In my long career serving this nation, I have witnessed war and peace. I have seen turmoil at home and danger abroad. I have known statesman and scoundrels alike.Yet never have I been as concerned for the fate of American liberty as I am today.
Since ascending to power in 2001, the Bush administration has waged an unrelenting assault on the Constitution of the United States while being aided and abetted every step of the way by a supine Republican congress. Today, I need you to stand with me to help take the Senate back.
Under the Orwellian auspices of "Executive Privilege," the Bush administration has tried to squash domestic dissent while ignoring congressional inquiries into 9/11 and the manipulation of prewar Iraq intelligence. George W. Bush has made over 750 Presidential signing statements, essentially claiming that he can interpret rules passed by Congress however he pleases.
Republican legislators have made it clear that they have no intention of reining in this runaway White House. The only way to confront the Bush administration's egregious abuse of power is to elect a Democratic Senate. We are merely six seats away from a Democratic majority and the polls are showing that we can win, but to get there, we need committed Democrats to stand up and be counted.
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We cannot continue to claim that we are a nation of laws and not of men, if our laws may be summarily breached because the President says, "trust me." There was a time when it was different - when dissent was understood to be a patriot's duty - when leaders in Washington followed the dictum of the great Teddy Roosevelt, who said: "To announce that there must be no criticism of the president...is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonous to the American public."
Now, those with the temerity to question the powers that be are called "obstructionist" and accused of "emboldening the enemy." Within charges such as these lie the seeds of dictatorship and the end of the American republic as we know it
Friday, August 25, 2006
statesman and scoundrels alike
Senator Byrd, in a fund-raising letter (via LeeB)
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3 comments:
We cannot continue to claim that we are a nation of laws and not of men, if our laws may be summarily breached because the President says, "trust me."
Yeah, riiiiight. As I recall, Byrd was one of the Democrats who voted for cloture on the Alito filibuster. How does that help ensure that we remain a country of laws and not of very small and scary men?
i know... i was very disappointed in that too
Disappointed - and baffled. I do not understand it. I suspect there was more to that vote than met any of OUR eyes.
That said, we have to keep our eyes on the ball for November. I don't think we're likely to find perfect candidates with voting records we consistently support (Duh!), so we need to remember that the most important goal of this election in November is subpoena power. The rest we can deal with once there is some balance put back in this government.
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