Well, Der Bingle walked in tonight in his trench coat and black fedora and Summer and Cameron were at his side from the get-go – still are in fact. At one point, after he’d changed clothes and when they were sitting in the den, he said, “AJ, they have found my stash of movies. But I told them they are not worthy of Split Second and my Kolchak collection.” Cameron was headed up to his room with an armful of movies and Summer has him watching one with her now.

And guess what happened to me? I got sucked into another movie with stirring quotes. Well, some of it is remembered stirring from when I watched such movies as a teenager on The Late Show” before the Star Spangled Banner played and the station signed off.

I saw “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” was on and I thought, no, no, you don’t need to watch this again. But in my heart I ached to hear the Kalterborn report on “Boy Ranger legs” – this quote:

…It is the most unusual and spectacular thing in the Senate annals. One lone and simple American holding the greatest floor in the land. What he lacked in experience, he’s made up in fight. But those tired Boy Ranger legs are buckling, bleary-eyed, voice gone, he can’t go on much longer. And all official Washington is here to be in on the kill.

And so I watched and those other quotes washed over me:

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’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. 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!

I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you people don’t know about lost causes. Mr. Paine does. He said once they were the only causes worth fighting for. And he fought for them once, for the only reason any man ever fights for them; because of just one plain simple rule: ‘Love thy neighbor.’… And you know that you fight for the lost causes harder than for any other. Yes, you even die for them.

You think I’m licked. You all think I’m licked. Well, I’m not licked. And I’m going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause. Even if the room gets filled with lies like these, and the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place.