Al Gore on Stopping the Reversal

Further to my post the other day on what could well be the last days for the ideals and principles of the United States of America, I want to point you to the passionate speech made by Al Gore, on the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, yesterday. (It's in Salon, available free if you watch a short ad.) As an aside, this is a man who has matured over the past eight years in his political style, retrieving the all-too-rare thoughtful passion of some of the great political leaders of the past.

Gore is blunt in his critique of how the Administration of Bush-the-younger is systematically attacking the Constitution, and the principles upon which the country was founded. He draws from his country's historical precedents to illustrate how previous Executive Branch excesses led to disaster, asking,

Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of missiles poised to be launched against us and annihilate our country at a moment's notice? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march -- when our fathers fought and won two World Wars simultaneously?

It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.

We have a duty as Americans to defend our citizens' right not only to life but also to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against the present danger posed by the intrusive overreaching on the part of the Executive Branch and the President's apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.

Indeed, his essay is a clarion call to both Republicans and Democrats to exercise their constitutional responsibility to check the ever-expanding desire of the Executive Branch to act above the law, changing the role of President to that of monarch. If you are a supporter of GWB, or politically lean to the right, I challenge you to read Gore's speech and respond with a thoughtful and reasoned critique to any of his accusations, his challenges or his historical facts. If you a citizen of the U.S. you could do a lot worse than to pressure your Congress-people to actively make good on the pledge they took to uphold the Constitution, by preventing the Executive Branch from destroying it.

It's time to stop the reversal (especially because it might be contagious up here in the Great (not-so-)White North.
[Technorati tags: gore | salon | reversal of america]