense, Josh dismissed his poor attitude and cocky behavior as related to his reluctance to meet with the doctors.) Josh says to the doctors that he knows everything about the people he meets with, because he oversees 1100 White House staffers and reports to the President of the United States. Viewers can rest assured that the White House is not like the FBI, and the White House staff is not given such detailed information on people they meet with at the White House. As viewers will recall, a staff member in the Clinton White House was forced to resign when he caused a minor scandal regarding the investigation of FBI files on former republican staff members that were on record in the Personnel Security office at the White House. As a result, for the West Wing to imply that White House staff can obtain detailed, investigatory-type information on the people that visit the White House for meetings is not accurate.

The show portrays the West Wing heavily decorated for the holidays. The decorations and the warm atmosphere with music and other festivities is not an accurate depiction of the West Wing, but would be if it were the White House. In fact, viewers may have noted that the set for the West Wing lobby underwent some changes for the holiday show. It was portrayed as a large room with huge columns. There is no room in the West Wing like that. The West Wing is a very small building and the lobby is approximately 1,000 square feet with 15-foot ceilings, and the lobby is not as heavily decorated as the show implies. However, the furniture, the paintings, and even the officers' uniforms looked like they do in real life. Also, Toby explained to Sam that he is responsible for the music in the West Wing. Again, another inaccuracy. Any holiday decorations and music in the White House and the West Wing are provided and controlled by the National Park Service, not the White House staff.

There was a reference to the National Park Service by C.J. in the show, when she stated the Service would escort a person home from the White House. There is a scene where C.J. is presenting a painting from the White House to a woman who saw the painting during a tour of the White House and recognized it as a painting by her father. (Her father was murdered by the Nazis during WWII and the painting was probably stolen by them before it ended up in a French museum. After the war, the French museum eventually gave the painting to the White House.) White House staff would have no control over giving paintings to anybody. Again, that is an area controlled by the National Park Service and various committees. Before any painting could be moved from the White House, there would most likely be months of meetings and discussions.

However, the conversation between C.J. and the person portrayed as the Director of the Visitors Office regarding paintings was more accurate. The Director explained that some paintings belong to the White House and some are borrowed, which is correct. Viewers may have noticed the Director had a British accent. That was interesting, as it is unlikely that a non-U.S. citizen would be the Director of the White House Visitors office. Also, the Visitors Office at the White House does not typically fall into the role portrayed by the Director. The Director was more similar to a White House usher or other member of the National Park Service staff who work in the White House and manage its furnishings.

Donna's request to Josh to allow her to attend the Congressional Ball at the White House was another inaccuracy. Designating the invitees to any functions in the White House is a strict, guarded function of the White House Social Office. Staff are not allowed to show up at any functions unless officially invited. It is very unlikely that a support staff person who works for the Chief of Staff's Office, like Donna, would attend the Congressional Ball. However, the support staff that work in Legislative Affairs usually are invited to the Congressional Ball, because their office is the liaison office to the United States Congress. In fact, I attended the Ball twice in the Bush White House as a guest of one of the support staff members in Legislative Affairs. It is, indeed, a grand formal party attended by Senators, Representatives, Justices of the Supreme Court, and the Vice President.

The Congressional Ball is not the only Christmas Party at the White House. There is generally a party every night the entire month before Christmas. The President and First Lady generally attend most of them and usually stand in receiving lines for thousands of photos with the attendees. People all over Washington have photos of themselves in front of the Christmas tree with the President and the First Lady.

When Charlie meets with the President regarding the signing of the White House Christmas cards, he states that if the President if chose to sign the cards himself, he would have to sign over one million of them. (The President had explained that he does not like the autopen that is often used to sign his name on most correspondence coming out of the White House.) In reality, the White House Christmas cards from the President and First Lady do not even come from the White House. The cards are paid for by the political party to which the President belongs, and the cards usually come with pre-printed signatures. The number of one million sounds like an exaggeration too. Generally the number is more like three to four hundred thousand. Also, the staff are given oversized versions of the card, which are a nice keepsake.

A very interesting comment was made by Leo, the Chief of Staff, to Josh during the show. Leo says to Josh, "As long as I got a job, you have a job." This is a very true statement. The Chief of Staff is responsible for the hiring of the White House staff. As a result, many are the Chief of Staff's personal choices. When Governor Sununu resigned as the Chief of Staff to President Bush, it was very interesting to watch many of the White House staff members leave in the weeks following his resignation. This is a good reason for people not to burn any bridges in Washington, DC.

Finally, the last scene showed Donna and Josh walking out of the Northwest gate of the White House. It appears to have been a scene that was shot on location. The click of the gate opening was very real and the scenery very accurate. However, there were Christmas carolers in front of the White House where Josh and Donna exited because it was, of course, Christmas time. A sharp viewer may have noticed, however, that there were leaves on the trees in front of the White House. Also, there were no Christmas wreaths on the gates and no Christmas decorations on the front of the White House that appeared in the background. Oops. The scene may have been shot on location, but not at the right time of the year for which it was used in the show.

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