4.07.2006

Alberto Gonzales spoke before law students at Georgetown today, justifying illegal, unauthorized surveillance of US citizens; but during the course of his speech the students in class did something pretty gutsy and brave. They got up from their seats and turned their backs to him. 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 in half. And, as one of the people on the panel said, "When you're a law student, they tell you 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 disobedience that was shown here today." - David Cole, Georgetown University Law Professor

It was a good day for dissent.


btw... click on pic to enlarge for full effect!
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5 comments:

Jack K. said...

Huzzah!! For the students at Georgetown. I watched Assume the position with Mr. Wuhl on HBO. Part of his shtick was if you can't print the facts print the legend. Or words to that effect. It was a very funny show.

Is it possible that the Republicants are focusing on a legend they are trying to create?

Hale McKay said...

Bravo to those students.

Is that picture doctored? If I looked like a bad artist's portrait, I would not allowed myself to photographed.

Karen said...

jack~ if that legend is bush, i'd say they're in big trubble!

mike~ the pic is a caricature that i found here.

Eli Blake said...

Zap Albert lives in a world where indefinite detention, secret facilities, torture, secret military tribunals that can sentence people to die in secret, and 24/7 surveillance of ordinary citizens are all justified.

In Zap Albert's world, Josef Stalin would not have done anything wrong.

Jack K. said...

I'm not sure that bush will ever become the kind of legen Wuhl talks about. I still think the neocon Republicants are trying to create a legend. I just hope they don't make it.