TITLE: The Times, they Are A-Changin’ AUTHOR: Kasey RATING: PGL, EJF, little meanness to everyone SUMMARY: Josh muses before the press conference. SPOILERS: Major – 2 Cathedrals; Minor – All Season Two DISCLAIMERS: These characters and this show were created by Aaron Sorkin, I’m just borrowing them for the sake of my own enjoyment.  No infringement intended, this is just for fun and not for profit. THANKS: To my betas When did everything get to be so different? I left Hoynes because he was just a political puppet, out to win the affection of the people as well as the presidency, because he didn’t care about the people or the issues.  But Bartlet was the opposite, he was the real thing… So when did things become…like this? When did we start cosying up to Republicans in hopes that they’d forget we were Democrats and we beat their guys last election? When did we decide winning was more important than the issues?  I mean, I know we need the opportunity to do the good works, but it’s not…it didn’t used to be like that.  It was always about the issues, popularity came afterward.  What about the whole thing about “letting Bartlet be Bartlet” that Leo went on last year?  When did that end?  I thought we were supposed to be unafraid of issues.  So why are we suddenly freaking out about everything, like Toby and the leak?  If it’s what we believe (in that case, it wasn’t, it was trying to be more “agreeable”, but that’s not the point so much), we should admit it, and say “Yes, this is what he said.  We have nothing to hide.” When did we start HAVING things to hide, anyway? When did CJ start getting that sad, nostalgic voice whenever the campaign that got us here is brought up?  She was originally the one who tried to stay jovial despite it all – well, I admit, I was tryin’ to say a bit not-serious too…But I’m sayin’.  She’s started getting…really weird since she found out. And I’m not saying we all didn’t have a hard time dealing with it – I personally thought I’d been punched in the gut, I hear tell Sam was nearly in tears out of frustration and anger and betrayal and worry…Toby just went completely ape-shit.  But I guess that’s typical reaction from all of us, really. When did things start being “typical”?  It all used to be novelty once, way back when we were first in the White House…we’d walk through the halls beaming just to BE walking through the halls – we wouldn’t hear a word said in the Oval Office because we were too busy looking around. When did everyone start walking around with this face like we’ve already lost? When did Sam start standing up to Toby and SHOUTING to get his point heard?  He never used to do that.  When was it that we decided Sam was supposed to be below us and know last and not let his opinion be heard?  We started treating him like an intern guy and I can’t for the life of me remember when or why. When did all these things change? When the Toby figured out the President was sick? When the President was diagnosed? When Mrs. Landingham died? When Mandy jumped ship to go work for Russell again? When we found Mandy’s memo? When Leo stood in his office and proclaimed “let Bartlet be Bartlet”?  When Toby got screwed by Anne Stark – or rather, when we got screwed by Anne Stark because of Toby?  The drop-in? The State of the Union? The shooting? The DEA agents in Columbia? India and Pakistan? The election? The campaign? I’ve been thinking for days, but I can’t put my finger on it. When did everything get to be so different? And more importantly…Why didn’t I notice until now?