Who Will Stand Up for the Constitution?, Bob Herbert, NY Times 1/19/06

[Coastie for Truth]

Al Gore offered a civics lesson this week for anyone willing to listen. Speaking at Constitution Hall in Washington, the former vice president said:

"As we begin this new year, the executive branch of our government has been caught eavesdropping on huge numbers of American citizens and has brazenly declared that it has the unilateral right to continue without regard to the established law enacted by Congress to prevent such abuses."

Americans do not seem especially concerned about this incredible affront to the integrity of the government and the rule of law. The attitude of a slender majority seems to be that if the likes of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney see fit to dismantle the heretofore sacred system of checks and balances, so be it.

A Washington Post-ABC News Poll showed that 51 percent of respondents felt that in the fight against terror, it's fine for the government to engage in the warrantless wiretapping of telephone calls and e-mail. In other words, it's fine for the president to break the law.

I find it peculiar that an awful lot of Americans who would be outraged by the burning of the American flag are positively sanguine about the trampling of the Constitution.

<<<SNIP>>>

[babylonsister]

1. Link to NYT doesn't work w/o subscription. nt

[Coastie for Truth]

2. Should be picked up by blogs and secondary sources tomorrow. NT

[Nothing Without Hope]

3. Here's a link to the entire Bob Herbert editorial. It's not to be missed!

http://nevadathunder.com/?p=1054

Here's a thread with dozens of links, including videos of the speech, response to the speech, and response to the response to the speech (on Olbermann - it's great, really smacks down Gonzales):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x161222
thread title (1-17-06 GD): ***COMPILATION*** of links & DU threads on the historic 1/16 GORE SPEECH

And here's what I would excerpt from the Bob Herbert editorial. The last paragraph in this excerpt is killer:

http://select.nytimes.com/2006/01/19/opinion/19herbert.html?th&emc=th
Op-Ed Columnist

Who Will Stand Up for the Constitution?

By BOB HERBERT
Published: January 19, 2006

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."-BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

"Those who expect to reap the blessing of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-THOMAS PAINE

Al Gore offered a civics lesson this week for anyone willing to listen. Speaking at Constitution Hall in Washington, the former vice president said:

"As we begin this new year, the executive branch of our government has been caught eavesdropping on huge numbers of American citizens and has brazenly declared that it has the unilateral right to continue without regard to the established law enacted by Congress to prevent such abuses."

Americans do not seem especially concerned about this incredible affront to the integrity of the government and the rule of law. The attitude of a slender majority seems to be that if the likes of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney see fit to dismantle the heretofore sacred system of checks and balances, so be it.

(snip)

I find it peculiar that an awful lot of Americans who would be outraged by the burning of the American flag are positively sanguine about the trampling of the Constitution.

One of the ugliest aspects of the Bush administration is the outright deceit that is such a major aspect of its modus operandi. Tens of thousands of men, women and children are tragically dead because of the war in Iraq, which was launched from a monstrous superstructure of deceit. Why wouldn't we expect the administration to deceive the public about the illegal spying of the National Security Agency?

(snip - read the whole thing)

[Coastie for Truth]

5. Two Links To Jennifer Van bergen's article and book - Unitary Executive

Law School Professor Jennifer Van Bergen traces the history of the Bush-Gonzales-Yoo theory of the "Unitary Executive" in her article and her book . Both worth reading in the normally dull areas of Constitutional law and Poli Sci.

[Nothing Without Hope]

4. I've also posted this in the General Discussion forum

to reach more people, some of whom don't check the Editorials forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x183049
thread title (1-19-06 GD): NYT Bob Herbert on Gore's speech:"Who Will Stand Up for the Constitution?"