George Clooney made a great acceptance speech at the Oscars a few weeks ago - he said he was proud to be a part of the Hollywood crowd, who've been attacked by the extreme right for being out of step with the rest of us. He reminded us that Hollywood's been at the fore-front when it comes to speaking out against Apartheid, demanding funding for Aids research, and standing up for minorities and civil rights. George spoke for me.
Bono of U2 has been a leading advocate for eradicating poverty and Aids - he even made the cover of Time Magazine (with Bill & Melinda Gates) as "man of the year". Bono speaks for me.
Makes me wonder why we have to look to Hollywood to give voice to what we're feeling now. Our Senators and Congress-Critters should be doing that for us - but they're not. At least when it comes to Feingold's call for censuring Bush.
I'm not sure how many Boston Legal fans there are out there, but I find myself looking for the text of the closing arguments of one of the main characters after each episode. The writers have taken on the credit card industry, corporate raiders... you name it and they've gone after it in a way that would make any true progressive proud. Last night they went after the Bush Administration. They put in to words what I'm feeling in a very eloquent and powerful way.
Well I just found the text on an ABC message board for last night's show and it's spectacular. I thought others might appreciate what the show's writers have to say about the current state of affairs in our great land. Our civil liberties are being trashed and our nation's good name is in the toilet thanks to BushCo. This transcript says it all...
(By way of background - Spader is defending a co-worker arrested for tax evasion. She'd had enough of what our governemt's done in our name and sent in her tax return - blank - with "STICK IT" tacked to the form)...
"When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out to be not true, I expected the American people to rise up... they didn't.
Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specialize in torture, I was sure then the American people would be heard from. We stood mute.
Then came the news that we jailed thousands of so-called terrorists suspects, locked them up without the right to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly we would never stand for that, we did.
And now it's been discovered the executive branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its' own citizens. You and me. And I atleast consoled myself that finally, finally, the American people will have had enough. Evidentally we haven't.
In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal wiretappings, prison without a fair trial or any trial, war on false pretenses. We as a citizenry are apparently not offended.
There are no demonstrations on college campuses. In fact there's no clear indication that young people seem to notice.
...
She could have protested the old fashioned way, made a plackard and demonstrated at a presidential or vice-presidential appearance, but we've lost the right to that as well. The secret service can now declare free speech zones to contain, control and in effect criminalize protest.
Stop for a second and try to fathom that.
At a presidential rally, parade, or appearance, if you have on a supportive t-shirt... you can be there. If you are wearing or carrying something in protest, you can be removed.
This in the United States of America.
This in the United States of America.
...
What I'm most sick and tired of... is how every time somebody disagrees with how the government is handling things, he/she is labeled UN-AMERICAN.
(Lawyer: Evidentally it's speech time.)
And speech in this country is FREE, you hack! Free for me, free for you.
I object to governments abusing its power to squash the constitutional freedoms of its citizenry. And God forbid anybody challenge it, there smeared as being a heretic.
Melissa Hughes is an American!
Melissa Hughes is an American!
Melissa Hughes is an American!
...
Last night I went to bed with a book. Not as much fun as a 29yr. old, but the book contained a speech by Adlai Stevenson. The year was 1952, he said,
"The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live, and fear breeds repression. Too often, sinister threats to the bill of rights, to freedom of the mind are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-communism."
Today, it's the cloak of Anti-Terrorism. Stevenson also remarked, "It's far easier to fight for principles, than to live up to them."
I know we are all afraid, but the bill of rights... we have to live up to that. We simply must."
ME AGAIN Alan Shore speaks for me. What say you?