A REAL Mr. Smith goes to Washington!

The appointment of John “Jack” Smith as special counsel

By Byron Toben

November 23, 2022

One of my favourite film directors is Frank Capra. In 1939, he made the film Mr. Smith Goes To Washington wherein the young Jimmy Stewart played the fictional character “Jefferson Smith”, a boy scout leader nominated by the governor of his state to fill a vacant Senatorial seat in Washington. His honesty and naïveté collide with the interests of other senators who hope to profit from secret information as to the location of a proposed dam in his state where Mr. Smith is proposing a national boy’s town.

The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won one (for original story).

In 1946, Stewart went on to star in Capra’s great Christmas film It’s A Wonderful Life.

Special counsel Jack Smith – Image: U.S. Department of Justice

Fast forward to 2022 and a real John “Jack” Smith is appointed by the U.S. Attorney General to go to Washington as a “special counsel” to recommend whether or not to institute proceedings against persons, including a former president, for various insider actions.

The real Mr. Smith is not naïve nor inexperienced, having a background in such matters state-wide, national and international, and is widely respected as an honest and objective person.

The president involved in this real-life situation immediately ranted that the appointee is a far-leftist socialist, playing his usual victim card.

The real Mr. Smith is not naïve nor inexperienced, having a background in such matters state-wide, national and international, and is widely respected as an honest and objective person.

The fictional Mr. Smith prevailed on the power of his arguments leading to a confession by the key wrongdoer. Do not expect such reversal of the cliché that “truth is stranger than fiction,” originally quoted by Lord Byron and popularized by Mark Twain on the grounds that fiction has to make sense, but truth doesn’t.

Hopefully, in the end, “the truth will out.” (Shakespeare)

Good luck, real Mr. Smith, so we all can enjoy a wonderful life after Christmas.

Feature image: scene from Mr. Smith Goes To Washington, Columbia Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.