Reality Check

Think politicians are fast and loose with the truth? They've got nothing on NBC's The West Wing. In the season finale, military heavy John Amos asks chief exec Martin Sheen about the presidential seal: ''Most of the time, the eagle is facing the olive branch, but when Congress declares war, the eagle faces the arrows. How do they do that?'' Sheen promises to get an answer, but we've beaten him to it. ''That's not accurate,'' says White House spokeswoman Victoria Valentine. In 1945, Harry Truman ordered that ''the beak should always face the olive branch. Previously, it had faced different directions, primarily toward the arrows.'' Guess that one shot right by the show's eagle-eyed writers.