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The West Wing Revisited: The State Dinner

The White House is holding a state dinner for the President of Indonesia and his wife. During the President’s toast (which I assume is the only public part of the event itself), he whacks Indonesia over the head for their human rights abuses.

With that in the foreground, there are a number of events going on in the country that the White House is interacting with, all of them public.

First up, Hurricane Sarah, a category four storm, is heading towards Georgia. A US carrier battle group stationed at Norfolk moves out into sea to put itself out of harm’s way, but the storm turns back out to see, and the carrier battle group (12,000 people) is caught in the center of the storm. The exact loss of life isn’t specified, but it’s assumed to be significant.

Second, the Teamsters Union are threatening to strike, over a dispute with management about fair hiring practices. The President bullies them into an apparently agreement.

Finally, a group of armed survivalists in Idaho are holed up in a house, with guns (which the US government had sold them). The FBI attempts to negotiate, however the negotiator is shot. No other casualties are described.