Dear Senator Byrd:
Today, on the day we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I watched with pride and wonder as another American visionary called upon America to live up to its ideals. I am referring to your former colleague, Vice President Al Gore.
More after the flip
Mr. Gore expressed the concern felt by many that the current Administration stands as a grave threat to the rule of law. The rule of law is threatened by President Bush's arrogation of powers reserved to the legislature and the judiciary. As a practicing lawyer who represents indigent West Virginians every day, I appreciate more than most the social contract between government and all of its citizens, rich and poor, weak and powerful, educated and ignorant. When I can bring the mighty power of the Fourth Amendment to bear on behalf of a poor, semi-literate, unemployed resident of West Virginia, I know deep down inside that the promise of America is, at least to some degree, being kept, even to the least among us.
This president's barely concealed contempt and disdain for the Constitution is a matter of public record. From the promotion of the "unitary executve" theory, as articulated by Supreme Court nominee Alito, to his assertion that he need not obtain search warrants before (or after) conducting surveillance of American citizens as required by the FISA Act, to the indefinite confinement, without charges or legal representation, of American citizens whom he alone has designated as "enemy combatants", President Bush has pushed his chips out onto the table and, in effect, said, "I'm running this country the way I want to. Who's gonna call me?"
Who, indeeed, Senator?
As Mr. Gore so elequently observed today:
"I call upon Democratic and Republican members of Congress today to uphold your oath of office and defend the Constitution. Stop going along to get along. Start acting like the independent and co-equal branch of government you're supposed to be."
Sadly, I cannot be certain that even a fierce and devoted protecter of the Constitution such as yourself will rise up in defense of that embattled document. Will you filibuster against the lifetime appointment of a Supreme Court Justice who has left no doubt that he will elevate the Executive to the level of a King? Will you defend the Constitutional system of checks and balances from assault from without and within the legislative branch? Will you exert your considerable influence among your fellow Senators on both sides of the aisle to set aside party loyalties and, in the words of Vice President Gore, "Start acting like the independent and co-equal branch of government you're supposed to be?"
Justifying the suspension of rights under the Constitution by invoking a nebulous and ill-defined "War on Terror" puts our Nation on a slippery slope. Will the Executive similarly suspend our Constitutional protections by invoking the "War on Drugs?" Can the "War on Dissent" be far behind?
Thank you for listening to my concerns. I know they are shared by many of my professional colleagues here in the Northern Panhandle, and by freedom-loving Americans of all political persuasions who cherish the Constitution. The sick, hideous threat of Nazism could not shake the foundations of our Constitution, nor could the nuclear might of the Soviet Union. To allow the dismantling of the Bill of Rights for fear of a shadowy figure in a cave will serve only to prove that we were not worthy of such freedoms in the first place.
I close, Sir, by offering a quotation with which I am sure you are familiar:
"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."--Samuel Adams
Sincerely,
[roxtar]