PublicChristian

there is no way in which a country can satisfy the craving for absolute security

“No way.” No way. As in not possible in this world.

but it can easily bankrupt itself,
morally and economically,
in attempting to reach that illusory goal through arms alone.

In other words, you can’t buy enough guns (etc) to make yourself safe. But you can go completely nuts trying.

Awesome speech today by the former Vice-President.

Gore likes long sentences. It’s a sign of his intelligence and his ability to handle complex ideas. Here are some quotes from his awesome speech today (transcript), with some comments, and some short-sentence summaries interspersed. As you will see, the longer sentences sometimes have the advantage of being more precisely accurate if a little less punchy. Maybe that’s why Bush speaks in such very short sentences. [If you want to see the "punch" or fire that went with some of Gore's long sentences, there's a 6 minute video of hi-lights from the speech here.]

the American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims of the Administration to a truly breathtaking expansion of executive power.

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.

It is imperative that respect for the rule of law be restored.

Short sentences: This Administration loves power. They are threatening our basic American values in order to gather more power for themselves. We’ve caught them spying on US, and they brag that they will continue, regardless of the law. We have to restore respect for law in this country!

The speech was to be introduced by former Republican Congressman Bob Barr, but the transmission was mysteriously interrupted. Gore did refer to Barr at the beginning and quoted him later in the speech, however.

Congressman Barr and I have disagreed many times over the years, but we have joined together today with thousands of our fellow citizens – Democrats and Republicans alike – to express our shared concern that America’s Constitution is in grave danger…

It is therefore vital in our current circumstances that immediate steps be taken to safeguard our Constitution against … the President’s apparent belief that he need not live under the rule of law.

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.”

Short sentences: The Constitution is on life-support, and people of both parties are really worried about it. The President thinks he does not have to obey the law, which means he doesn’t have to honor the Constitution. Bob Barr wants us to call him on it!

Gore talked about how the President uses “the language and politics of fear to short-circuit the debate.” Gore is clearly not one who has been frightened into silence! And he calls the President on it.

As President Eisenhower said, “Any who act as if freedom’s defenses are to be found in suppression and suspicion and fear confess a doctrine that is alien to America.”

Wow! Take that! And from much-loved Republican President and military hero Eisenhower. This Bush / Cheney approach “is alien to America”!

Fear drives out reason. Fear suppresses the politics of discourse and opens the door to the politics of destruction. Justice Brandeis once wrote: “Men feared witches and burnt women.”

The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk.

Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the Bill of Rights.

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.

Short sentences:

1. Fear is very dangerous to our thinking process.
2. This country has lived through much more dangerous times – often! But the heros of those days did not give up our freedoms out of fear (like Bush wants us to)!
3. Don’t insult those heroes by saying we have more to fear than they did! In their deadly times they still had the guts to protect our freedoms from power-hungry leaders, and we must do the same!

Thank you, Senator and Vice-President, and President-Elect, for telling it like it is! After this, we see why so many feel we should “Elect Gore as President Again”.