Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Alberto Gonzales Gets Told...

Future American lawyers to be proud of.... and Alberto Gonzales.

Alberto Gonzales spoke before law students at Georgetown today (Jan. 27th 2006), justifying illegal, unauthorized surveilance of US citizens, but during the course of his speech the students in class did something pretty ballsy and brave. They got up from their seats and turned their backs to him.




To make matters worse for Gonzales, additional students came into the room, wearing black cowls and carrying a simple banner, written on a sheet.



Fortunately for him, it was a brief speech... followed by a panel discussion that basically ripped his argument a new asshole.

And, as one of the people on the panel said, "When you're a law student, they tell you if say that if you can't argue the law, argue the facts. They also tell you if you can't argue the facts, argue the law. If you can't argue either, apparently, the solution is to go on a public relations offensive and make it a political issue... to say over and over again "it's lawful", and to think that the American people will somehow come to believe this if we say it often enough. In light of this, I'm proud of the very civil civil disobedience that was shown here today." - David Cole, Georgetown University Law Professor It was a good day for dissent.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought it was Thomas Jefferson that said the quote they were holding, not Ben Franklin. Well, either way - that is kind of news that should make headlines. What courageous students, really!

Let's hope that isn't the end of it.

9:17 p.m.  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good day indeed.

12:20 a.m.  
Blogger Sam B. said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

10:47 p.m.  
Blogger Sam B. said...

Helem

The quote is actual not Thomas Jefferson, it is a rephrase of Ben Franklin’s (1755)

“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

I am not trying to “ripped his argument a new asshole” here : ) I just wanted to bring to your attention to another Ben Franklin comment that hardly gets quoted and is quite relevant to the issue at hand.

"I agree to this Constitution, with all its faults, if they are such: because I think a General Government necessary for us... [but] I believe.., that this is likely to be well administered for a Course of Years, and can only end in Despotism as other Forms have done before it, when the People shall become so corrupted as to need Despotic Government, being incapable of any other.”

Maybe Benjamin Franklin’s prediction is coming true that America has become so “corrupted” that a “Despotic Government” is taking over by meticulously eroding the people's liberties in the name of security, perhaps? I wonder if any symbolic protests be of any use? “Democracy is Dead” see August 11 2005 http://www.natna.blogspot.com/

10:50 p.m.  

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