Need help on Q's about the movie "The American President"?

In The American President, Micheal Douglas Plays a president who has to make some difficult decisions. In the foreign arena, he decides to bomb Libya. Why? Why is it a "proportional response"? Why does the president tell his pollster that "this is the least presidential thing i do"? In the case of the domestic agenda, there are two major bills that the president is planning to send to Congress. What are they? Why are the "Motown 3" so afraid of the fossil fuel package? Why is it that if you support "gun control" you are seen to be weak on crime? Why does the president think it shouldn't matter that his political opponents have a picture of his girlfriend and a burning flag? Why, near the end of the film do a large percentage of the American people come the question the President "family values"? What is the ACLU? Why does the President say Bob Rumson should be a member? How does his speech to the press at the end change the speech intended for the State of the Union?





That is all the prompt says...It would really help alot, thanks!|||Concerning the White House debate as to whether or not to bomb Libya, the Chief of Staff (Martin Sheen) says of the strategic attack: "it's low-risk" and "it's a proportional response". President Andrew Sheperd (Michael Douglas) responds by putting a face on one the victims. "Somewhere in Libya right now...a janitor's working a night shift at Libyan Intelligence Headquarters. He's going about doing his job 'cause he has no idea in about an hour he's going to die in a massive explosion. He's just going about doing his job...", i.e., an innocent civilian has no idea that he is about to die because he, the president of the U.S., has just ordered an attack. The President goes on to say: "You've just seen me do the least presidential thing I do" and is obviously, remorseful.



Motown 3 is a slang for the big three American automakers (Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors) -- represented in the movie by McSorley, McCluskey, and Shane (Congressmen from Michigan). The top three automakers have been accused of not really wanting to build fuel-efficient cars, i.e., substantially reducing carbon dioxide emissions and building cars run on ethanol and electricity. If that is indeed the case, they would not want the fossil fuel alternative package. The energy bill proposed was #455. The GDC (Global Defense Council) wanted a 20% reduction in fossil fuel emissions (shown to reduce global warming) over a 10-year period, while the White House staff proposed only a 10% reduction -- playing it on the safe side since it was an election year. The crime bill was their top priority.



But the President makes a personal deal with Sydney Wade (Annette Bening), a professional political strategist and lawyer, that if she can get 24 more votes from the House, the President will sign and submit a bill asking 20%. They were 34 votes shy to start.

http://www.ehow.com/list_6118227_fossil-鈥?/a>



If President Shepherd favored the bill on gun control, that would make him appear weak on crime since many say guns will deter crime. The Chief of Staff says: "Gun control means we're wimps and soft on crime." The President says: "For reasons passing understanding, they (the people) don't relate guns to gun-related crime." Also, the President decided not include hand-gun restriction within the proposed bill.



Sydney Wade's liberal political activism should have had nothing to do with his role as President. Since the President was Catholic (perhaps) and dating again after his wife passed away from cancer 3 years prior, some people questioned his "family values", especially when she was caught spending the night at the White House.



The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States. It works through litigation, legislation, and community education." Wikipedia

Bob Rumson would NOT have wanted to be a member of the ACLU; that was sarcasm. Bob Rumson, instead, wanted to take away a person's civil liberties.



The speech at the end of the movie talked about Rumson's character assassination of President Shepherd and Sydney Wade, primarily. The President said that Rumson was focused on two things: "1) Making people afraid of it and 2) telling you who's to blame for it." But the President also said that he was putting forth the White House Resolution 455 for a 20% reduction of fossil fuels, and was rewriting the crime bill to include banning assault rifles and hand guns.|||To one of your questions about bombing Libya - "the least presidential thing to to" He was making a reference to some janitor being killed by his order of the attack and the innocent civilians that will perish as well.