"Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol?"

I am still in awe of former Vice President Gore's call-to-arms speech yesterday about the Constitutional crisis we are currently facing in this country. I got a chance to hear it in full today, courtesy of C-Span's website (scroll down to Video/Audio- it's "Fmr. Vice Pres. Gore Speech on Executive Powers"). It was one of best political speeches I've heard in years (it ranks ahead of Al Sharpton's powerhouse speech on the promise of America at the 2004 DNC). It was so refreshing to hear it delivered, since I cant't imagine many of the Democrats in Congress today (while quietly critical of the President's actions, but then again so are as many Republicans) explaining the situation with such great detail and passion. It's no surprise he was the people's choice for President. If more Democrats gave speeches like that, I'd have higher hopes for this year's congressional contests. He covered every aspect of the danger we face, explained the laws and how they work, plowed through every Bush administration talking point, and laid out the path we need to take from here. And, of course, that tricky liberal media gave it no coverage, so no one saw it except for a few Washington insiders and people who read blogs.

If you haven't heard it, and have the time, I can't recommend it enough.

I think this was my favorite part, which came after his slam at today's media-

"The founders of our country faced dire threats. If they failed in their endeavors, they would have been hung as traitors. The very existence of our country was at risk.

Yet, in the teeth of those dangers, they insisted on establishing the full Bill of Rights.

Is our Congress today in more danger than were their predecessors when the British army was marching on the Capitol? Is the world more dangerous than when we faced an ideological enemy with tens of thousands of nuclear missiles ready to be launched on a moment’s notice to completely annihilate the country? Is America in more danger now than when we faced worldwide fascism on the march-when the last generation had to fight and win two World Wars simultaneously?

It is simply an insult to those who came before us and sacrificed so much on our behalf to imply that we have more to be fearful of than they did. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it’s up to us to do the very same thing!"

Amen, Al!

Also- Al Gore responds to criticisms of his speech by Attorney General Gonzales and Scott McClellan:
Gore responds to White House 'hypocrisy' comments