Hey, nobody is more surprised than I by my political awakening. My fear simply overcame my cynicism. But hang on, it’s almost over and I see four possible outcomes:
Hillary gets the nomination and wins the White House. We’ve already seen what a Clinton administration looks like.
McClain wins in November and gives us four more years of Bush.
Obama gets the nomination and wins in November (long shot). But turns out to be like every other politician to plop his ass down in the Oval Office.
Obama gets the nomination, wins in November and delivers on some of his promise of change. (Long, long shot)
If any of the first three occurs, I’m done. We missed our chance. Maybe the last one for good long while. If #4 comes in… I’ll rent Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Dave and then shut the fuck up.
Long-time readers might recall I’m fond of Frank Capra’s Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. It makes me nostalgic for a time and a government that probably never existed. Usually leaves me depressed because it reminds me how venal our real-life congressmen are. But I’m feeling more hopeful after last night’s viewing.
There’s a scene where corrupt businessman Jim Taylor (Edward Arnold) gets on the phone (video) to order his henchmen to do whatever it takes to control the media and spin the story of Jefferson Smith’s (Jimmy Stewart) filibuster. Jim, you see, owns all of the media.
The good guys mobilize an army of kids (Boy Rangers) to get the truth out. So the bad guys start roughing up the kids, busting up their printing presses and grabbing all of their newspapers.
I’m not sure we have any Jefferson Smith’s in 2006 but if we did, his army of Boy Rangers would have MySpace pages and blogs and they’d be texting The Truth far and wide. The thugs would be all over Flickr and You Tube.
Hold on! Can we remake Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and give it a digital spin? This sounds like a job for Mr. Steve’s Screenwriters of the Purple Sage.
Let’s add V for Vendetta –the new film by The Wachowski Brothers– to the top of my list of Movies I’d Like to Watch with George Bush (GoodNight, and Good Luck; Dave; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; 1984; Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room). The wonderful vocal performance by Hugo Weaving (Agent Smith from The Matrix) carries the movie. Everyone who is more “terrified” by the people running our country than all the crazies in Islam, take one step forward.
Just get up off the ground, that’s all I ask. Get up there with that lady that’s up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won’t just see scenery; you’ll see the whole parade of what Man’s carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so as he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That’s what you’d see. There’s no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that’s what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we’d better get those boys’ camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it’s not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don’t get lost once they come to light. They’re right here; you just have to see them again! [Mr. Smith goes to Washington]
A couple of months ago I posted some thoughts on the great Frank Capra movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939). I’m sure Capra wanted to leave us hopeful and optimistic but I watched the movie again recently and realized I don’t know any Jefferson Smiths… but there’s no shortage of Senator Paines.
This clip really sums it all up for me. Fill a crop duster with Sodium Pentathol, take a couple of passes over DC or any state capitol, and this is what you’d hear.
Remember All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? Well, everything people in politics and government need to know can be learned from watching Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. And I don’t mean the the piece-of-shit remake with Adam Sandler… I’m talking about the Frank Capra original (1939) with Jimmy Stewart and Jean Arthur.
God, what a timeless story. And if the world today is different today it’s only for the worse. Think we don’t have some Jim Taylor’s today? If I were king (as RP used to say), I’d make everyone in DC watch this movie every six months.
It wouldn’t make anyone try to blow their brains out as Senator Paine tried to do, but it might make them ashamed. Naaawww.
Long-time readers might recall I’m fond of Frank Capra’s 
A couple of months ago I posted some thoughts on the great Frank Capra movie,