Richard Schiff wants you to know something. He’s not an activist.
RICHARD SCHIFF: I’m very moved and impressed by people who I consider to be genuine activists. Like you two and Martin and other people I’ve met along the way. Activism is something I really respect, and I don’t have. I’m a recluse, I don’t like going out into the world. When I do, I’m being pulled by people I love, who expect something from me. So, I don’t consider myself a real activist even though other people might look at some of the things I’ve done and define me as such. I know activists, I’m not one of them. It’s like, I know baseball players and I play baseball…but I’m not a baseball player.
That said, veterans’ causes, represented so movingly in “In Excelsis Deo,” reside close to Richard’s heart and, as he puts it, “entered into my psyche, so to speak, from a very young age.”
RICHARD SCHIFF: “In Excelsis Deo” had a very profound effect on me. Growing up, I was really antiwar. I went to Washington and marched when I was thirteen or fourteen. Got my first joint on the train. I remember feeling for the servicemen, the veterans coming back from Vietnam would be spat at, heckled, and yelled at. I didn’t understand the vitriol. If we are against the war and don’t want to go to war ourselves, why are we aiming our venom at the person who had nothing to do with it, who was drafted?
When we spoke to Richard about his experience with service, he deflected and underplayed his role. But the fact is, his affinity for the men and women of the military, captured so beautifully in “In Excelsis Deo,” has been a part of who he is for decades. From his teenage years protesting the war in Vietnam to his continuing work as a Justice for Vets / All Rise ambassador, Richard’s commitment to separating the war from the warrior, and his support for military personnel and their families, is unwavering. Our conversation continually wound up in the neighborhood of one of the most important things any public figure can bring to an issue he cares about. Exposure.
Exposure is something Richard brings to another cause close to his heart—the American Civil Liberties Union. (Close observers can spot an ACLU poster on the wall in Toby’s office.) Asked what appeals to him most about the mission of the ACLU, Richard points to its commitment to bipartisanship.
RICHARD SCHIFF: I’ve always been impressed with the fact that they really shouldn’t take—and they mostly have not, as far as I know—political sides in defending the Bill of Rights and due process for whomever. Going back to the Nazis’ right to march in Skokie [Illinois]. You have to be completely on the side of the Constitution and what it stands for, regardless of whether you like the message or not.
My stepfather was a civil rights leader and a lawyer for Martin Luther King. He was on the negotiating committee at Attica. And he [spent time] defending Mafia people and drug dealers. At one point, I said, “How can you defend these people?” and he goes, “Because when due process is violated, that is the end of freedom. As soon as Miranda is violated, as soon as your rights under the law are violated, it’s over.” I never forgot that.
For Richard, as complicated as issues of crime and punishment often are, his belief in the mission of the ACLU, and his appreciation for that mission, is simple and clear.
RICHARD SCHIFF: Whoever is in a trial under this justice system has to be awarded those rights. The ACLU is the only organization that protects them…and takes on causes that are not very easy. What they protect—due process and the Bill of Rights—is foundational to who we are.
(Toby Ziegler—and that poster in his office—would be proud.)
A few years ago, Richard found a unique way to put his passion for the ACLU into action when he met Meegan Lee Ochs, the artist relations manager at the ACLU of Southern California.
RICHARD SCHIFF: I approached Meegan at an ACLU dinner and said, “I’ve always thought that I could make money for someone signing pink Spaldeen balls.”
Yep. The Spaldeens Toby would bounce off his communications office walls. And if you ever wondered how that came to be…
RICHARD SCHIFF: I once said to Aaron, “If you ever need Toby trying to figure a thing out; a confounding puzzle or some thing where the dots didn’t connect—have him bouncing a Spaldeen in his office.” A Spaldeen was the ball the kids in Brooklyn used for handball, stickball, stoop ball, et al. It was the inside of a faulty Spaulding tennis ball we’d buy for a nickel from a bin in the candy store. I said to Aaron it would be an ode to Steve McQueen bouncing a baseball in the prison cell in The Great Escape. Aaron loved that movie. And the idea. It came to fruition many episodes later with “17 People.”
Who knew, years later, after appearing on The West Wing Weekly podcast, I would have people sending me a ball to sign. So I offered that up to Meegan as a way to raise some money.
Meegan loved the idea, and Richard soon grabbed his Sharpie and he’s been signing Spaldeens ever since. (Some of you may already have one, but if you don’t, go here: www.aclusocal.co/spaldeen.)
The Spaldeen isn’t the only West Wing element with staying power. We hear all the time that, two decades later, The West Wing is still relevant, thanks to certain policy-driven storylines.
RICHARD SCHIFF: There are issues today that of course remain colossal and overwhelming, even more so than they did back in the day of The West Wing. There are some things that Toby, the realist and practical tactician, could have tolerated in the hope of incremental change for the better over time. And then there are those issues to which Toby would have erupted in fury at the stupidity and rigidity of those blocking real and effective change. I too am—to use a Toby-ism—flummoxed by it all.
As we speak, the world is in crisis after crisis, and in a constant state of insufficient preparation for and response to a barrage of emergencies: out-of-control fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods. I would ask what Toby would scream: “What in the hell is the end-game strategy of those denying and preventing action? What is going on in their brains? And how will their grandchildren regard them as the world falls deeper into chaos from mass migration as food sources shift and deserts expand and coastal cities are under the level of the sea?” I don’t get it.
Is global warming a real environmental condition, or merely a temporary anomaly? Is it a global threat, or the exaggerated claim of alarmists? The time for such debate is over. As of today, it shall be the unequivocal position of the United States government that global warming constitutes a clear and present danger to the health and future well-being of this planet and all its inhabitants.
—SAM TO GINGER AND BONNIE, “THE DROP IN”
RICHARD SCHIFF: What would get Toby even more riled is that now that the world has begun the slow process of moving to alternate energy sources, why doesn’t corporate America dive into that opportunity and dominate the market before it’s too late? It makes sense from a strategic business perspective. You can make a fortune and save the planet as a bonus!
I believe, in this moment, that it’s critical to go all in and support organizations like EDF, the Environmental Defense Fund. They focus on pollution reduction, energy transition, and establishing sustainable food and water supplies, among other things, and their reach is around the globe. I think Toby would approve.
While Richard can appreciate the value of shining a light on this cause or that, doing so “feels like not enough after a while.” But he forgets the seismic impact of that. He forgets this: The light is crucial. It’s how we get people to pay attention to and care about an issue. “Attention” can mean raising awareness in our own communities, via word of mouth or social media. By organizing, getting creative, and raising our voice. By shining the light on where the story is. You can be active…even if you’re not an activist.
THE ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is the United States’ guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in the United States by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND
Guided by science and economics, and committed to climate justice, the Environmental Defense Fund works in the places, on the projects, and with the people who can make the biggest difference.