Thursday, June 26, 2008

Film Vault- Capitol Dome or Filibust!!

I apologize for my absence from the blog. The past few weeks have been extremely chaotic, but now I am back and can focus on the blog.

As JJ and Nick have discussed earlier this week, the failure of Democratic leaders to even pretend to fight against the passage of FISA likely means the government and telecoms will not be held responsible for any crimes committed through President Bush's wiretapping of America.

Good laws...ideals, civil liberties, basic rights....What good is any of this stuff if there is no one left standing to defend it? Aside from Feingold, Dodd and a handful of other democrats, few have come forward to hold the President and telecoms accountable. Where are the leaders? Hoyer and Pelosi?? Obama??

Which brings me to the Train of Thought Film Vault. Today's special scene comes from the classic "Mr Smith Goes to Washington" directed by Frank Capra. I'll provide a spoiler free entry for those that have not seen it, but as the title to my post suggests the film ends with an epic filibuster pitting the forces of reform and good against the proverbial evil political machine. In this scene, Jimmy Stewart is nearing the end of his 23 hour filibuster, and on his last breath the chamber finally begins to listen:

"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's 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."

3 comments:

  1. This unquestionably wins the non-existent contest for best blog post title EVER! Good to see you back rb.

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  2. Oddly enough, one of the Onion's commentators in today's "What do you think?" about the lifted DC gun ban remarks:

    "Great! Now I can finally shoot the Statue of Freedom off the top of the Capitol building. Goddamned allegorical figure."


    Clearly, everything is connected.

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  3. Fucking Allegorical figures...

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