Mr. Smith Goes to Washington - "Liberty is too Precious a thing to be buried in books"

"Liberty is too Precious a thing to be buried in books"; Mr Smith goes to Washington:

Honesty, sincerity, selflessness, duty, integrity, political courage, these are the things missing in Washington. And until they return, we will continue to see our great Republic slip away from us, until eventually it is no better that a third rate banana republic run by tinhorn despot dictators who exploit the people for personal gain.

Do we still have politicians like the one portrayed in this movie? One's who will put their political careers on the line for something that they believe in? Or, are we just left with spineless greedy people who are only concerned with their own political futures.

I don't have much faith left in our politicians to do the right thing for our country no matter the consequence to their own future. But I do think that there are good people out there who would love to go to Washington and do what is right for our country. The problem is that they are not running for office. The likely reason for this is because they don't want to get into that cesspool that we call Washington politics.

I do not pretend to know what the answers are to all of our problems, but I do know that it has to start at the local level. We need more good people to start running for local offices. We also need to change the Primary systems so as to make them freer, where anyone can run who gets enough signatures. They should not be identified by Party affiliation, but instead, they should just be presented as preferring a certain Party or none at all, if that is what they prefer. The two top vote getters would then advance to the general election in the fall.

In this way the power of the Parties is taken away. The voter will no longer be voting for Parties, but instead they will be voting for people. 2008 was the first year that Washington State had a primary like this. The new law was voted in by the people years ago, but it was fought against in the courts by the two political Parties until it finally went to the Supreme Court where they ruled it constitutional (2-7).

The proof that this type of a Primary system is quite possibly the answer to much of our problems is that both the Republican Party, and the Democrat Party fought it tooth and nail clear up to the Supreme Court. They obviously feel that Primaries like this are a threat to their power, and they are right. Here's a link if you want to read more about it: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,338890,00.html




So there you go. I have laid it out for you, now it is up to you. If you want change then get busy, if not, then just continue to sit on your butt. Change will not happen on its own, the people must get involved.
jbranstetter04




Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

Naive and idealistic Jefferson Smith, leader of the Boy Rangers, is appointed on a lark by the spineless governor of his state. He is reunited with the state's senior senator--presidential hopeful and childhood hero, Senator Joseph Paine. In Washington, however, Smith discovers many of the shortcomings of the political process as his earnest goal of national boys' camp leads to a conflict with the state political boss, Jim Taylor. Taylor first tries to corrupt Smith and then later attempts to destroy Smith through a scandal.

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[redking123]

And the corrupt Senator looks like Newt Gingrich. One difference: no true change of heart coming until the Sun expands into a Red Giant and turns the Earth into a cinder (about 5 billion years from now).

[jbranstetter04]

@redking123 Actually he reminds me of the democrats in '08, with their demands that the Bills be passed without being read. In the video here when the Senator stands up and says: "This Bill...which must be passed immediately, today!" And now look what we have, a broken economy and a failed Presidency. OK, that's enough, no more politics on this great video.

[BenjaminWirtz]

@jbranstetter04

That part did remind me of Nancy Pelosi's claim that we would know what was in the Bill once we passed it. I would add though that the Democrats are not the only ones to blame, there are few good men in Washington and I think the corruption is what scares so many who would be good off.

[jbranstetter04]

@BenjaminWirtz I said no more politics! I'm not mad, I just put ! there for fun. It's true Washington needs to be cleaned up. But people need to remember that the core beliefs of the republicans and the democrats are believed by many Americans, so just to clean it up will not mean that we will not disagree anymore. Some of the things that the democrats believe in make me sick. I'm sure the feeling is mutual, but that does not mean I could not work with them; they are Americans.

[Shironkun]

seriously, i dont like this type of movies, i just love action/fantasy moviea so before i watched this, i think it'd be soooooooooooo boring.......

My Govt teacher challenged us after watching this to come up to him and without smiling, saying "This movie sucks" if we dont like it so i had thought "challenge accepted"

but then after watching it none of us can do it! this is one of the greatest movies out there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jbranstetter04]

@Shironkun Some old stuff is good. I used to think the same thing, but when I first saw this movie it opened my eyes a lot to the fact that there is more out there than I knew about. There is a lot to be discovered in history. You cannot read too much history; it is the history of all of us.

[Songsmirth]

@iamowe1992 I'm impressed at the kind of teacher that would show this. Maybe someday you could thank him/her for exposing you to such a wonderful movie and example of how government works/ doesn't work sometimes. :) Songs

[Songsmirth]

I still cry when I hear that Senator say, "expell me, not that boy! Expell me!!" What great acting. The character couldn't stand up to this level of integrity and honest discipline. Wonderful movie. I would stay up any night it was on to watch it (if it was on the weekends). We take so much for granted sometimes with the wonderful liberties we have that we forget what it has cost some people. Or, at least, I do. :) Songs

[iamowe1992]

i watched this in class when i was in 12th grade.

[brendanmcwilliams]

Nice! Didn't know Ron Paul was in politics back in the days of black and white television.

[RazzleDazzle2340]

I just want someone to believe me.

[jbranstetter04]

@marigolds44 Why do you say that? 

[1234LETStartAwar]

very powerful performance by james stewart 

[turkqb4]

this film inspired me as an 8th grader that I wanted to be a senator when i "grew up" since then i have lost faith and hope in government until becoming aware of Dr. Ron Paul. Mr. Smith and Dr. Paul have a lot in common. Standing alone on principle and the constitution against greed, graft, and scare tactics. beautiful film.