Al Gore's Speech on Bush

[WinSkins]

Bush isn't running anymore. Actually, if the crats get back into power next year- the first order of business will be the impeachment and removal of George W Bush and Dick Cheney. Then we can have Nancy P. as pres for 2 years. Now, wouldn't that be special. :laugh:

Actually the current Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, a republican from Illinois would be President under the circumstances you described.

[Leonard Washington]

i read part of this and saw some on tv tonight. my comments:

1. good content by gore but their choice of words have no guts and seem almost apologetic at times

2. its crazy to think that illegal wiretaps, imprisonments etc don't happen in the US in the spirit of national security, public safety, and conspiracy....i can't believe bush was stupid enough to admit he called for it regardless of the motivation. :doh: maybe bush should watch 24 and say just get it done but don't tell me how you did it.

[PokerPacker]

out of curiosity, what makes gas prices bush's fault? did he cause god to smite new orleans with a hurricane?

[PokerPacker]

Bush isn't running anymore. Actually, if the crats get back into power next year- the first order of business will be the impeachment and removal of George W Bush and Dick Cheney. Then we can have Nancy P. as pres for 2 years. Now, wouldn't that be special. :laugh:

you know, impeachment will only get rid of bush, which will leave the office in the hands of cheney, do you want that?

[WinSkins]

Gotta check with Pat Robertson with that question...since you live so close to Virginia Beach can we count on you check this one out?

[chomerics]

i read part of this and saw some on tv tonight. my comments:

1. good content by gore but their choice of words have no guts and seem almost apologetic at times

2. its crazy to think that illegal wiretaps, imprisonments etc don't happen in the US in the spirit of national security, public safety, and conspiracy....i can't believe bush was stupid enough to admit he called for it regardless of the motivation. :doh: maybe bush should watch 24 and say just get it done but don't tell me how you did it.

Leonard, the president illegally spied on Americans, this is outside of his constitutional authority, and it is breaking the law. He trampled all over the Bill of Rights, it's not a simple we'll he's gotta do it, it's specifically overstepping his bounds as commander in chief, and commiting an illegal act. Then to top it off, he admits it and says he's going to continue to do so :doh:

here is the last bit. . .

I endorse the words of Bob Barr, when he said, "The President has dared the American people to do something about it. For the sake of the Constitution, I hope they will."

A special counsel should immediately be appointed by the Attorney General to remedy the obvious conflict of interest that prevents him from investigating what many believe are serious violations of law by the President. We have had a fresh demonstration of how an independent investigation by a special counsel with integrity can rebuild confidence in our system of justice. Patrick Fitzgerald has, by all accounts, shown neither fear nor favor in pursuing allegations that the Executive Branch has violated other laws.

Republican as well as Democratic members of Congress should support the bipartisan call of the Liberty Coalition for the appointment of a special counsel to pursue the criminal issues raised by warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the President.

Second, new whistleblower protections should immediately be established for members of the Executive Branch who report evidence of wrongdoing -- especially where it involves the abuse of Executive Branch authority in the sensitive areas of national security.

Third, both Houses of Congress should hold comprehensive-and not just superficial-hearings into these serious allegations of criminal behavior on the part of the President. And, they should follow the evidence wherever it leads.

Fourth, the extensive new powers requested by the Executive Branch in its proposal to extend and enlarge the Patriot Act should, under no circumstances be granted, unless and until there are adequate and enforceable safeguards to protect the Constitution and the rights of the American people against the kinds of abuses that have so recently been revealed.

Fifth, any telecommunications company that has provided the government with access to private information concerning the communications of Americans without a proper warrant should immediately cease and desist their complicity in this apparently illegal invasion of the privacy of American citizens.

Freedom of communication is an essential prerequisite for the restoration of the health of our democracy.

It is particularly important that the freedom of the Internet be protected against either the encroachment of government or the efforts at control by large media conglomerates. The future of our democracy depends on it.

I mentioned that along with cause for concern, there is reason for hope. As I stand here today, I am filled with optimism that America is on the eve of a golden age in which the vitality of our democracy will be re-established and will flourish more vibrantly than ever. Indeed I can feel it in this hall.

As Dr. King once said, "Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us."

[Temple]

Actually the current Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, a republican from Illinois would be President under the circumstances you described.

Hastert wouldn't remain as speaker if the Democrats won control of the house...

[Thiebear]

How is Gore qualified to talk about this with Bush.

I didnt see him coming out against himself and Clinton?

They got Aldridge and I was happy about it.

Bush is doing it to incoming calls from out of the country to suspected terrorist personnel and I like it. (we find out he's wiretapping anyone outside of that like say 400 democrats then its impeachment time).

Well received.... by whom then Chomerics.. you?

[Leonard Washington]

Leonard, the president illegally spied on Americans, this is outside of his constitutional authority, and it is breaking the law. He trampled all over the Bill of Rights, it's not a simple we'll he's gotta do it, it's specifically overstepping his bounds as commander in chief, and commiting an illegal act. Then to top it off, he admits it and says he's going to continue to do so :doh:

here is the last bit. . .

hey i'm not arguing against what bush is doing is wrong. but it's naive to think this is the first administration to do it on some level. bush just further confirmed he's an idiot by coming out and putting 42 other presidents on front street with his proclaimation.

gore may also be foolish to use this as a political tool since republicans are smart enough to concoct or actually find a paper trail of illegal activities to his adminisitration with clinton.

[Larry]

It stems from your assertation that his speech was "well received" By whom, a few select whack jobs that were out protesting by day and going to $1000 a plate dinners by night?

The stuff I posted is AL's kinda crowd anyway

No, the stuff you posted is your usual childish name-calling. I'm willing to bet you, right here, with no evidence whatsoever other than the credibility of the poster, that not one single one of those pictures came from that event.

Kind of like your candidate, huh? All I have to do is see your name, and I know it's a lie.

And considering the track record of King George when it comes to "public" events, I don't think I'd accuse somebody else of preaching to a hand-picked chior. At least this particulat "sermon" appeared to actually be based on fact, and contained logical arguments. (At least, the first three pages, which I read. GEEZ, this guy could talk a horse to death.)

[Larry]

Actually the current Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert, a republican from Illinois would be President under the circumstances you described.

Now there you go trying to bring the Constitution into a Republican boogeyman discussion.

[nelms]

Leonard, the president illegally spied on Americans, this is outside of his constitutional authority, and it is breaking the law. He trampled all over the Bill of Rights, it's not a simple we'll he's gotta do it, it's specifically overstepping his bounds as commander in chief, and commiting an illegal act. Then to top it off, he admits it and says he's going to continue to do so :doh:

According to who, you? :doh: :doh: :doh:

The tide is changing, and I think he's going to be the one to rally everyone together. He grew a personality after the last election, it was something he was completely lacking.The tide is changing, and I think he's going to be the one to rally everyone together. He grew a personality after the last election, it was something he was completely lacking.

Wow, you have completely lost it. And what's up with Gore's lisp? It's gotten worse over the years. He's starting to sound like Barney Frank.

[Larry]

How is Gore qualified to talk about this with Bush.

I didnt see him coming out against himself and Clinton?

They got Aldridge and I was happy about it.

Bush is doing it to incoming calls from out of the country to suspected terrorist personnel and I like it. (we find out he's wiretapping anyone outside of that like say 400 democrats then its impeachment time).

Well received.... by whom then Chomerics.. you?

Actually, what I've seen so far indicates that Bush is "doing it" to every single person in the US, without any suspicion whatsoever.

(If he had any reason for suspicion, then he could have followed the law. The only reason for breaking the law is that he didn't have any reason.)

[luckydevil]

How is Gore qualified to talk about this with Bush.

I didnt see him coming out against himself and Clinton?

Good post. He really isn't qualified; in fact he is a fraud.

While I am glad many democrats are speaking out against this administration, where were they in the 90's (most of them were defending Clinton's power grab). NSA domestic spying didn't start with Bush. Most people really have no clue how much of the groundwork for the Patriot Act was laid by the Clinton Administration. Some of the most frightening powers exercised by this administration did not come from the Patriot Act, but from the Clinton-era legislation

[Thiebear]

Actually, what I've seen so far indicates that Bush is "doing it" to every single person in the US, without any suspicion whatsoever.

(If he had any reason for suspicion, then he could have followed the law. The only reason for breaking the law is that he didn't have any reason.)

I thought it was 2700-5000 ish wire taps since 2001 with the numbers going down a bit each year? 700 last year? (not sure, am trying to remember article i read)...

The ACLU is going to sue the NSA representing a bunch of people that frequently call the middle east.. (so its taken care of )

[Destino]

Well received.... by whom then Chomerics.. you?

You mind pointing out the part of the speech that wouldn't be well received by democrats, including moderates? Obviously the speech wouldn't be well received by GOPers, the only time a democrat is is when he's not really a democrat anymore and is stumping for the GOP at thier convention.

[Mufumonk]

I think he's the next president.

We can only hope.

[Thiebear]

You mind pointing out the part of the speech that wouldn't be well received by democrats, including moderates? Obviously the speech wouldn't be well received by GOPers, the only time a democrat is is when he's not really a democrat anymore and is stumping for the GOP at thier convention.

o.k.

So, many of us have come here to Constitution Hall to sound an alarm and call upon our fellow citizens to put aside partisan differences and join with us in demanding that our Constitution be defended and preserved.

It is appropriate that we make this appeal on the day our nation has set aside to honor the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who challenged America to breathe new life into our oldest values by extending its promise to all our people.

On this particular Martin Luther King Day, it is especially important to recall that for the last several years of his life, Dr. King was illegally wiretapped-one of hundreds of thousands of Americans whose private communications were intercepted by the U.S. government during this period.

The FBI privately called King the "most dangerous and effective negro leader in the country" and vowed to "take him off his pedestal." The government even attempted to destroy his marriage and blackmail him into committing suicide.

This campaign continued until Dr. King's murder. The discovery that the FBI conducted a long-running and extensive campaign of secret electronic surveillance designed to infiltrate the inner workings of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and to learn the most intimate details of Dr. King's life, helped to convince Congress to enact restrictions on wiretapping.

The result was the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA), which was enacted expressly to ensure that foreign intelligence surveillance would be presented to an impartial judge to verify that there is a sufficient cause for the surveillance. I voted for that law during my first term in Congress and for almost thirty years the system has proven a workable and valued means of according a level of protection for private citizens, while permitting foreign surveillance to continue.

Yet, just one month ago, Americans awoke to the shocking news that in spite of this long settled law, the Executive Branch has been secretly spying on large numbers of Americans for the last four years and eavesdropping on "large volumes of telephone calls, e-mail messages, and other Internet traffic inside the United States." The New York Times reported that the President decided to launch this massive eavesdropping program "without search warrants or any new laws that would permit such domestic intelligence collection."

How about Gore using MLK day to say Bush did the same thing Gore did and on an on about the executive branch... hypocritical and demeaning to MLK day as it was not REAL, it was staged and any Democrat/Republican/Independant should see it that way.

[WinSkins]

Hastert wouldn't remain as speaker if the Democrats won control of the house...

Correct, but that premise (Democrats regaining control of the House) was not presented in the original circumstances and seems highly unlikely as well given the current numerical advantage.

[Destino]

o.k.

How about Gore using MLK day to say Bush did the same thing Gore did and on an on about the executive branch... hypocritical and demeaning to MLK day as it was not REAL, it was staged and any Democrat/Republican/Independant should see it that way.

Are the origins of the anti-wire tapping laws in part related to MLK? Yes they are. So then reasonably wouldn't this be a supremely relevent day in which to discuss this?

If you don't like what he has to say, fine. But I don't see your calling this a cheap use of MLK day as a valid argument. The historic connection between the man and the current debate appears to be pretty strong.

[Taylor 36]

A. THE WIRE TAPPING WAS/IS NOT ILLEGAL

B. I could give a speech on the values of child molestation to the MBLA and have it be well received.

[Destino]

B. I could give a speech on the values of child molestation to the MBLA and have it be well received.

You could???? That's pretty gross.

[Thinking Skins]

A. THE WIRE TAPPING WAS/IS NOT ILLEGAL

Then why will he not let it stand before a courtroom and judge and prove that its not illegal?

Even it what Bush is doing is not illegal RIGHT NOW. Gore does a good job of stating the power that Bush has given itself and how this power can become tyranny:

Can it be true that any president really has such powers under our Constitution? If the answer is "yes" then under the theory by which these acts are committed, are there any acts that can on their face be prohibited? If the President has the inherent authority to eavesdrop, imprison citizens on his own declaration, kidnap and torture, then what can't he do?

The Dean of Yale Law School, Harold Koh, said after analyzing the Executive Branch's claims of these previously unrecognized powers: "If the President has commander-in-chief power to commit torture, he has the power to commit genocide, to sanction slavery, to promote apartheid, to license summary execution."

Once violated, the rule of law is in danger. Unless stopped, lawlessness grows. The greater the power of the executive grows, the more difficult it becomes for the other branches to perform their constitutional roles. As the executive acts outside its constitutionally prescribed role and is able to control access to information that would expose its actions, it becomes increasingly difficult for the other branches to police it. Once that ability is lost, democracy itself is threatened and we become a government of men and not laws.

Moreover, if the pattern of practice begun by this Administration is not challenged, it may well become a permanent part of the American system. Many conservatives have pointed out that granting unchecked power to this President means that the next President will have unchecked power as well. And the next President may be someone whose values and belief you do not trust. And this is why Republicans as well as Democrats should be concerned with what this President has done. If this President's attempt to dramatically expand executive power goes unquestioned, our constitutional design of checks and balances will be lost. And the next President or some future President will be able, in the name of national security, to restrict our liberties in a way the framers never would have thought possible.

I think these are three powerful parts of Gore's speech about Bush. Its not necessarily that he and his administartion doing wrong things that scares me. Its that they have the ability to give themselves the power to do these things without any checks and balances of government. Thus leading us to tyranny when our next president is elected.

[Thinking Skins]

o.k.

How about Gore using MLK day to say Bush did the same thing Gore did and on an on about the executive branch... hypocritical and demeaning to MLK day as it was not REAL, it was staged and any Democrat/Republican/Independant should see it that way.

This is an example of how the executive branch can become a tyranny if these things go unchecked. MLK is a character that many believe to have had no connections to communism. However, the federal government used surveliance to watch him under their 'belief that he had connections to communism'.

The fact that this happened to MLK makes it all the more possible to happen to any of us. How different is he than any of us, average citizens, who may at one time or another have a belief against the President?

If we do such, and go forward with our disbelief in the President, then who is to say that we will not be watched and called a 'threat' to the U.S.?

I think Gore used MLK as a perfect example of a victim of surveliance that should not have been one. And because this error has been done in U.S. history, because this error has been done in recent U.S. history, then who is to say that it will not happen today? Do we have that must trust in our elected officials that they have changed themselves not to suspect the wrong persons?

[Kilmer17]

A typical and expected red meat speech designed for the ultra left. Of course it was well received by them.

But what Gore, Hillary, Dean, Kerry, Teddy and the rest of the far left dont seem to grasp is the most basic of political questions.

"How will it play in Peoria"?

Speeches like this (and Hillary's and Deans, and especcialy Nagins) will move people away from the Dems and towards the GOP. That the left STILL cannot grasp this simple concept is mind-boggling.

chom, you continue to claim the tide is turning. Yet have not shown evidence as to why. You claim we will see it next November, and Ive all but BEGGED you to wager on it. So how about you?

The tide isnt turning. It's continuing on the same path it's been on since 2000.