Last night I saw “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” the perfect parable for how media has changed. No evil Mr. Taylor could keep Smith’s speeches on the floor of the Senate secret anymore.
C-SPAN would have a camera going and someone a page would be live tweeting the filibuster word for word. Mr. Taylor would not be able to order the papers to do his bidding. He would have to be working the big ones, crafting the message that Mr. Smith is holding up a work bill instead of trying to fight corruption. And the villain would probably be successful despite our technology but without having to rough up kids trying to put out an indie paper. Anyway, Mr. Smith would be too worried about reelection to oppose the dam where he wants to put his $28 million dollar, state-of the-art tech boys (and girls — this is the 21st Century) camp. So the two sides would cut a deal on earmarks and call it a day at the Hawk and Dove, while their aides draft a press release.
