Subscribe to the IHARE Blog

Howard Baker

Gladiator versus the American Senate

July 30, 2025
by Peter Feinman
John McCain Goes into the Arena and demonstrates the right stuff

Is Rome worth one good man’s life? We believed it once. Make us believe it again. He was a soldier of Rome. Honor him.

Senator Gracchus: Who will help me carry him?

[Gladiators surround Maximus to carry him out of the arena]

“Gladiator” is remembered as an epic story of great heroism. Such movies of male heroics are a vanishing genre. Certainly the movies of the super-doers are not practitioners of movies where heroic human males function. Tom Cruise is almost the last of a dying breed of male heroes on the film screen. And he still does his own stunts.

In an easily-overlooked substrata of “Gladiator,” the Roman Senate, also featured in “Spartacus,” is challenged to lead Rome back from imperial rule to the days of the Roman Republic. Historically, nothing like that happened. The die was cast when Augustus became emperor and Rome remained an emperor. Still, this was a movie that used some historically real names but was not telling an historically real story. “Spartacus” was based on a real person but “Gladiator” was not. Still it sang the praises of the Roman Senate rising to the occasion just as e imagine the American Senate would

Once upon a time, the American Senate was held in high regard. For roughly over two decades from the 1820s to the 1840s, a trio of giants with presidential ambitions roamed the Senate floor. Daniel Webster of New England, John C. Calhoun of the Confederacy, and Henry Clay of the West were always on the ballot and sometimes becoming Vice President without ever taking that final step.

This year we celebrate the bicentennial of Webster’s address at the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1825. Lafayette helped set the cornerstone (and visited Bunker Hill on the bicentennial celebration of his visit). He spoke again in 1843 when the monument was completed. These speeches bracketed his stature as an American hero.

Webster’s famed endured for another century. “The Devil and Daniel Webster” a short story in 1936 by Stephen Vincent Benet became a play in 1938 and then a movie in 1941. To make a short story even shorter, Webster defends a New England farmer who has sold his soul for earthly rewards. The jury is stacked against Webster with the leading reprobates in American history (as of that time). Nonetheless, Webster prevails.

While all this was going on, a specifically American Senate movie gained national attention. The move “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” (1939), was a fable by Frank Capra about right will triumph even over the corrupt Senate, perhaps an even more evil for than the one Webster faced. In this case the hero is the naïve James Stewart who is appointed to the Senate to fill a vacancy due to a death. He is out of his league. He is ridiculed by the press and exploited by the corrupt senior Senator from his state whom Smith regards as a mentor. To escape the trap, Smith speaks for about 25 hours non-stop in the Senate before passing out. He convinces none of the corrupt Senators of the deal the senior Senator has concocted. Finally comes the most absurd part of the story. The senior Senator is overcome with remorse, flees the Senate chambers, and attempts suicide. He then returns to the Senate chambers, confesses his sins, and demands to be expelled.

The movie is considered to be one of the greatest films of all time. It was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the first 25 films for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1989, for its significance. Given the impact of Cory Booker’s 25-hour and 5-minute on the floor of the Senate in 2025, it is hard to imagine anyone taking “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” seriously today.

Shortly after the fictional Mr. Smith goes to Washington, on June 1, 1950, Senator Margaret Chase Smith (R-ME) delivered her famous Declaration of Conscience, standing up to Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-WI), who was smearing Democrats as communists. “I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul searching and to weigh our consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges,” she said. “I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear.”

Now it’s the President and his minions who are doing exactly what Margaret Smith chastised Republicans about.

There are two heroic images of Senators which have become part of American history since then. In the first. Howard Baker (Republican, Tennessee), leads a delegation to confront President Richard Nixon during the Watergate crisis. The message is clear: time’s up, it’s time to go. Nixon complies and resigns in what become the “Howard Baker Moment.”

The second is when John McCain (Republican, Arizona) gives the thumbs down on July 27, 2017, to the Republican effort to gut Obamacare. Little did he know that seven years later the MAGA assault in the Big Ugly Bill would prevail.

Senate GOP confirms Trump’s DOJ ‘hatchet man’ for lifetime judgeship

Perhaps the most recent display of the degeneracy of the American Senate occurred in the 50-49 ratification of Emil Bove to a lifetime federal judgeship. The approval came despite whistleblower reports raised against him and nearly 1000 former prosecutors plus dozens of state and federal judges opposing his nomination.

During his stint in the Department of Justice he personally fired attorneys involved in the prosecution of the people who sought to overthrow the government on January 6. He forced others to resign and demanded a list of FBI agents to fire for political reasons. He appears to support defying court orders and doing so in derogatory language. It seems as if Trump finally has his Roy Cohn who will do whatever it takes. Speculation is that he is being groomed for a position on the Supreme Court. Unless MAGAs lose control of the Senate, if that’s what Trump wants then that is what will happen.

“Now imagine a second Trump presidency, during which dozens more Aileen Cannons are appointed to the courts—dozens more minimally qualified people who believe their role is to defend the president or avenge his enemies, not to defend the rule of law (Anne Applebaum, “The End of Judicial Independence,” The Atlantic, October 2024).

WE THE PEOPLE

As things stand now, We the People” can’t look to the House or the Senate for leadership in building a better tomorrow. The Senate’s vaunted image as the “the greatest deliberative body on earth” has been destroyed by the relentless assault on its powers by the President of the United States and by the complete capitulation of the MAGAs to the supreme MAGA. It is not a political body to be respected in real life or in the movies. Its giants are dead.

National Emergency Crisis: The Howard Baker Moment Is Now

January 11, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Canadian Terrorist Burning of the White House during the War of 1812 (Columbia Pictures)

During the course of American history, the country has faced many national emergency crises.

During the War of 1812, Canada burned the White House and the Pentagon in its terrorist assault on the country. To pour fuel on the fire, almost two centuries later Canada imposed on its weaker southern neighbor the worst economic treaty in American history. It is only when our Lord and Savior ascended to the Oval Office, that he rectified the wrong with the greatest economic treaty in American history….although he had to shut down the government to get Congress to pass NAFTA II.

Turning now from the alternate reality to the real world, there have been national emergency crises that tested the mettle of the Oval Office occupant.

The Day of Infamy.

The Cuban Missile Crisis.

9/11.

Each of one these events became a defining moment for the American President. They became the events through which the American people saw whether the President had the right stuff to rise to the occasion and safely steer the ship of state. They became the events historians would study and school kids would learn in districts where American history is still taught. What they all had in common was that the threat to the country came from outside, the crisis was foreign-generated.

Sometimes the crisis could be economic in nature:

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.”

Sometimes the crisis could be in nature:

“Heckuva job, Brownie.”

For better and for worse these events also became defining ones of the President. Who can forget the picture of the President of the United States having fun tossing rolls of paper towels in Puerto Rico?

“Wee. I’m having fun. It’s all about me. Wee!”

Through this photo-op, We the People had the opportunity to see for ourselves how the current occupant proved he was an A+ president with this heroic display of leadership.

Now we come to the current national emergency crisis. At this point, it is no secret that “Build a Wall!” was a great campaign gimmick to shout in professional wrestling arenas. The call and response of who was going to pay for the Great Wall of Trump was an added bonus. The audience really got into the show that was being presented just as it does at a real professional wrestling match only this time they apparently thought it was real.

One of in the indelible images of the campaign, at least for me although I have not seen it replayed on the cable talk shows, occurred after the Mexican President stated that Mexico would not, in fact, pay for the wall. At the professional wrestling arena campaign event, the immature child responded to Mexico in true hissy fit fashion:

Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
Oh yeah.
You are going to pay and the wall is going to be ten feet higher!

Many people have forgotten that campaign promise to build the wall ten feet higher. What made the moment indelible was the young white man sitting behind him and to his right. When Little Donnee Wannee declared that Mexico not only would pay for the wall but that it would be ten feet higher, this young white man leaped to his feet and thrust his arm to the heavens. It was a great display of the perfect con at work. One wonders how this individual feels now knowing that there never was any expectation that Mexico would pay for the wall and it would be the expense of the American taxpayer if built.

What began as a fraudulent con now has become real. Back in December, the wall looked like it would slide into the abyss never to be constructed. Nothing had happened in two years. The route had not been documented the way the Alaskan Pipeline was before it had been constructed. Eminent domain proceedings had not been initiated to seize the private property along the planned route. Environmental plans had not been filed. I don’t even know if a final design had been selected yet alone one that was ten feet higher. All in all, the world’s worst manager had demonstrated how he had been a serial failure in business by doing nothing to prepare for the construction of the wall in event Congress did approve it.

Following the 2018 election, it looked like time was running out. December was the last opportunity to pass a spending bill with a Republican majority in the House. When the weeny President caved, Ann Coulter was there to provide him the “backbone” that he lacked. Now it was an issue. The line had been drawn in the sand and he would not back down.

There is a saying that when you are in a hole, stop digging. That adage does not apply to this President. After all, he is a winner, He never loses. He won the election in 2016 including the popular vote since all the illegal votes for Crooked Hillary should not have been counted. He won the election in 2018 since he added two seats in the Senate and loss fewer seats in the House than Obama had. That was true on Election night when the losses were only in the 20s and remained true as they creeped up and reached 40. Hannity told him so.

The talking heads often talk about how he needs to show his Republican base that he is fighting for them. That misses the point.

The talking heads often talk about how he needs to placate Fox, Ann, and Rush. That misses the point.

The reason why this truly is a national emergency crisis is because he has to show to himself that he is a winner and not a loser. Even though the wall started as a campaign gimmick it now has become the measure of whether he is a winner or not.  If the wall is not built then NanChuck won and he lost. That is unacceptable. Therefore the wall will be built no matter what, no matter what it takes for him to build it even if the government remains shut down months or years or he has the military build it. NanChuck have left him no other choice but to play the national emergency card.

On one level, the national emergency crisis provides an easy way to end the government shutdown. The Senate could immediate pass all the funding bills submitted by the House or the one it passed in December with no funding for the wall. After, the funding is being taken care of through the military due to the national emergency crisis. Therefore the spending bills to reopen the government could be passed and signed into law right away.

Lawsuits would gum up this process. We know that the military is not ready to build the wall. We know that despite all the fuss about their being a crisis RIGHT NOW, nothing would happen right now. We know that Captain Chaotica does not have the mental necessities to manage such a construction project. But at least if it appeared that the national emergency crisis was underway with the military charged with building it, the justification for shutting down the government would be over. A lawsuit stopping that process also would continue the shutdown of the government since no spending bill would be signed if no building was authorized.

Now we come to the Howard Baker moment. Mitch McConnell is no Howard Baker. Mitch McConnell will never be a profile in courage. Mitch McConnell will never rise to the occasion. But the Howard Baker moment is not about a Senator or Senators going to the President, it is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell. It is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying enough is enough. It is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying the needs of the country come first. It is about Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying the Republican Party cannot afford another victory like the one in 2018. It is about the Republican Senators going to Mitch McConnell and saying we must pass veto-proof spending bills with no spending for the wall and PASS IT RIGHT NOW BECAUSE THERE IS A NATIONAL EMERGENCY CRISIS AND IT IS THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN.

Will the Republican Senators rise to the occasion and provide the leadership We the People need?