Sam Ervin on Watergate, a quote also applicable to bush

[katty]

Sam Ervin, Jr. who chaired the Watergate Committee that brought down Richard Milhouse Nixon.

"They had forgotten, if they ever knew, that the Constitution is designed to be a law for rulers and people alike at all times and under all circumstances; and that no doctrine involving more pernicious consequences to the commonwealth has ever been invented by the wit of a man than the notion that any of its provisions can be suspended by the President for any reason whatsoever.

"On the contrary, they apparently believed that the President is above the Constitution, and has the autocratic power to suspend its provisions if he decides in his own unreviewable judgement that his action in so doing promotes his own political interests or the welfare of the nation. As one of them testified before the Senate Select Committee, they believed that the President has the autocratic power to suspend the Fourth Amendment whenever he imagines that some indefinable aspect of national security is involved.

"I digress to reject this doctrine of the constitutional omnipotence of the President. As long as I have a mind to think, a tongue to speak, and a heart to love my country, I shall deny that the Constitution confers any autocratic power on the President, or authorizes him to convert George Washington's America into Gaius Caesar's Rome."

[Greeby]

1. They sure don't make em like that anymore

Eloquent speakers on the floor of the Senate? Bordering on a dying breed. In the case of a lot of Repukes, more like sheer stupidity

[RufusEarl]

3. Here, here!!

[Champion Jack]

2. THIS should be on the front page

K'n'R

[Ignacio Upton]

4. Unfortunately, he was also a Dixiecrat and Segregationist

But at least he was consistent in his arguement against federal power.

[Independent_Liberal]

5. Cool quotes!

I wonder if that's what Patrick Leahy's speech will sound like next year when he's Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman.

[BlueEyedSon]

6. Kick for the new improved Nixon administration

[Marrak]

7. The Decider couldn't wrap his

mind around this concept...let alone articulate it.

"...As long as I have a mind to think, a tongue to speak, and a heart to love my country, I shall deny that the Constitution confers any autocratic power on the President, or authorizes him to convert George Washington's America into Gaius Caesar's Rome."

[Gregorian]

8. Where is the silent majority!

There are many people in this country who think just like Sirica and Ervin and the rest of the guys who performed their prosecutorial duties in the Nixon era.

It has been utterly underwhelming over the last six years. Yes, there have been many who have made their voices heard. If I had a memory, I could list more than just a few Congressmen.

But the huge tidal wave of patriotic followers of the Constitution never swallowed this criminal seizure of our country. We even let the election get close enough to have the unthinkable happen in 2004.

Sorry, I am just as confused as can be by the silence. I don't know how to say it. I just didn't think this drug addict would ever become president.

Take a good look at Bush when he was tagging along with his dad during his father's campaign. He looked like a stoned idiot.