I've been comfort-watching The West Wing - Episodes 1 & 2 in Season 5, where Zoey Bartlet has been kidnapped and the President has temporarily handed power to the Republican Speaker (the office of VP being empty).
It's a masterclass in patriotism and service to one's country - as Republican Steve has to spell out to Josh.
J: You're campaigning in the middle of a national tragedy. Zoey Bartlet's out in a field breathing through a straw, you're test-driving soundbites for the next election? Straight answer once in your life Steve: what are you guys up to? Closed door meetings, planting quotes in the Times?
S: What?!
J: What's this? Spontaneous speeches on the House floor questioning President Bartlet's fitness to lead?
S: You don't get it, do you? Republicans are in awe of Bartlet. He recused himself in the only way he could: in the way envisioned by the Constitution.
J: I doubt the framers were afraid of the President's daughter being kidnapped at musket point.
S: The whole notion of the 25th Amendment is that the institution matters more than the man. Bartlet's decision was even more self-sacrificing because he willingly gave power to his opposition.
J: The institution may matter more but it's your guy protecting it, not ours.
S: A truly self-sacrificing act usually involves some sacrifice.
J: So now you're going to nail us to the cross?
S: No. YOU beat the terrorists at their own game. We're not stupid, Josh. We try to use this to our advantage it'll blow up in our faces. We'd seem callous and unfeeling, in contrast to Bartlet's extraordinary gesture of courage and patriotism. And anyone who thinks otherwise has a particularly craven way of looking at politics.
I wonder how honest Republicans feel, looking at a White House full of people feathering their nests? Is there anyone in the WH who would put the good of their country before the least of their own venal ends?