Posted by
SLW on Saturday, March 17, 2007 12:49:31 PM
I watched this great movie made in 1935 a couple of nights ago. I had never seen it all the way through.
It is the story of a young idealistic man (played by Jimmy Stewart) who is the President of a local Young Boys Association and hometown hero, who gets selected by a group of corrupt politicians to go to Washington as a Senator to fill the seat of one of " their own" who had died. The town supports him wholeheartedly and they give him a hero’s send off.
Once in Washington, Mr. Smith is overwhelmed by the history of the place, and after visiting the Lincoln monument, he decides that he is going to make a difference. When he goes to the Senate floor for the first time he can barely walk or speak because he is so nervous and in awe. The other Senators make fun of him due to his lack of sophistication.
Undaunted, he convinces his secretary to help him author a Senate Bill. It is to build a Boy’s Club for young boys to attend and learn the values of their country and the need to serve her. Little does he know that his bill conflicts with the plans of the corrupt leaders who are planning to build a dam at the same location, on land that they own, and thus profit from the deal.
They try to dissuade Mr. Smith from his Bill but when they realize they can’t, they accuse him of doing exactly what they are doing and pronounce him unfit to serve in the Senate. They have the entire media on their side which puts articles in the newspapers with lies about him.
When Mr. Smith goes before the Committee, false evidence is produced along with expert witnesses claiming that he owns the land and has introduced the Bill for his own profit. He has no defense against the lies, except that the people in his hometown know the truth. So he decides to filibuster long enough to get the word out through a local paper that the kids from his Boy’s Association operate.
The thugs from Washington send in their intimidators, the newspapers with the truth are confiscated, the young boys are beaten up, and the word never gets out. After hours of filibustering Mr. Smith is about to collapse when hundreds of letters arrive from his hometown. He opens one after another and they are all against him. His body gives out as he drops to the floor.
The story has a happy ending because one of the corrupt Senators finally has a conscience and tells the truth.
While watching this movie I couldn’t help but think of the situation in Washington today and how there is no happy ending.
I see Mr. Smith as the Republican Party. After 40 years of corruption and control by the Democrats, they finally win control of the House and the Senate. The newly elected Congressmen and Senators arrive in Washington with the idealism that Mr. Smith had along with his naivety and trust. They begin attempting to make changes to the entrenched system.
The Democrats have their own corrupt President in power who is breaking the law and lying, but they accuse the Republican leaders of lying and cheating. The corrupt minority party has the entire media on their side and the people "back home" the base, turn against their own party and one by one their leaders drop.
With only a slim majority a newly elected Republican President arrives in town full of idealism and hope. He's considered a hick from Texas and is not a smooth talker. Washington makes fun of him because he thinks he can get something done by establishing a "new tone" there.
It doesn’t take long for the Democrats and the entire media to begin accusing him of lying and corruption. The very people that had defended the corruption of the Democrat President now accuse him of doing the exact same things. He can't seem to get his message out and finally after the beating from the entire media the people "back home," upset that he can't get anything done, turn on him too.
The result is that the corrupt party that had controlled Washington for forty years is returned to power by the voters. Now they can continue to attack and impede Mr. Bush for the next two years and claim that "this man who came to Washington" has accomplished nothing. I somehow don't think that one of them will develop a consciense.
The End.
SLW