Does anybody remember how flat and uninspired Gore’s speeches were when he was running against Bush?
Gore gave a rousing speech in Washington today that took advantage of Martin Luther King Day to address the issue of illegal wiretapping, something Dr. King was subjected to for several of the last years of his life.
Here’s an excerpt, via AmericaBlog:
…The President and I agree on one thing. The threat from terrorism is all too real. There is simply no question that we continue to face new challenges in the wake of the attack on September 11th and that we must be ever-vigilant in protecting our citizens from harm.
Where we disagree is that we have to break the law or sacrifice our system of government to protect Americans from terrorism. In fact, doing so makes us weaker and more vulnerable.
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…
Raw Story has the full transcript and Crooks & Liars has a video clip of some highlights and analysis. Gore’s remarks were sponsored by the libertarian Liberty Foundation and the speech received multiple standing ovations. Unfortunately, as C&L notes, the mainstream media was busy covering an overturned tanker truck.
More from Think Progress on why MLK’s words regarding war are still so relevant today.
