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ples of base ineptness or immorality can be found in Bob Roberts (1992) which covers, in mock-documen- tary style, the rise of a national demagogue in the form of a conservative troubadour (Tim Robbins) running for the Senate in Pennsylvania. In the futuristic Time Cop (1994) a corrupt senator (Ron Silver) looks to take down the government and become dictator. en there is the lascscivious Florida congressman (Burt Reynolds) in Striptease (1996) who heads the fictitious "Subcom- mittee on Sugar." Or Bulworth (1998), where the epony- omous senator (played by Warren Beatty) is so politi- cally disaffected that he hires a hitman to kill him. Or the mousy environ-nerd Sen. Finisterre (William H. Macy) in ank You for Smoking (2006), pathetically challeng- ing the tobacco industry. Or the slick right-winger Sen. Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) who (somehow) generates his own privately-funded anti-terrorism force in Afghan- istan in Lions for Lambs (2007). In the last 75 years of U.S. cinema, only a handful of national legislators have been lead characters portrayed as positive or realistic role models. Way back when, there was the sweet but politically astute Swede who becomes a congresswoman played by Loretta Young in e Farmer's Daughter (1947) and the decent, scan- dal-free Rep. Gresham played by Van Johnson in the little-seen Washington Story (1952). e Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) showed a rounded portrait of a believ- able and flawed senator played by Alan Alda, and e Contender (2000) likewise had a credible Senate figure at its center, Sen. Laine Hanson, played understatedly and persuasively by Joan Allen. at's about it. None of the films mentioned in the above paragraph, by the way, were big hits. ***** e focus on Washington, D.C. as a source for Holly- wood's entertainment stories will probably continue to grow, continuing a trend from at least 1990, as our national politics, much more visible on many more out- lets, continues to blend more thoroughly into our manic media environment. What probably will not change is the use of the facile shorthand of the Capitol Dome as the instant symbol of the city—rising majestically above its greensward—and the ongoing censure and mocking of the human machinations that take place below that Dome's loy confines. MIKE CANNING has reviewed movies over 25 years for the Hill Rag newspaper on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., where he has made his home since 1965. He is also a freelance writer on film, public affairs, and politics and has written oen on the depiction of Washington pol- itics and the U.S. Congress in American feature films. His writings led to a commission for his book, Holly- wood on the Potomac: How the Movies View Washing- ton, DC, published by the Friends of Southeast Library (F.O.S.E.L.) on Capitol Hill and from which some of the material in this essay is adapted. In his first life Canning was a Foreign Service Officer for 28 years, working as a press and cultural officer in eight countries on four continents. Fig. 12. Anticipating the image from e Distinguished Gentleman by 30 years, the poster for Advise and Con- sent shows the lid coming off a scandal-ridden Capitol (1962). THE CAPITOL DOME 14