The fact is, Republican leaders never miss an opportunity to scare you into giving them what they want. According to them, the only thing keeping you from certain death is George W. Bush. And the only way to protect George W. Bush is to trash the Constitution and crown him King.
But of course that is wrong. That dishonors our American tradition.
The fact is we've faced far worse than al-Qaeda. For example, our founding fathers themselves faced certain death by the British troops who already occupied our cities during the Revolution. Yet they found the resolve to write a Constitution that preserved and protected our liberty while, at the same time, empowered our young nation to fight and protect itself against the madness of another King George.
Do you think our present Congress could have done so well? Do you? (NO!)
That first Congress could have taken the easy way out. But Benjamin Franklin hit the nail on the head when he said, "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
He believed in a strong America AND a free America.
Patrick Henry was even more emphatic. Do you remember what he said? His strength was matched by his love of liberty. He actually said "Give me liberty or give me death."
We believed then, and I believe now, in a strong America AND a free America. We can and must have both.
Throughout our history, we have faced many deadly threats. During the Cold War we faced the Soviet Union who had the power to destroy us 1000 times over. But we pulled together and won that battle. And we didn't have to hand unlimited power to the President to do it.
We believed then, and I believe now, in a strong America AND a free America.
It can be done. We've done it. But now the Republicans tell us those days are over. Now the Republican Congress tells us we must make a choice -- we can be strong OR we can be free. The Republican Congress tells us that we cannot have both.
They tell us that the threat of terrorism is so grave, so shockingly deadly that we must give absolute power to George W. Bush because he, and only he, can protect us.
But it turns out old Ben Franklin was right. If you give up liberty for security, you won't get either one.
Want proof? Look around you. We've given the Republicans a blank check. And what did they buy with it? You can see how much security we have. Bush's response to Hurricane Katrina showed that, after 4 years, we are no better prepared for another emergency than we were on Sept. 12, 2001. We've also seen that his warrantless wiretapping is not only illegal, but ineffective. He has failed to protect us AND he has failed to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. And the Republican Congress has rubber stamped every bit of that, right on down the line.
Under the Republicans we have given up precious liberties in return for security and now we have less of both.
My fellow Americans, the radical wing of the Republican party -- those who want to further dismantle the safety net, those who want to shrink government so small that we'll all be on our own -- that small minority of extremists has taken over the agenda of a party that was once great but has now surrendered its proud tradition to a gang of bullies. Their ideas infect the Republican party from the top of the ticket on down to the bottom.
My fellow Americans, if you continue to do what you've always done, you'll continue to get what you've always gotten from this Republican party -- corruption, cronyism, and corner-cutting.
Are you willing to let them continue to divide us? (NO!)
Are you willing to give up liberty for security? (NO!)
Are you willing to go back to the days of King George? (NO!)
You deserve a change. You deserve to be motivated by your hopes and dreams, not bullied into submission by the force and weight of your nightmares. We are a brave people, we are a strong people and we know that we can be strong while preserving liberty and justice for all.
Don't let the Republicans divide us. Don't let the Republicans force you into a false choice. We believe in a strong America AND a free America.
Join with me to bring those days back. Join with me on November 2 to bring the Democratic party back to power. We believe in a strong American AND a free America.
Thank you and God Bless America.
P.S. Well, it's a first draft anyway.
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