Shirley Tipsy

The Majestic First Amendment

If you’ve never seen the movie “The Majestic” you really ought to. It’s a great movie and it’s one of the only Jim Carrey movies where he accurately displays his true acting potential. The final scene of the movie involves Jim’s character having to go before a Government committee to defend himself against allegations of being a Communist (it’s set in the 1940’s). Anyway, I have always found his speech in this scene to be particularly moving and it really explains the way I feel about our country at times. I thought I would share his speech here:

“The fact is, I’ve never been a man of great conviction. I never saw the percentage in it. Quite frankly, I suppose, I lacked the courage. See I’m not like Luke Trimble; he had the market cornered on those things. I never met the guy but I feel like I’ve gotten to know him. The thing is, I can’t help wondering what he’d say if he were standing here right now. 

You know I think he’d probably tell you that the America represented in this room is not the America he died defending. I think he’d tell you that your America is bitter and cruel and small. I know for a fact that his America was big, bigger than you can imagine, with a wide open heart. Where every person has a voice, even if you don’t like what they have to say.

If he were here, I wonder how you’d respond if you could explain to him what happened to his America.

But there is another amendment that I would like to invoke. I wonder if anyone here is familiar with it.

‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for a re-dress of grievances.’

It’s the first amendment Mr. Chairman; it’s what we’re all about, if only we’d live up to it! It’s the most important part of the contract every citizen has with this country. And even though these contracts; the Constitution and the Bill of rights, even though they’re just pieces of paper with signatures on them, they’re the only contracts we have that are most definitely not subject to renegotiation. Not by you Mr. Chairman, not by you Mr. Clyde, not by anyone, ever.

Too many people have paid for this contract in blood. People like Luke Trimble and all the sons of Lawson, California. Let me get right down to it fella’s, that’s all I really have to say to this committee.”