Restore the constitution, Al Gore for President
| Senator Feingold has promised to fix the Patriot Act after the Senate recess. That is a little like fixing small pox. Of all the possible Democratic contenders, only Al Gore has called for the repeal of the Patriot Act. This is the same Al Gore who knew the Iraq War would be a disaster. This is the same Al Gore who has been consistently right about everything since the theft of 2000. If we want to halt the cycle of defeat so brilliantly described by Peter Daou we need a leader free of all illusions about the nature of our opposition of the uselessness of our press. We need Al Gore. |
Posted by Alice | 3:10 AM | 
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Comments on "Restore the constitution, Al Gore for President"
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NL (@ 12/27/2005 1:21 PM) said:
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Alice (@ 12/27/2005 1:31 PM) said:
Post a commentHi Alice,
good to see you.
Just wanted to post link to another speech by Al Gore on the PATRIOT Act.
Freedom and security: speech by Former Vice-President Al Gore, November 9, 2003. Speech transcript.
An excerpt from that speech:
Finally, I have studied the Patriot Act and have found that along with its many excesses, it contains a few needed changes in the law. And it is certainly true that many of the worst abuses of due process and civil liberties that are now occurring are taking place under the color of laws and executive orders other than the Patriot Act.
Nevertheless, I believe the Patriot Act has turned out to be, on balance, a terrible mistake, and that it became a kind of Tonkin Gulf Resolution conferring Congress's blessing for this President's assault on civil liberties. Therefore, I believe strongly that the few good features of this law should be passed again in a new, smaller law --- but that the Patriot Act must be repealed.
As John Adams wrote in 1780, ours is a government of laws and not of men. What is at stake today is that defining principle of our nation, and thus the very nature of America. As the Supreme Court has written, "Our Constitution is a covenant running from the first generation of Americans to us and then to future generations." The Constitution includes no wartime exception, though its Framers knew well the reality of war. And, as Justice Holmes reminded us shortly after World War I, the Constitution's principles only have value if we apply them in the difficult times as well as those where it matters less.
The question before us could be of no greater moment: will we continue to live as a people under the rule of law as embodied in our Constitution? Or will we fail future generations, by leaving them a Constitution far diminished from the charter of liberty we have inherited from our forebears? Our choice is clear.
thanks for the post.
NL
Thank you, that was the speech I was looking for, but not very handy with search engines.
I hope to be posting on a daily basis from now on. Every other candidate pales by comparison.