Al Gore: 'We are facing a massive assault on our liberties'

[AlGore-08.com]

(Excerpts below from a new British TV interview of Al Gore)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1939773,00.html

Question: Is a constitution a way of putting certain rights beyond the reach of ambitious men?

Al Gore: If I felt that was the principal effect of having a written constitution, I would say yes. If I were a citizen in your country, I would be in favour of it. But being a citizen of the US and seeing the shocking ease with which these principles have been violated in the US, I'm worried that the causes of this invasion of rights may be deeper.

Question: The public here and in America have been prepared to put these rights on hold to a degree.

Al Gore: Well, they have, but these rights have been weakened since the Bush-Cheney administration chose to use the war against terror as a basis for both political argument in a partisan context and for an assault on the individual rights, including the right to be free of government eavesdropping. The conversation of democracy has been degraded, emotions and appeals to fear have been given a priority over reasoned debate.

(snip)

Question: What was the purpose (of creating a climate of fear)? To extend executive powers or to get people to back the war in Iraq?

Al Gore: A combination of motives. The Bush-Cheney administration was declining in popularity rapidly prior to the 9/11 attacks. In the initial aftermath, Bush responded quite well in rallying public opinion and going after the perpetrators. But then, for whatever reason, he began to make a lot of mistakes in my view; by not pursuing Osama bin Laden until he was captured; by invading a country that hadn't attacked us; by launching this assault on the protections written into the constitution against invasions of liberties. They conflated the threat from al-Qaeda and the purported threat from Saddam which, of course, didn't exist.

(more... )

[orpupilofnature57]

1. President Gore is just the man to fix it !!

[Tellurian]

7. OMG...Thank You Soooo Much for posting this..

You've given us just what we need...HOPE!

additional text from the Guardian Article

HP: In the days after 9/11, did you imagine that we would see this kind of attack on civil liberties?

"AG: No, and it should be seen as shocking, in America at least, that so many individual rights have been lost so quickly. I believe that there has been a diminishing of the role played by reasoned debate. And when logic and reason are withdrawn from the public sphere, it creates a vacuum into which ideology and religious extremism rush in."

You have no idea how many sleepless night I've had over this. I happened to find the Sterling Newberry article just by chance one evening, and was truly devastated after reading it. The ending was the final straw..Where prosecution of Bushco would be impossible under the newly redacted Constitution frustrating many Americans, including myself, if and when the 08' elections were completed.

I understand this is all new territory, uncharted waters if you will. It will take teams of Constitutionalists going head to head with Federalists, just as they did when the original Constitution was in the process of being (created) written.

To be honest, I'm hoping Constitutional Scholars will prevail, as the redacting of our Constitution was done in a stealthful way...against the People without our knowledge and consent recognizing Corporate entities with Rights through timely calculated legislation and eroding the Peoples Rights to exert control over us.

The Bush Administration has damaged our America- You have no idea what it means to us for you to come forward to stand and defend and help Right the Wrongs done to us through this administration.

Please keep posting any advances happening to remedy our situation. It would be greatly appreciated.

[grasswire]

9. where is the Sterling Newberry article?

Do you have a link?

[Tellurian]

12. Yes, Here is Sterling's link, grasswire..

Sterling's research is impeccable..

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/sep/29/the_star_chamber

[grasswire]

17. yeah, Sterling used to post on salon.com many years ago...

...when we had a little gang of citizen researchers trying to crack Bushco.

[Tellurian]

25. Yes, I was there for a time..

Before salon went pay.. I was in school studying Common Law/Constitutional Law at the time.

Sterling's done his due diligence on the status of the Constitution.
I believe he's contacted Bruce Ackerman, the architect of the Federalist version
for firsthand information during his research.

afaik, Ackerman is the only Federalist scholar in the know capable of returning
the Constitution to it's original intent. (From the Bush v Gore debacle)Ackerman
is the scholar who set the stage for Olson and Baker to argue the case before the
SCOTUS, ending with his version of the Constitutional interpretation and declared:..

"In a Presidential Election, all must be allowed to vote, but those votes do not
necessarily have to be counted."

Newberry's final chapter in his link, is most depressing.

[AlGore-08.com]

10. F.Y.I. Gore is writing a new book called "The Assault On Reason"

Which is due out next May:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600877_pf.html

[Tellurian]

13. Wonderful...All of these event are historical..

If a movie were to be made incorporating Greg Palast's research,
the HBO documentary, "Hacking Democracy" and now Al Gore's additional
information containing the theft of the Constitution; I dare say, we
will be sitting in a movie theater for a week...shock and awe!

A weekly DVD might be the way to go..Once a month a new DVD will
be available for sale on a rotating basis..

the above is just thinking out loud...not really happening..BUT Could at a later date.

Glory Be!

[pinto]

2. "this invasion of rights". Smart man, smart discourse.

[Tellurian]

3. Wow, Gore is fantastic. He is taking up the fight to restore our broken Constitution..

This is very BIG..

So, Al Gore is the designated driver assigned to educate the public
to just how broken our Constitution really is..

here is an outline, if you care to read and understand how complex this issue has become.

http://www.tpmcafe.com/blog/coffeehouse/2006/sep/29/the_star_chamber

[texpatriot2004]

4. Yes, Mr. President, we are nm

[AtomicKitten]

5. Re-elect President Gore in 2008.

[Tellurian]

8. This will definitely put Gore head and shoulders over ANY other contender

should he decide to run!

And reclaim what was always his to begin with..

Geebus...I can't quite wrap my brain around this happening!

[slaveplanet]

27. It should not be even close

with talk like that....leaps and bounds above Clinton, Kerry ... If he keeps it up, he'll grab all the Libertarians, Independents, and a good chunk of Repubs who haven't gone completely insane yet.


He did make one HUGE mistake in his answer though...

If I felt that was the principal effect of having a written constitution, I would say yes. If I were a citizen in your country, I would be in favour of it.


The British are frinkin SUBJECTS not citizens...Come on Al, get it right.

[Tellurian]

16. kick

:dem:

marathon over!

[Skittles]

6. I wish he'd said that when the GOP bastards stole the presidency

yes INDEED

[trayfoot]

11. If Al Gore does not

run in 2008, he will have forever lost my support. He is the one who should be the nominee - hands down! This "cast and mouse" game does not make me happy at all. Dems need to know who is SERIOUS about representing us. I hope Al decides to, but if he doesn't, he has forever lost my confidence.......and vote!

[Tellurian]

14. I don't know, it's hard to say..

If he chose to run, I would support him.
I think it's entirely up to him..

No strings, no threats..Whatever he wishes,
I would support him, no doubt about it!

If Hillary were to be his VP pick...omg
this could force the Republicans to move
to the moon!

[twenty4blackbirds]

18. he doesn't need to run

He supports politicians who hold the same view he does - by himself he is just one person, but enmasse his group can become unstoppable.

Having said that, Go Al Go!

[lildreamer316]

23. Eh, you have to understand...

his genius at the game he is playing right now.
Here's part of my point:this Kerry thing is quite the good example of how he is letting other people /candidates do what they will inevitably do best--distract the RW spin machine and the media. Kerry is taking a lot of hits for what he did, deservedly or not-and guess who is NOT being scrutinized? The spinmiesters and the media are wasting precious time and resources on someone who is NOT going to be the best possible nominee. Not that there is much dirt you could bring up on Gore that he has not already weathered in previous campaigns, and none of which could be made to stick believably again. This is an over-simplification of what he could be doing, but either way it is for the best for him. No sense in declaring ANYthing before the midterms, and probably not anytime soon after either, but if he's smart he will wait as long as possible if he's going to declare.
If you truly support him, be patient. The man is a genius, and if he is playing this game, he knows EXACTLY what he is doing.

[Tellurian]

26. Mr. Gore would barely have to lift a finger..

to win the next election. With the Republican camp in a state of disgrace and disarray,
it will take them years, if ever, to reinvent themselves into something of a new and
improved viable party with the ability to float a palatable message for the mases.

IMO, they have used every available resource known to mankind to remain in control
but have forgotten the basic tenants with which the Founding Fathers used as their
philosophical bedrock when forming the Constitution.

"The quotation "All men are created equal" is arguably the best-known phrase in any of
America's political documents, as the idea it expresses is generally considered the foundation
of American democracy. It appears in the opening of the American Declaration of Independence,
written by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, as follows:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty
and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Gore always has represented these beliefs. With him now standing as the Champion for the
American way of life, the word 'Landslide' coming to mind, would be the understatement of all time.

edited for added infolink:

The differences between the Federalists and Anti-Federalists (Constitutionalists)

http://library.thinkquest.org/11572/creation/framing/feds.html

[durrrty libby]

31. I agree with you 100%

I love the guy and hope he accepts this enormous challenge

:toast: :hi: :loveya: :loveya:

[Greyhound]

29. That would be "cat and mouse game", I believe. n/t

[Infinite Hope]

15. K&R. Gore 2008. n/t

[Jamastiene]

19. Jama sighs. Yes, Al. That's why we really really really

wish you'd run in '08. Pretty please. Pretty pleeeeeeaase. :7

[mogster]

20. Gore nails it n/t

[Omaha Steve]

21. I'm on board for Al

I'll volunteer. I'll give cash. I'll do the things I should have done for the 2000 election when I thought him winning was a no brainer. He fought for the office, unlike Kerry that broke his promise to fight. Watch the HBO documentary on this too.

[AtomicKitten]

22. I will work nights so I can work full time for Al.

Seriously. He so deserves a do-over. Broke my heart in 2000.

On edit: Hacking Democracy made it very clear what transpired right after the election in 2004. Very disappointing to say the least.

[indepat]

24. Amurikkkans gladly give up their civil liberties for safety, never mind that atomic secrets

being posted by the government on the internet has probably done more harm to our national security than all actions otherwise taken by this cabal have strengthened our security. The whole 'puke agenda is a big lie and perhaps the biggest lie of all is that they are tough on terra and have made us safer, yet the ignorant, brain-dead, and brainwashed buy it lock, stock, and barrel. :shrug:

[otohara]

28. Al, Your Country Needs You

now more than ever! Run Al, run!!!

[mdelaguna2000]

30. Gore continues to lead & inspire (run Al run) n/t.

[AlGore-08.com]

32. Kick

:kick:

[FernBell]

33. rekick