In the post by DavidNYC concerning Sen. Dodd's FISA filibuster and the request for suggestions that he might read on the floor, I would like to offer the following observations. Once I got on roll, this seemed like it was longer than a comment to that post should be.
In selecting the Battle of the Bulge as one of great turning points in history, I was reminded that battle started on December 16, 1944, exactly 63 years ago. I would offer the following observations and comments to Sen. Dodd as he stands before the Senate in his efforts to stop this madness. I hope that I will see the entire group of Democratic senators currently seeking the nomination, lined up shoulder to shoulder behind Sen. Dodd along with the rest of the Democrats and what passes on this day as its leadership.
I would suggest that Sen. Dodd mention that history has always turned on the smallest things that cannot be recognized until years later. Moments like Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg where Confederate troops reached but did not breach a short stone wall where the Union line was thin. A failed thrust on the third day of one battle in long civil war is remembered now as the High Water mark of the Confederacy in that national conflict.
Or a small company of troops nearly surrounded in a forest in the dead of winter in France as the once mighty German army made its last push against the Allies in the Ardennes forest beginning on December 16, 1944, exactly 63 years ago.
Their goal for these operations was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp, Belgium, and then proceeding to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers’ favor.
Only the determination of the brave Allied forces on the line and their refusal to fold under pressure, and the heroic performance of Patton’s Third Army to charge into the battle saved the day. By spring, only the Rhine River would stand between the advancing armies of freedom and the end of Nazi tyranny.
Or the summer of 1776 when a small room full of men would stand up to the full might of the most powerful nation on earth at that time. These men would put their very lives on the line by signing one of the signature documents in all of the recorded history of mankind.
For nearly seven years this nation has endured an assault on this Declaration seeking to again return us to something too close to a monarchy. With an all powerful Executive who would decide what laws he would enforce, and what laws he would ignore. This was the very thing most feared by our founding fathers 220 years ago.
For nearly seven years this lawless administration and its enabling party in congress has assaulted the United States Constitution. A document crafted chiefly by James Madison, who is often referred to as the Father of the Constitution, it is masterpiece in its simplicity and brevity, containing only 4,543 words, including the signatures, and taking approximately 30 minutes to read, yet it and the accompanying Bill of Rights defines the very idea of America. How remarkable is it that such a small group of men would produce two documents in such a short period of time that would light the imaginations of people all over the world for over two hundred years? And yet, how is it that we stand here today with this Constitution in such peril? At no other time during these past 220 years, in both war and peace have we seen such a broad and corrosive assault on our basic rights and freedoms, on the very structure of our finely crafted government itself?
The only oath defined in that constitution is that of the office of President in Article II Section 1
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
And in that very same document that he has sworn to preserve, protect and defend, in Section II Article 3 he is charged that "he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed".
We have suffered thru seven years of executive signing statements where he says he is the Decider who will decide what laws he will obey and which he will ignore. And now he is demanding that laws be passed giving Amnesty to large corporations who knowingly broke the just and rightful laws of this country on his orders. That this action will subvert the search for truth and justice now underway in our courts and that stands to hold him accountable under the law for the misdeeds of his administration. In this awful hour, what action stands as the last line of defense against such an assault? The answer I fear is Congress.
Those of you in Congress swear an oath similar to the President:.
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
All enemies, foreign and domestic. Sad is that day when we stand to suffer more damage from a domestic enemy than a foreign one. And make no mistake, this administration is an enemy of this country and everything this country has stood for. These are strong words and not uttered lightly. But these words are the truth. This is an administration that has subverted the rights guaranteed in the Constitution. That has actively grabbed for power from the legislative and judicial branches of government. That seeks to hide all of its activities under a cloak of secrecy. An administration that rules by fear mongering and lies.
How is it that we have come to having debates about secret prisons, extraordinary renditions, use of torture, and the suspension of Habeas corpus? These are actions we have spent our entire existence railing against, condemning other governments and dictators for their participation in. And now we suffer under an administration that conducts and condones all of these. The eyes of the entire world are on us today and they wonder where our moral leadership on the most basic issues in the history of mankind has disappeared to?
Will future generations look back at this moment and see it as one of those rare turning points in our history? Will they remember it as the high water mark of this administration’s assault on the rule of law? Can they fail to note the names and actions of those few, that thin line that stood against the onslaught to preserver freedom and the rule of law? Closing your ears to the din of punditry and partisanship, and listening only to the gift of freedom and democracy bestowed upon all succeeding generations by the wisdom and inspiration of that founding generation, do you hear the call to action? Knowing the sacrifice willingly made by all of the generations that we here today may enjoy the full fruits of those sacrifices, what will you sacrifice now?
How extraordinary that this moment should align with that 63 years ago in the Battle of the Bulge. Should the disparate battle here be lost, this administration may well be able to escape without standing accountable for any of its lawlessness and despicable actions. The legislative branch will have been found wanting in its duty at this darkest hour, deserting the guard posts of the republic. When the basic premise that we will stand as a nation of laws and not of men, and that all will be treated equally under that law, will be trampled and all will be lost. You have only to keep the sacred vow you took to preserve and protect the Constitution, bearing true faith and allegiance to the same. Let this be the point where the line is drawn, where the stand is made, where the rule of law is preserved and once again returned to We the People.
Will this be one of those small moments in history where the gears will turn and the future will be decided. Will your word be as good as the American ideal? How will history record your deeds?