At
the end of Trump’s recent State of The Union, Speaker Nancy Pelosi ripped up
the speech which caused Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to post this picture on
his Twitter feed.
That
picture is from The Simpsons episode “Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington.”
Several people, including myself, have ratioed Mr. Pompeo by telling him that
he has missed the point of the episode entirely.
Bill
Oakley, a writer for the show in its early days, told him to disassociate himself
from being a fan of the show.
Mr. Secretary of State please do not ever ever ever use Simpsons material in your twitter or watch the show or refer to it in any way pic.twitter.com/hY0EKfEbua— BILL OAKLEY (@thatbilloakley) February 5, 2020
Yeardley
Smith, Lisa Simpson’s voice since the character’s debut on The Tracy Ullman
Show in April 1987, was blunter.
That’s pretty good! I might just add f*ck you @mikepompeo for co-opting my character to troll @SpeakerPelosi . Be a leader and fight you own fight! Oh, wait I forgot, you’re a follower. https://t.co/EzCtEZmKzJ— Yeardley Smith (@YeardleySmith) February 5, 2020
Now
to call myself a Simpsons fan is a bit of an understatement. On my external
hard drive, I have the first 20 seasons, The Simpsons shorts, and movie. I went
and saw The Simpsons Movie on opening night knowing full well that I had
work the next morning.
So,
if my Chief & LPO from the Vinson are reading this, you have your
answer on why I was zombified the morning of 27 July 2007.
Totally
worth it
In
one of my introduction level political science classes at UNT, we watched a
couple of episodes. At this time, I have this as my pinned tweet expressing my
feelings about the Trump administration.
Don't blame me. I voted for Clinton#Inauguration2017 pic.twitter.com/YLm4oSnPWB— Michael Watts (@mjwatts1983) January 20, 2017
Perhaps Mr. Pompeo hasn’t seen that episode since it aired more than 28 years ago.
Allow me to refresh his memory.
And if he wants, I would be more than happy to provide him a copy of it.
For
those unfamiliar with the episode like Mr. Pompeo, here is a plot synopsis. (Some spoilers
ahead)
“Mr.
Lisa Goes to Washington” aired on 26 September 1991 on the Fox television
network. It is the second episode of the third season and the 37th episode
overall (out of 673 episodes that have aired so far as the show is in its 31st
season).
Lisa
wins a local essay contest and her family receives an all-expenses paid trip to
Washington, DC. Lisa and three other contestants are in the running for the
grand prize of $10,000 (today worth $18,800).
Some
hijinks ensured on their trip.
The
family meets their congressman who gives a boilerplate response to Lisa’s
speech.
Rep.
Arnold:
Well, hi there. You must be Lisa Simpson.
Lisa: Hello, sir.
Rep.
Arnold:
Lisa, you're a doer, and who knows, maybe someday you'll be a congressman or
a senator. We have quite a few women senators, you know. Lisa: Only
two. I checked. (as of now it is 26)
Rep.
Arnold:
(chuckles) You're a sharp one. Well, how about a few pictures?
Lisa
wakes up early on the day of the national contest to see the Winifred Beecher
Howe Memorial. There, she sees her congressman take a bribe from a logging
industry lobbyist who wanted a permit to chop down trees at Springfield
National Forest.
The
same National Forest where Lisa received inspiration for her speech.
Lisa
sees this & adding further insult to injury, the two insult the statue.
She
realizes that she cannot deliver her speech as is because it would serve
purposes that contradict its content as well being a lie. With her eight-year-old
heart crushed and crying her eyes out, she tears up the speech.
Here
is the speech that Lisa tore up, titled “The Roots of Democracy”
“When
America was born on that hot July day in 1776 the trees in Springfield Forest
were tiny saplings, trembling towards the sun. And as they were nourished by
Mother Earth, so too did our fledgling nation find strength in the simple
ideals of equality and justice. Who would have thought such mighty oaks or such
a powerful nation, could grow out of something so fragile, so pure?”
Not
as fiery as Nelson Muntz’s…
And
certainly no “We the Purple”, but Lisa drew parallels to the trees growing at
Springfield National Forest to the nation’s founding. Both the forest & the
country faced its challenges, even times when it looked like it might not
survive. Despite that, both have endured.
Unfortunately,
Mr. Pompeo is part of an administration that is willing to sacrifice our ideals
for the sake of achieving some type of short-term instant gratification instead
of a lasting long-term investment. I can’t tell whether Pompeo is the
congressman or the lobbyist because they are both going for the quick fix; the
congressman for the rush of power or the lobbyist for the rush of making good
on an investment.
And
Mr. Pompeo should know better about surrendering our values given that he was
trained as an Army officer at West Point where cadets are taught there are
ideas and principles worth defending, fighting, and if necessary, sacrificing
for them.
Perhaps
he forgot them upon leaving the Army.
I
may have been out of the Navy for more than a decade but I am willing to defend
those ideas because *SOMEBODY* out there still believes in those ideas as
highlighted in the montage of the other children earlier in the episode giving
speeches at the Veterans of Popular Wars (stand in for VFW) Hall despite the
degradation of those values by this administration and its defenders.
Facing
a crisis of conscience, Lisa wanders the Washington Mall searching for an
answer. She decides to ask Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial only to find
that people are asking him trivial matters.
Lisa
treks to the Jefferson Memorial to ask Thomas Jefferson for advice. Jefferson
doesn’t appreciate that he is the second choice given his accomplishments: The
Declaration of Independence, the Louisiana Purchase, the dumbwaiter
In
his defense, Jefferson might be a *TAD* miffed at Lincoln for issuing the
Emancipation Proclamation & paving the way for the 13th Amendment to
abolish slavery.
Lisa
ends up at the steps of the Capitol as her epiphany morphs into a living
political cartoon.
“The
truth must be told”
Lisa
arrives at the contest and forcefully requests to read a new speech to
which the judge permits.
The
city of Washington was built on a stagnant swamp some 200 years ago and very
little has changed. It stank then and it stinks now. Only today, it is the
fetid stench of corruption that hangs in the air.
And
who did I see taking a bribe, but the “HONORABLE” Bob Arnold. But don't
worry, Congressman, I'm sure you can buy all the votes you need with your dirty
money.
And this will be one nation under the dollar...
…
with liberty and justice for none.
Lisa’s
“Cesspool on the Potomac” holds true today with the blatant corruption of the
Trump administration that Mr. Pompeo has aligned himself with and the willful
hypocrisy of its enablers on full display. Much like those at the awards
banquet, Trump’s supporters boo, catcall, & shun those who are willing to
speak the truth as it collided with their narrow viewpoints and warped sense of
reality.
The
episode ends with the system in action with the congressman being arrested and
expelled from the House.
Unfortunately,
we are stuck with Trump and his administration of sycophants for (hopefully) another
11 months as he took a disgusting victory lap after 52 Republicans voted to
cover for his crimes against the Constitution which he swore to the best of his ability to preserve, protect and defend.
Of course, if you knew Trump, any promise from him is worthless to begin with.
The episode
ends on a rather hopeful note. Trong Van Dinh, an East Asian immigrant, shares
what his views of America as being the land of opportunity that has given his
family.
When
my family arrived in this country four months ago, we spoke no English and had
no money in our pockets. Today, we own a nationwide chain of wheel-balancing
centers. Where else but in America – or possibly Canada – could our family find
such opportunity? That's why whenever I see the stars and stripes, I'll always
be reminded of that wonderful word: “Flag.”
Trong
wins the contest but acknowledges Lisa’s contribution.
Miss
Crowley, thank you for this oversized novelty check. I would like share this
honor with all of my fellow essayists, particularly the courageous Lisa Simpson,
whose inflammatory rhetoric reminded us that the price of freedom is eternal
vigilance.
Earlier
in the episode Lisa is struggling to find the spark for her essay by asking
what would Benjamin Franklin say if he were alive today. At the Constitutional
Convention’s conclusion at Philadelphia in September 1787, Franklin was asked
what the delegates had created in Independence Hall.
Franklin,
known for his brevity, replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
I
think Lisa found the answer to her prompt with both “The Roots of Democracy” and “Cesspool
on The Potomac.” Her first speech – a little more crowd pleasing – is the
republic that Franklin said the framers established while Cesspool is the if
you can keep it portion of the quote. The first three words of the US
Constitution is “We the People” and it will take those that care enough, like
Lisa was to expose her congressman for taking a bribe to cut down a forest, to
cast Trump and his administration to history’s garbage heap of terrible ideas.
Her
older brother Bart was certainly inspired by her words.
Even
he – the underachiever and proud of it – got the point of Lisa’s speech.
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