Mr. Brown Goes To Washington
I’ve been saving that title for quite some time. And now there it is, big as life—because Scott Brown, the Republican Senator-elect from Massachusetts, has gone to Washington today.
As John McCain said, “Sen. Brown represents the dreams and hopes and frustrations Americans feel today.” And for once, that’s not hyperbole. It’s simple truth. We’ll see how he lives up to that promise; it won’t be easy.
Brown’s election was singular and extraordinary. I’ve never seen anything like it, and I’ve seen quite a bit.
How often has there been a US Senate election that has mattered so much? In an off year? An upset in a state where elections are usually foregone conclusions, and have been for decades? At a time when the whole country is hanging on the results, and participating as best they can, as well? In which the entire enterprise is vital to all because it is an attempt to derail an express train in Washington whereby a single party is trying to defy the will of the American people? And where the winner is such a charismatic and seemingly honest and sincere politician who came from nowhere? And in which the whole thing turned around dramatically in only a couple of weeks?
All you American history experts can let me know if I’m wrong. But I believe it’s the most singular election in US Senate history.
[NOTE: For those of you who didn’t get the reference in the title of this post, or for whom it was obscure, I was referring to Frank Capra’s 1939 classic film “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” a movie in which a regular guy gets an unexpected chance to go to DC as a senator, and ends up fighting corruption in that august body.
Read the synopsis of the plot here. The film features a recently deceased US Senator, with Smith (James Stewart) appointed his successor. Corrupt politicians try to frame him and drive him out of his job when he threatens their special interests, and when Smith stages a filibuster to try to stop them, they instruct the press at home to hush up the truth, and also manage to come up with huge bins of fake letters from constituents asking him to resign.
It all ends happily. Naturally! The film is pretty corny in parts, as might be expected. The corruption in the Senate of the film is the kind of petty graft that politics is famous for. What we face today, however, is of much greater import, and affects us all in far more profound ways. The economy, health care, our relationships with enemies such as Iran, the fight against Islamicist terrorists, and our very liberty are at stake.
That’s an awful lot of things resting on the shoulders of one man; and of course, they don’t, not really. But one man can make a difference nevertheless, and Brown is positioned to do just that.
For the longest time, Americans having been traduced with baseless epithets.
In response, and knowing the falsity of the name-calling, Americans have gone out of their way to prove they were NOT what the name-callers said they were. The reasons for doing so are many, not the least of which was, if you defended yourself, or denied the name-calling, that was further proof of the name.
But Americans have shifted their thinking. Their psychology is different. They know they are not the bad people portrayed by leftists, and now they are not afrid to say so.
The election of Brown, a decent man, is a reflection of this profound change.
In the future, the name-calling will become more and more counterproductive, as the American people shake off the debilitating shackles of these malignant and ludicrous insults.
I particularly liked Senator Brown’s “I am your senator, and nobody else’s“.
Chris Matthews: “We need to keep an eye on this guy; I don’t trust him.”
With all due respect Chis (meaning exactly what that phrase implies), I have a Hell of a lot more trust in a former Lieutenant-Colonel, who has served his country, than I do in a media hack who endorses someone for Commander-In-Chief because of a “tingle” in his leg.
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Most singular election in US history? I’m not sure about that. One could point to the 1864 Presidential election in which the re-election of Lincoln was held to be very much in doubt for quite a while.
“Republicans across the country feared that Lincoln would be defeated. Acknowledging this fear, Lincoln wrote and signed a pledge that, if he should lose the election, he would still defeat the Confederacy before turning over the White House:
This morning, as for some days past, it seems exceedingly probable that this Administration will not be re-elected. Then it will be my duty to so co-operate with the President elect, as to save the Union between the election and the inauguration; as he will have secured his election on such ground that he cannot possibly save it afterwards.
Lincoln did not show the pledge to his cabinet, but asked them to sign the sealed envelope.”
That ‘sign the sealed envelope’ gambit tells me that Lincoln was not exactly confident of the fate of the Republic then.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_(president)#1864_election
I saw this first as a child of 6. It made a big impression on me about corruption in politics. I’ve always been sensitive to that aspect of our government. Maybe I’m naive or an idealist but I’ve always liked to believe there were a few decent people in government who weren’t corrupt. In recent years, however, it seems that the lobbyists’ money and the “no guilt” practice of earmarks has turned the whole place into an open ended pipeline of graft.
Good luck to Scott Brown. May he be a breath of fresh air with a positive affect on the Senate.
Please do not encourage the McCain family by quoting them. If you must refer to McCain you can always say the senator whose father was an admiral. Now his wife’s got into the act. The trifecta from maverickland. Thank God there is no longer any Romper Room, because any McC grandchildren would surely end up there as featured rug rats.
vanderleun: note that I wrote “most singular election in US Senate history.”
Brown’s election is a total game changer. Neo, thanks for all you did to bring awareness to the contest!
Do you think they hear us NOW!!!!!
Actually, Brown’s election in Massachusetts would be like Lincoln’s election in the Confederacy. Not merely highly doubtful, but contrary to all rational expectation.
Not exact, but is there a real life US example more analogous, senate or otherwise?
Yes, Neo, ditto on the thanks for the attention you placed on this election.
Do you think they hear us NOW!!!!!
Bob T: They hear something. Some kind of explosion off to their right, but it’s muffled in layers and layers of insulation that cocoons them from reality. They don’t hear what we are saying.
Obama seems to think it’s mostly anger at Bush.
Brown’s election in Massachusetts would be like Lincoln’s election in the Confederacy.
I ran across a more contemporary analogy — like Ted Kennedy being elected in Utah!
I’m certainly excited about Brown, but there may be an even bigger conservative star on the horizon in Virginia. Bob McDonnell reportedly spent a portion of the week prior to his inauguration helping at a food bank and visiting a homeless shelter and a jail. I just googled and found that he is giving the Republican response to the “Cosntant State of Bush-Blaming” address next week.
It’s nice to see some rising stars for the first time in a long time. I like Palin, but I don’t feel that she is the future of the party on a national level.
That should have been Constant, sorry.
Election game changer for the new decade,Yes.
However, it remains to be seen if Brown is the Senate game changer the hopes and expections of the nation rest on…it’s a heavy load and begs for disappointment in the long run. Still, his heavy-lifting has been done and anything from here on is icing on the political cake.
He will be under the most massive of national expections and scrutiny, as Mr. Obama, and if he doesn’t de-liver de-letter de-sooner de-better there will be another round of massive delusion.
Let’s hope he’s the new Lincoln, Reagan etc. who can stand the test of a little more time without a Monica Lewinsky offering him a box of cigars. Believe you me, this man will face every temption known to derail almost every politician as well as every man. T’won’t be easy.
The most singular Senate election in U.S. history? I am a student of history (I actually have a degree in American history) and I would have to say that it is – without a doubt. I can think of nothing else that comes near to its impact. It appears there is a domino affect to this election that is bringing about a series of events in rapid succession that were unthinkable a week ago. The Obama, Pelosi, Reid agenda, on the verge of victory, has, in a moment, been turned back in complete disarray. And, the repercussions from this election have only just begun to be felt. Time will tell, but it may very well represent the high-water mark of radical, far-left Liberalism in this country.
However, it remains to be seen if Brown is the Senate game changer the hopes and expections of the nation rest on…it’s a heavy load and begs for disappointment in the long run.
Webutante: All Brown has to do for me is to stand fast against ObamaCare, cap-and-trade, mirandizing terrorists, and whatever the next big power grab from the Obami might be and I’ll be more than happy.
That’s a lot of game change right there and it’s not too hard, even if Brown not the next Reagan.
…it may very well represent the high-water mark of radical, far-left Liberalism in this country.
Highlander: That’s my read. We are watching the New New Left self-destruct and, knock on my wood, they won’t be back again for a generation at least.
I really liked an earlier comment I made about Chris Matthews reaction to Scott Brown’s victory: “We need to keep an eye on this guy; I don’t trust him.”, and my rebuttal to it.
Unfortunately, I cannot find any evidence that he said that.
All I can find is a fairly outrageous one from Glenn Beck, who I do NOT recall ever watching, but whose quote is close to what I recall.
So, if I have managed to confuse Glenn Beck with Chris Matthews, I’m not at all sure who I should apologize to.
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I agree with huxley. The fact that Brown won is more important right now than who he is and what he will do long term. We shouldn’t be suddenly transferring our power and responsibility, which is really what was and is beating Obama in the first place – of course along with Obama’s apparent determination to contradict reality at every opportunity and then some – to Brown.
In some major way Brown will also be watching us to instead lead him. And the rest of the more sensible politicians should be whatching us too.
I love Jimmy Stewart.
And he was a stalwart Republican. Bless his heart.
As John McCain said, “Sen. Brown represents the dreams and hopes and frustrations Americans feel today.”
he brings with him the hopes and aspiration of every americans. am hoping that such will be well represented
Love that movie. I almost never watch tv but one evening it had just come on and I was walking past and stopped for a moment and was hooked all the way through. Yeah, it’s corny. But in a refreshing way. And I was really happy one of my kids was watching it.
Here’s Mr. Brown, making sense.