There has been a much-publicized battle of words going on in the Senate regarding a change of rules to provide a work-around to the
filibuster.
Sen. Byrd's remarks included this:
Hitler's originality lay in his realization that effective revolutions, in modern conditions, are carried out with, and not against, the power of the State: the correct order of events was first to secure access to that power and then begin his revolution. Hitler never abandoned the cloak of legality; he recognized the enormous psychological value of having the law on his side. Instead, he turned the law inside out and made illegality legal.
That is what the nuclear option seeks to do to rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate.
More below the fold
I have no idea why I had the tv on at that particular moment. Just flipping CSPAN back and forth, and heard the word "nuclear":
The so-called nuclear option--hear me--the so-called nuclear option--this morning I asked a man, What does nuclear option mean to you? He said: Oh, you mean with Iran? I was at the hospital a few days ago with my wife, and I asked a doctor, What does the nuclear option mean to you? He said: Well, that sounds like we're getting ready to drop some device, some atomic device on North Korea.
He started with a description of Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, including this quote:
Similarly, cheers and acclamation punctuated the famous speech of the young senator on man's rights and dignity. ``It was ..... as though the joys, suffering, love and hatred, the hopes and wishes of an entire people who value freedom above everything, found expression for the last time. .....''
Provided historical background on the process leading to a compromise between the Senate and Executive branch:
The Framers of the Constitution envisioned the Senate as a kind of executive council, a small body of legislators, featuring longer terms, designed to insulate Members from the passions of the day.
The Senate was to serve as a check on the executive branch, particularly in the areas of appointments and treaties, where, under the Constitution, the Senate passes judgment absent the House of Representatives.
James Madison wanted to grant the Senate the power to select judicial appointees with the Executive relegated to the sidelines. But a compromise brought the present arrangement: appointees selected by the Executive, with the advice and consent of the Senate confirmed. Note--hear me again--note that nowhere in the Constitution of the United States is a vote on appointments mandated.
And a bit farther down, described the process that brought both Mussolini and Hitler to power. Distinguishing the United States from those dictatorships, he said:
Many times in our history we have taken up arms to protect a minority against the tyrannical majority in other lands. We, unlike Nazi Germany or Mussolini's Italy, have never stopped being a nation of laws, not of men.
After hearing this brief speech for the record, on the floor of the US Senate, I think I'm beginning to understand why this issue is so important.
Sen. Byrd was visibly upset, and angry doesn't come close to describing his mood. It was an amazing five minutes. I don't know if this will be "covered" by the media. Maybe it's better to read it for ourselves, and take note that people work for us in that chamber whether we see/hear them or not. Thank you, Senator.
Generations of men and women have lived, fought, and died for the right to map their own destiny, think their own thoughts, speak their own minds. If we start here, in this Senate, to chip away at that essential mark of freedom--here of all places, in a body designed to guarantee the power of even a single individual through the device of extended debate--we are on the road to refuting the principles upon which that Constitution rests.
In the eloquent, homespun words of that illustrious, obstructionist, Senator Smith, in ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington'':
Liberty is too precious to get buried in books. Men ought to hold it up in front of them every day of their lives and say, ``I am free--to think--to speak. My ancestors couldn't. I can. My children will.''
I yield the floor.
[Update: Apparently search results expire on Thomas. Here's the information: Congressional Record article 49 of 50
UNLIMITED DEBATE IN THE SENATE -- (Senate - March 01, 2005)
[Page: S1831]
Update [2005-3-2 13:12:4 by rba]: Sen. Byrd's link now goes to his speech on his website, thanks to "evilpie".