Plot

The President

Josiah Bartlet

Josiah Edward "Jed" Bartlet is a fictional character played by Martin Sheen on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is President of the United States for the entire series until the last episode, when his successor is inaugurated...

 tells White House Counsel Oliver Babish of his MS

Multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...

. Babish conducts a pointed interview with the President where they discuss key issues such as whether Jed Bartlet ever lied about his health in a court of law when he was Governor Bartlet in New Hampshire (the answer: no). Babish tells Leo that the problem is that the President didn't cover up, didn't dissemble...just that he did everything you do if your intent is to perpetrate a fraud. However, the President learns that Zoey

Zoey Bartlet

Zoey Patricia Bartlet is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Moss on the television serial drama The West Wing. Zoey is the youngest of President Josiah Bartlet and Abbey Bartlet's three daughters, and is more prominently featured in the series than either of her sisters.Zoey and...

 told Charlie

Charlie Young

Charles 'Charlie' Young is a fictional character played by Dulé Hill on the television serial drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he is the Personal Aide to President Josiah Bartlet.-Creation and development:...

 of his condition so that he could watch out for signs, and Charlie finds out that Zoey lied by omission about her father's illness in a form for Georgetown that the President and First Lady signed off on. Babish tells the President that they need to make a statement, decide on a plan of action, and appoint the most fire-breathing, partisan Republican Special Prosecutor

Special prosecutor

A special prosecutor generally is a lawyer from outside the government appointed by an attorney general or, in the United States, by Congress to investigate a government official for misconduct while in office. A reasoning for such an appointment is that the governmental branch or agency may have...

 they can find and then accept any challenges, insults, legal proceedings or other claims coming out of that with three words: "BRING IT ON".

Josh

Josh Lyman

Joshua "Josh" Lyman is a fictional character played by Bradley Whitford on the television drama The West Wing. For the majority of the series, he was White House Deputy Chief of Staff in the Josiah Bartlet administration...

 and Donna

Donna Moss

Donnatella "Donna" Moss is a fictional character played by Janel Moloney on the television serial drama The West Wing. Donna is a recurring character during the first season, although she appears in every episode, making her a de facto regular...

 discuss the merits of bailing out Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 with American tax dollars after the Mexican economy collapses for the third time in 10 years. The needed loan guarantee total is $30 billion and it has to be in place overnight to avoid a crushing hit to the Mexican stock exchange. Donna feels it's time for tough love after Mexico keeps making the same economic mistakes over and over again, and quotes a paper about a worker in South Carolina facing tough times. Josh feels that there's a time to simply help a friend in trouble, and quotes from the Lend-Lease Act. The bailout plan goes through and Josh and Donna are happy again.

One of the oil tanker

Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...

s for which Sam

Sam Seaborn

Samuel Norman "Sam" Seaborn is a fictional character portrayed by Rob Lowe on the television serial drama The West Wing. He is best known for being Deputy White House Communications Director in the Josiah Bartlet administration throughout the first four seasons of the series.-Creation and...

 set up a litigation shield crashes into the coast of Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

 and causes a catastrophic oil spill. Sam wants to testify about how the conglomerate that purchased the boat knew its steering and navigation systems were terrible but didn't bother to spend $11 million to rectify the situation. Ainsley Hayes tells Sam that under no circumstance is he going to do that. In the end, Sam is miserable that he didn't speak up strongly enough at the time and prevent the disaster that waited in the future.

C.J.

C. J. Cregg

Claudia Jean "C. J." Cregg is a fictional character played by Allison Janney on the television serial drama The West Wing. From the beginning of the series until the sixth season, she is White House Press Secretary in the administration of President Josiah Bartlet...

 and particularly Toby

Toby Ziegler

Tobias Zachary 'Toby' Ziegler is played by Richard Schiff on the television serial drama The West Wing. For most of the series' duration he is White House Communications Director.-Creation and development:...

 are furious about a leak to the press that jeopardizes tough negotiations between the Administration and Republicans in Congress over school vouchers. C.J. conducts several in-staff interviews but can't find the leak. Toby later reveals that he was the leak and that the information was minor and reparable intentionally, because they need to know what to do if things go seriously and uncontrollably wrong. C.J., who doesn't know why Toby is more nervous and angry than usual, asks him what's going on, but he refuses to tell her.

Mistakes and Continuity Errors

Josh Lyman mentions Germany attacking Allied countries in the Second World War, "Sounds to me from what they said on the phone that France, Austria, and England are getting absolutely pounded by the Germans and with no end in sight". This is incorrect as by 1939 Austria had been annexed by Germany and was therefore an Axis country.

Title

The title, Bad Moon Rising

Bad Moon Rising (song)

"Bad Moon Rising" is a song written by John Fogerty and performed by Creedence Clearwater Revival. It was the lead single from their album Green River and was released in April 1969, four months before the album. The song reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and #1 on the UK Singles...

, is a reference to the name of a Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater Revival was an American rock band that gained popularity in the late 1960s and early 1970s with a number of successful singles drawn from various albums....

 song from 1969.

External links

• The West Wing Episode Guide