Oh You Only Fight The

On The Show, We Are Not Trying To Get People To Eat Their Vegetables; We Are Not Trying To Get People To Become Democrats. We Are Basically Trying To Encourage People To Get Involved With Public Life So That Politics Isn't Left To The Wealthy And Privileged.

I Never Lost My Faith...but Like All Modern Catholics, I Felt For A Time That I Had Outgrown The Church. Now It Is A Bone Of Contention In My Soul That I Did Not Share My Faith With My Kids, As My Parents Did With Me. It Was A Source Of Grace When I Needed It. I Have Been Greatly Nurtured And Inspired By My Faith.

Once You Follow A Path Of Nonviolence And Social Justice, It Won't Take You Long Before You Come Into Conflict With The Culture, With The Society. You Can't Know What Is At Stake Or How Much It Is Going To Cost You Until You Get In The Game. That's The Only Way, And The Level Of Cost Is Equal To The Level Of Involvement.

I Was The Last One To Join The Cast Of The West Wing And When I Started It Was Just A Peripheral Character - The Focus Was To Be On The Staff, Not The First Family. When I Did The Pilot, My Contract Was For Just Three Years And It Was Confined To Maybe Three Or Four Episodes Every Season. The Only Restraint I Had Was That I Could Not Play Another President While The Show Was On The Air. So, I Kind Of Backed Into One Of The Great Events Of My Life And Certainly My Career.

We Have To Fight For Something. It Has To Cost Us. Our Lives, Our Faith, Have To Cost Us Something; Otherwise We're Left To Question Its Value.