A president who breaks the law is a threat to the very structure of our government. Once violated, the rule of law is in danger. Unless stopped, lawlessness grows. Once that ability is lost, democracy itself is threatened and we become a government of men and not laws.
As a result of its unprecedented claim of new unilateral power, the Executive Branch has now put our constitutional design at grave risk. The stakes for America’s representative democracy are far higher than has been generally recognized. These claims must be rejected and a healthy balance of power restored to our Republic. Otherwise, the fundamental nature of our democracy may well undergo a radical transformation.
– Al Gore on on Constitutional Issues, January 16, 2006.
The Daily Kos has weaved together excerpts from Gore’s speech yesterday with that most famous speech in 1963 by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The people of this nation ultimately determine its course and not executive officials operating in secret without constraint.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.
