| MATT DRUDGE // DRUDGE REPORT 2002� 
 
  
 
 
 
 XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN FEB 24, 2002 11:37:09 ET XXXXX
 
 WEST WING SORKIN BLASTS BUSH: WE'RE  'PRETENDING' HE HAS EXHIBITED UNSPEAKABLE COURAGE
 
 The force behind NBC's WEST WING is blasting off against the real West Wing in upcoming pages of the NEW YORKER, which  names Aaron  Sorkin "the country's loyal opposition."
 
 NY'ER reporter Tad Friend has penned a high-impact Talk of the Town set for release in March 4 editions.
 
 Sorkin, the creatorproducerwriter  of  WEST WING,  tells Friend:  "It's  absolutely  right  that  at  this time we're all laying off the [Bush] bubblehead  jokes.  But  that's  a  far  cry from what the Times and CNN and  others  on whom we rely for unvarnished objectivity are telling us, which is that 'My God! On September 12th he woke up as Teddy Roosevelt! He became the Rough  Rider!'"
 
 Of NBC's own look at a day in the life of the Presidency, 'The  Bush  White  House:  Inside  the  Real  West Wing,' which aired as the lead-in  to  a  WEST WING repeat a few weeks ago, Sorkin charges:  "The White House  pumped  up the President's schedule to show him being much busier and more  engaged  than  he  is,  and  Tom  Brokaw  let it happen?"
 
 Sorkin continues:  "The show was a   valentine  to  Bush.  That  illusion  may be what we need right now, but the truth  is we're simply pretending to believe that Bush exhibited unspeakable courage  at  the  World  Series  by  throwing  out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium,  or  that he, by God, showed those terrorists by going to Salt Lake City  and jumbling the first line of the Olympic opening ceremony.
 
 "The media is  waving  pom-poms,  and  the  entire
 |  |