The Ressurrected One
04-29-2005, 09:50 PM
Earlier this week, a once-prominent American politician weighed in on the questions of judicial appointees, the filibuster and religion in politics, and he made a lot of sense. Here's what he said:
"We began as a nation with a clear formulation of the basic relationship between God, our rights as individuals, the government we created to secure those rights, and the prerequisites for any power exercised by our government."
"'We hold these truths to be self-evident,' our founders declared. 'That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. . . .'"
"But while our rights come from God, as our founders added, 'governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.'"
"So, unlike our inalienable rights, our laws are human creations that derive their moral authority from our consent to their enactment--informed consent given freely within our deliberative processes of self-government."
"Any who seek to wield the powers of government without the consent of the people, act unjustly."
Excellent points, sir! America was founded with "a clear formulation of the basic relationship" between God and government--a rebuke to those who today would disfranchise religious believers. Laws "derive their moral authority from our consent." Take that, activist judges! And "any who seek to wield the powers of government without the consent of the people, act unjustly." Reactionary Democrats are wrong to subvert majority rule via the filibuster.
What's odd about this is that the speaker was Al Gore, and he doesn't actually believe any of this. Even so, it's nice of him to say it.
"We began as a nation with a clear formulation of the basic relationship between God, our rights as individuals, the government we created to secure those rights, and the prerequisites for any power exercised by our government."
"'We hold these truths to be self-evident,' our founders declared. 'That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights. . . .'"
"But while our rights come from God, as our founders added, 'governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.'"
"So, unlike our inalienable rights, our laws are human creations that derive their moral authority from our consent to their enactment--informed consent given freely within our deliberative processes of self-government."
"Any who seek to wield the powers of government without the consent of the people, act unjustly."
Excellent points, sir! America was founded with "a clear formulation of the basic relationship" between God and government--a rebuke to those who today would disfranchise religious believers. Laws "derive their moral authority from our consent." Take that, activist judges! And "any who seek to wield the powers of government without the consent of the people, act unjustly." Reactionary Democrats are wrong to subvert majority rule via the filibuster.
What's odd about this is that the speaker was Al Gore, and he doesn't actually believe any of this. Even so, it's nice of him to say it.