Aaron Sorkin should be the dream speechwriter for any democratic President. Put aside his previous drug issues which would get the shock jocks frothing and his way with an emotional line, a rhetorical florish is immense and intense. Obama comes close to those heights at times. Certainly his speeches during the 2008 Presidential campaign, particularly the More Perfect Union speech in Philadelphia which addressed the issue of race and Reverend Wright, were masterful.

But in the aftermath of a tragedy and atrocity like the shooting of Gaby Gifford, the wounding of several others and the murder of six (Christina Greene, 9, Dorthy Murray, 76, Federal Judge John Roll, 63, Dorwin Stoddard, 76, Phyllis Scheck, 79, Gabe Zimmerman, 30) bold words about America’s troubled relationship with guns are needed. Sorkin has already written them:

And for those of you who instantly cry: “But that’s a fictional situation…” remember John Hinckley attempting to assasinate Reagan and both Frank Eugene Corder (who flew a single-engine Cessna into the White House lawn) and Francisco Martin Duran who fired 29 shots at the White House in an attempt to kill Bill Clinton.

Presidents have faced violent threats pretty much constantly from JFK’s death onwards (and faced the threat of assassination long before that). Not all of these have been politically motivated but many of the mentally ill individuals have been further fuelled by violent political rhetoric. Sara Palin’s target map may not have inspired Giffords’ shooter but it was still a despicable act regardless.

20 Hours In America is a two-part West Wing episode and one of my favourites. At its conclusion, President Bartlett delivers a speech in the wake of a bombing at a university that has killed 44 people and injured over 100. It is a sentimental and overly emotional speech but it still makes me tearful, such is the punch of Martin Sheen’s delivery and the power of Aaron Sorkin’s words. I think it has some relevance to yesterday’s events too:

Finally, though written at speed, this scene from Isaac & Ishmael, the West Wing’s single-room response to 9/11 is an interesting and powerful take on extremists of all stripes and “why they hate us”…