You see, boys forget what their country means by just reading The Land of the Free in history books. Then they get to be men they forget even more. Liberty’s too precious a thing to be buried in books, Miss Saunders. Men should hold it up in front of them every single day of their lives and say: I’m free to think and to speak. My ancestors couldn’t, I can, and my children will. Boys ought to grow up remembering that.
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 in this world today of great hatred a man who knows that rule has a great trust. You know that rule Mr. Paine and I loved you for it just as my father did. And you know that you fight harder for the lost causes than for any others. Yes you’d even die for them. Like a man we both knew Mr. Paine. You think I’m licked. You all think I’m licked. Well I’m not licked. And I’m gonna stay right here and fight for this lost cause. Even if this room gets filled with lies like these. And the Taylors and all their armies come marching into this place. Somebody will listen to 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!
Well, I guess the gentlemen are in a pretty tall hurry to get me out of here. The way the evidence has piled up against me, I can’t say I blame them much. And I’m quite willing to go, sir, when they vote it that way – but before that happens I’ve got a few things I want to say to this body. I tried to say them once before, and I got stopped colder than a mackerel. Well, I’d like to get them said this time, sir. And as a matter of fact, I’m not going to leave this body until I do get them said.
Mr. President, I stand guilty as FRAMED! Because section 40 is graft! And I was ready to say so, I was ready to tell you that a certain man in my state, a Mr. James Taylor, wanted to put through this dam for his own profit. A man who controls a political machine! And controls everything else worth controlling in my state. Yes, and a man even powerful enough to control Congressmen – and I saw three of them in his room the day I went up to see him!
No, sir, I will not yield! And this same man, Mr. James Taylor, came down here and offered me a seat in this Senate for the next 20 years if I voted for a dam that he knew, and I knew, was a fraud. But if I dared to open my mouth against that dam, he promised to break me in two.
My Dad had the right idea. He had it all worked out. He used to say to me, “Son, don’t miss the wonders that surround you; because, every tree, every rock, every ant hill, every star is filled with the wonders of nature.” And, he used to say to me, “Have you ever noticed how grateful you are to see daylight again after coming through a long, dark tunnel?” Well, he’d say, “Always try to see life around you, as if you’d just come out a tunnel.”
I always get a great kick out of that part of the Declaration of Independence. You’re not gonna have a country where these kind of rules work, if you haven’t got men that have learned to tell human rights from a punch in the nose.
It’s a funny thing about men. They all start out being boys. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these Senators were boys once. That’s why it seemed like a pretty good idea to get boys out of the crowded cities and stuffy basements for a couple of months out of the year. Build their bodies and minds for a man-sized job. Those boys will be sitting behind these desks some day. Yes, it seemed like a pretty good idea – boys from all over the country, of all nationalities and ways of life, getting together and finding out what makes different people tick the way they do. Because I wouldn’t give you two cents for all your fancy rules if, behind them, they didn’t have a little bit of plain, ordinary, everyday kindness… and a little looking out for the other fella, too. That’s pretty important, all that. It’s just the blood, bone and sinew of this democracy that some great men handed down to the human race, that’s all! But, of course, if you’ve got to build a dam where a boys’ camp ought to be to get some graft to pay off some political army or something, why that’s different!
No, sir! If you think I’ll go back and tell those boys in my state, “Forget it, fellas. Everything I’ve told you about the land you live in is a lot of hooey. It isn’t your country – it belongs to the James Taylors!” Not me! Anybody who thinks that has got another think coming!
I-I-I don’t think I’ve ever been so thrilled in my whole life. And that Lincoln Memorial! Gee whiz. That Mr. Lincoln, there he is. He’s just lookin’ right straight at you as you come right up those steps. Just – just sitting there, like he was waiting for somebody to come along.
