Fine Words

Al Gore spoke well yesterday, blending the words and spirit of Martin Luther King with is own to warn Americans of the dangers now facing the Republic. You can read the entire speech here. Gore makes any number of good points. My favorite:

“...[T]he Administration has tried to control the flow of information is by consistently resorting to the language and politics of fear in order to short-circuit the debate and drive its agenda forward without regard to the evidence or the public interest. 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."

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.

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....”

But Gore’s fine words also demonstrate the paucity of political debate in modern America. I am pleased that he speaks so eloquently and forcefully these days but I wonder where this Al Gore was in 2000 when he ran for office. In 2000 Gore was the conventional, safe politician, unwilling to ruffle feathers, a man who seemed to lack the passion to really stand for anything. Anyone who knew Gore’s record and
beliefs knew that caricature was misleading but too many only saw Al Gore, the scheming career politician. Even then, he won more votes than George W. Bush. Had he shown the passion he demonstrated yesterday, the past five years might have been quite different. With no office to lose, he is now free to speak. Like Gore the candidate, many Democratic office seekers are hesitant to speak their minds for fear of alienating voters. That’s why Howard Dean was so electrifying in 2003 and why he scared the hell out of the Democratic establishment.

The pusillanimity of the Democratic establishment was evident a few weeks ago when 13 former Secretaries of State and Defense met with George Bush. Billed as a “consultation”, it was little more of than a photo-op. Bush spoke for all but ten minutes, leaving the 13 former cabinet officials with about 46 seconds each to speak. Some consultation. One Daily Kos diarist pointed out that the Democratic secretaries could have spoken out about this sham event. (Sorry, I cannot locate the links for the event and the post.) None did, although they would have risked little since none are ever likely to seek elected office. Had they done so, they would have not only exposed the hollowness of the event but they would have also provided some cover to elected critics of the administration.

If America is lucky, 2006 will be a year when principled Americans speak truth to power. Gore’s speech yesterday is a good start. I hope more Americans, office seekers and citizens, will do the same.