John Kerry’s Floor Speech on Priscilla Owen’s Nomination

[kerrygoddess]

Transcript of John Kerry’s Floor Speech as prepared:

“Mr. President, we are here at a remarkable moment of confrontation. This is a great institution – at least it always has been – and is looked up to by people all over the world. But caught up as we are now in this moment of partisan, ideological quest for power, the Congress itself is dropping lower and lower in the view of the public.

Rather than reaching across the aisle to grapple with real crises, the Republican leadership moves unilaterally, shutting Senators out of Conference Committees, wasting energy and countless hours to change the rules by breaking the rules.

It’s a stunning moment. Words spoken in this chamber have trouble don’t fully convey the full importance of this moment. This is in fact one of those times that the founding fathers and countless other statesmen in history warned us against.

Henry Clay: “The arts of power and its minions are the same in all countries and in all ages. It marks its victim; denounces it; and excites the public odium and the public hatred, to conceal its own abuses and encroachments.”

James Madison: “Where the whole power of one department is exercised by the same hands which possess the whole power of another department, the fundamental principles of a free constitution, are subverted.” … “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

Lord Acton: “All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Thomas Jefferson: “I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”

We are a nation that listened to remarkable men in remarkable debates argue how we as a nation would be different in balancing power and protecting the people and the institutions we set up to protect them. Now, in 2005, feeling the flush of victory in controlling two branches of government, elected officials are prepared to serve the moment – not to serve history – not precedent – not common sense – not the real interests of the American people.

MORE - http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=920

[still_one]

1. no offense to anyone, but where was that passion during the campaign?

[kerrygoddess]

3. It was there...

On a daily basis!

[Sydnie]

7. Yes it was

but the press was AFRAID to cover it.

[flpoljunkie]

I would say the wretched cable media made a point to not cover John Kerry.

Cable news media directly enabled Dubya in every way they could--while doing their damndest to ignore John Kerry--except to critize, of course.

[understandinglife]

16. You are correct.

Peace.


www.missionnotaccomplished.us - Be it MNA Day 3 or 8 or 15 or .... the day will come when 10s of millions of Americans and others stop their typical activities for 24 hours and urge 10 times that many to join should another MNA Day be required. On that glorious day what we once called "America" will emerge.

[glitch]

17. Right there on cspan - many of his speeches were shown in full

next time try to go to the source (or as close as it gets these days), because you sure as hell can't rely on the corporate media to give you the news. If you don't have cspan on your cable then you can check out their net broadcast. If you have dial-up you can read transcripts of speeches, also on the candidates websites.

PS the corporate media did the same thing to Gore.

[bunkerbuster1]

19. CSPAN was a parallel universe during the campaign

I'd watch incredibly moving speeches, played to enormous crowds on CSPAN. And then I'd watch our idiot pre-digested news outlets on TV and in print just spit out tiny pieces, always paired up with tarted up Chimpy appearances.

Kerry worked his ass off, he was passionate, and dammit, I'm sick of hearing that he didn't campaign hard. He did.

[Sydnie]

25. Hammer meet nail

My President



Our pResident

[glitch]

28. Me too. Once people have turned on to cspan they see how corrupt

corporate media is. And when they watch corporate media again, it's with a highly skeptical new eye.

I fear for cspan, it will be attacked like pbs and npr, and go the same way. But the truth will out, eventually, it always finds it's own way.

[candice]

83. YES. I watched Kerry's speeches on C-SPAN and was impressed but

never saw anything real on regular TV (have since dropped cable, and my tiny TV with rabbit ears is hidden behind a piece of furniture). It seemed like mass hysteria to pretend that Shrub actually was worthy of being a candidate to run for anything other than dogcatcher. The set of debates with Gore proved him to be a dunce, and the ones with Kerry seemed to show that his meds haven't been adjusted properly. Had Kerry or Gore been given 1/10 the "goodwill" that Shrub got, even having Florida and Ohio sewn up wouldn't have helped. I don't understand since all of us have to live in the country Bush is destroying--only a miniscule of people are reaping any "benefits," and many of them live in this country, have to breathe the polluted air, smell the stench of corruption, and have progeny who will suffer the consequences of short-sighted greed.

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

94. Dead on!

The only trouble is, this miniscule people who benefit from his policies control all the media filters. This is worsened by the fact that the media filters themselves are part of this coterie that gains immensely (in terms of money, power and prestige).

Pay the anchors/talk show hosts minimum wages and you will see who they pump up...

[katinmn]

21. I heard him speak during the campaign and it was there

I also heard him when he came here a couple weeks ago and he still has it!

[kerrygoddess]

86. He's always had it!

Always!

[blm]

37. On the floor of editing rooms controlled by their corporate media masters.

.

[NVMojo]

54. did you get to see something the rest of us were prevented from seeing?

As if the MSM was going to let him have a snowball's chance in hell to be seen or covered when it mattered. Instead, they participated in the smear. It's not easy to fight a cabal machine like that....and then get beat up by your own.

[iwantmycountryback]

61. Hidden by the media

You had to watch more than the Corporate News Network soundbites to really see Kerry.

[zulchzulu]

69. I hope to disprove that perception...

I've been working on a documentary about the 2004 race and have lots of footage (which is tedious to edit through) of Kerry up close and personal where his passion was strong and equally matched by those around him...other issues are addressed too, but it is very important to not let the misperception that Kerry had no passion be further spread...crowded places with many screaming supporters...I was there...many were too...we saw it.

[kerrygoddess]

87. How's it coming? Your documentary?

"it is very important to not let the misperception that Kerry had no passion be further spread...crowded places with many screaming supporters...I was there...many were too...we saw it."

Thanks for saying this. At some point Dems need to realize they are hurting the entire Dem party spreading these memes!

[zulchzulu]

95. Now in editing/interview stage with questions to be answered

I'm in the process of getting people to be interviewed. Here are the questions:

Kerry Interview Questions

• What is your name and where do you live?

• What were your feelings about the Iraq War before it started? Did you protest publicly?

• Have you heard about the recent British memo that was leaked that showed that Bush was planning on going to war in Iraq 8 months before it started and three months before the UN Resolution 1441 was passed?
If yes, any thoughts? If no, are you surprised?

• What did you think about John Kerry's vote for the UN Resolution 1441? Did you understand his explanation about his vote?

• Did you participate in any grassroots election or other activities during the election year in 2004?

• Who did you back in the primaries? Did you see anyone in person?

• What did you think about Kerry's victory in Iowa?

• How did you get your election news? Do you watch Fox News? Do you know anyone who watches Fox News who believes their reporting?

• Do you think that Bush was fairly elected? What do you think of him as president?

• Do you know about Project For A New American Century?

• What would you have done about the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ads when they first came out in mid-August?

• How do you see the future of democracy in America?

[Vektor]

76. It was there...

...sadly, the MSM didn't do shit to showcase it. In fact, they sometimes cut the audio whenever he really started calling Bush out. Remember when all those explosives "disappeared " from a "secure" bunker in Iraq? Kerry went to town on Bush's ass, and the networks cut the audio.

[Sydnie]

2. Thank you Kerrygoddess!

What a speech he gave. It fills me with hope again, that we will weather this storm and hopefully survive the storms still to come.

[kerrygoddess]

5. My pleasure...

Happy to share!

[FreedomAngel82]

6. It was a good speech

I enjoyed it. :)

[zulchzulu]

71. Thanks

What a surprise...

:toast:

[okieinpain]

4. to bad he's not president, then the press could report to us how

many beers his wife had over the weekend.

[smartvoter]

8. I saw it. It was the best one so far. nt

[wildflower]

9. Thank you, kerrygoddess! Will there be a replay?

I missed it, darnit. :)

-wildflower

[kerrygoddess]

12. I'm not sure...

Maybe C-Span will have today's floor speech's available leter. I hope so!

[wildflower]

22. I hope so too! BTW, re: "Light a candle rather than curse the darkness"...

I really like that.

Thanks! :hi:

-wildflower

[kerrygoddess]

30. Thanks Wildflower

We do too! Eleanor Roosevelt quote!

[wildflower]

34. Ah, so that's where it's from...it did seem familiar!

And very appropriate for our times.

-wildflower

[ginnyinWI]

43. Yes it will!

a three-speech block to be repeated on Cspan 2 tonight starting at 9:40 eastern--Smith, Byrd, Kerry.

[wildflower]

45. Thank you! n/t

[whometense]

44. Video link

here: http://www.dembloggers.com/story/2005/5/19/143623/183

[coloradodem2005]

10. Good Job Kerry!

:toast:

[Carla in Ca]

57. Right on Senator Kerry!

n/t

[jmaier]

11. It was a powerful and eloquent speech

Any of the fence-sitters should have squirmed uncomfortably if they were actually any where listening. He admonished them to recall their higher purpose and put conviction and a call to duty behind Senator Byrd's previous history lesson.

[paineinthearse]

13. This must be the "official" speech, not what he actually said

During the passage...

To get what they want the leadership has acquiesced to outside forces. John Danforth, a greatly respected former Republican Senator, George Bush’s choice as UN Ambassador, and most importantly a respected minister and leader in his church, wrote: “The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting a sectarian agenda that it has become the political extension of a religious movement.”

Yet despite Senator Danforth’s warning most of my colleagues stay on script in this fight for history, for principle, for rights. They allow our cherished principles to be abused and glossed over as the debate devolves into a competition of hollow sound-bytes. But script and sound-byte should not dictate what happens here. Not here in the United States Senate. Conscience and principle should dictate what happens here. There must be Senators prepared to stand up and do their duty as Senators of the United States, not Senators of their Party.

...he made some remarks about Lincoln Chafee.

:shrug:

[Mass]

23. It is the next paragraph of the speech.

"My distinguished colleague, Senator Voinovich, recently showed such courage, but such acts, sadly, are increasingly rare. And now Senator Voinovich is being vilified on talk radio and the Internet for having the audacity to vote with his conscience. That doesn’t seem so controversial, but my distinguished colleague, Senator Chafee said he had never seen such an act as Senator Voinovich’s in his four years in Washington . That’s a sad statement about our Senate, and how ironic that Senator Voinovich is subjected to widespread denigration in partisan circles, when Americans should be admiring and respecting his independence."

But I dont think he said it that way.

[kerrygoddess]

14. Comments not in "as prepared version"

There's a live blog of the speech at LUTD also with a few of the comments not in the "as prepared" version

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=919

[I aint Miss Behaving]

18. Great!

Thanks bunches.

[cestpaspossible]

15. What was JK's 81 filibuster about?

anyone know?

[kerrygoddess]

29. I'm trying to get further info

will post if I do!

[kerrygoddess]

48. JK spoke of filibuster in 81

and then also refered to his own filibuster in 95. Here's the info on what he was filibustering:

"The bill John Kerry filibustered in 1995 was part of the "Contract for America" and top Republican priority for that Congress. The bill was sponsored by then-Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole. It would have substantially weakened national health, safety and environmental regulations."

[yodermon]

20. I want audio! video!

anything.

[LittleClarkie]

33. Keep an eye here

http://www.dembloggers.com/

I don't know if they will have Kerry, but they have Kennedy and Durbin so far.

I hope they do Kerry. They say they do alot of videos. Probably a good site to keep an eye on if that's the case.

[bunny planet]

24. Thank you Kerry Goddess. I so wanted this man to be our President.

He makes me proud again as always.

[kerrygoddess]

31. He's the Shadow President!

[Clarkie1]

50. No he isn't.

Please don't say that. There are no "shadow presidents" in America.

It's disrepectful on a lot of levels, and doesn't help the image of Kerry or his partisans.

Kerry, as many other Democratic Senators have done on this issue, gave a fine and impassioned speech today. His is no more or less important than the others.

[kerrygoddess]

85. Excuse me? WTF?

There's nothing disrespectful about it.

We all know it's very well possible Kerry won the election. Maybe to you his speech was not any more important than the others byut thousands of people would disagree with you. But oh, oh wait if your man gave the speech it would be the best thing since sex!

Don't come in here and shit on other people's feelings about Kerry.

If those who support John Kerry want to call him the Shadow President, they have every right to.

Last I knew we still live in a free country and have freedom of speech!

[politicasista]

90. Amen KG.

[elshiva]

26. Thanks, as always kerrygoddess!

:toast:

[saltpoint]

27. Kerry's invocation of Madison, Jefferson, Clay, etc. is --

-- the mark of a sharp mind -- sharp to have sought the sage advice in the first place and humble enough to invoke them as a stay against a current crisis in the Senate.

It's an address that requires concentration, awareness, and an appreication of process and perspective.

The Republicans are hammering away with "up or down vote" -- a 4-phrase piece of propaganda comprised of 1-syllable words so a dumbed-down Dubya-deluded populace can swallow it bitesized.

God damn anybody who voted for George W. Bush when they had the opportunity to vote for a statesman.

[cestpaspossible]

32. Saying that the Senate rejected one of Washington's SCOTUS appointments

I didn't know that.

[saltpoint]

35. I didn't either. Had no idea. But it's one reason I respect Kerry so --

-- much. He knows his history better than anyone. He's in a rare group of people who have covered that ground with respect.

A month or so before the Iowa primary, Kerry was in western Iowa, in a small town there, at a town meeting. He told the crowd who had come to listen about Benjamin Franklin's comment to a woman waiting outside the original hall where the form of our government was to be decided.

"What sort of government do we have, then, Mr. Franklin?" she asked him as he stepped out of the building.

"A democracy -- if you can keep it," Franklin told her.

The historical reference combined with the point it raises for modern citizens just knocked me out. He's always been good at this and he's doing it again today.

I am sorry he is not in the White House but I am grateful he is still in the U.S. Senate.

[AlmightyTallest]

75. Great Story but

I believe the quote was actually "A Republic, if you can keep it."

[saltpoint]

80. Won't quarrel with the noun -- just wanted to say that I like how --

-- Kerry ties the big picture & long view to the immediate moment.

I listen to NPR news in the early mornings and lately am very homesick for the Kerry-Edwards ticket.

[Dr Ron]

36. Replay scheduled

C-SPAN2 to replay Kerry tonight:

· Sens. Smith (R-OR), Byrd (D-WV) & Kerry (D-MA) Floor Remarks (9:40pm)

[Blue_In_AK]

42. Is that Eastern time? n/t

[Mark Williams]

38. Video Of Sen. Kerry's Speech

I just posted video from Sen. Kerry's speech. It was a great speech and I highly recommend it.

Video Link - Sen. Kerry's Speech

[LittleClarkie]

39. Thanks

I was just telling someone here about your wonderful site. Thank you for including Sen. Kerry in your collection.

[cestpaspossible]

40. Thank you

[Blue_In_AK]

41. I just watched it, and it's great

but is part of it missing? I didn't hear the historical references that people have been talking about.

[kerrygoddess]

49. Thanks!

We linked to you on LUTD!

[Clarkie1]

46. I thought Senator Akaka's speech last week was the best one on this issue.

Democratic Senator Akaka voted in the 1960s against blocking the Republicans from filibustering civil rights legislation. He said many of his liberal friends "wouldn't speak to him for weeks" after that.

He read from the text of the speech he gave against doing away with the filibuster Republicans were using to block civil rights legislation on the floor, and Reid said he thought he had given the best defense of the filibuster he had ever heard.

I wish I could find the text of the speech. I may e-mail or check out Akaka's website and see if I can find it.

I glad to see Kerry joining the multitudes of other Democratic Senators speaking up strongly on this issue.

[TayTay]

52. I agree, except that he is continuing his remarks

Senator Kerry spoke out loudly and with great thought and passion on this subject on the floor of the Senate on April 21st in a wonderful speech. The speech today is also a great speech. I am pleased t hear the other Senators joing him in this fight.

[TayTay]

53. I agree, except that he is continuing his remarks

Senator Kerry spoke out loudly and with great thought and passion on this subject on the floor of the Senate on April 21st in a wonderful speech. The speech today is also a great speech. I am pleased t hear the other Senators joing him in this fight.

[bornskeptic]

59. I think you mean Inouye, not Akaka

Akaka has only been in the Senate since 1990. Inouye is one of only three (I think) current senators who were in the Senate in 1964.

[Clarkie1]

64. Thanks, must be Inouye! n/t

[bornskeptic]

67. You're welcome. BTW, I found the speech.

It's on page S5041 of the congressional record, on May 12. I couldn't link to it directly. It starts about a third of the way down the page.

http://thomas.loc.gov/home/r109query.html

[kerrygoddess]

88. Hmmm... not sure who's speech you liked there? Eh?

Just anybody but Kerry.

Very transparent of you Clarkie1. Still up to your tricks I see.

[politicasista]

91. LOL

KG! :yourock:

[MelissaB]

47. This is awesome!

Thank you!

[many a good man]

51. Did he just call Cmdr Cuckoobananas a tyrant?

“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
Madison

Picking that quote shows Kerry has a deep grasp of the historical importance of this moment. Tyranny of the majority. If you read the Federalist Papers, you see clearly that this was the greatest motivator behind the design and architecture of this new govt created out of whole cloth. At the time, though, they feared mob rule, the majority taking away the property of the few. How ironic is it now that we are seeing a minority of religious zealots allied with the "monied interests" that are on the brink of oppressing the majority and destroying its Constitution?

[BigBearJohn]

55. I think Kerry's speech was awe-inspiring. Truly great.

[kerrygoddess]

56. It was awe-inspiring!

[Generator]

58. I'm sitting here and I don't really have words

For his speech and all it means. Emotions aplenty-fear,sadness, despair, outrage-but basically there is the America that is Kerry's America-the one in our hearts that we know is a just place that makes sense for all it's million faults and this anomaly of horror that just keeps chugging along with no end in sight.

[kerrygoddess]

63. I hear you...

I'm going to watch it again tonight. JK really rocked the floor today. I'm so proud of him and all he stands for.

[AlmightyTallest]

60. Listening to it

for the second time today. All I have to say is, John Kerry, you rock! :yourock:

[AuntiBush]

62. Kerry will always be the real "TRUE" Leader

Nuff said.

[XOKCowboy]

65. I hate to disagree but...

he had the chance to show it last November and didn't. I know about voter fraud and all that but it should have never come down to Ohio. He could have taken the election but came across as a politician instead of a leader.

John Kerry is a great senator. He's a great politician but we need a true leader. Someone who can show the people that Dems aren't just the party of "abortion and banning guns".

[Name removed]

66. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Hippo_Tron]

68. Kerry was mis-handled

And in all fairness to Kerry and Kerry's campaign staff, the media is a joke.

FAUX is one of the three major networks and is 24/7 * propaganda. MSNBC isn't as bad but nonetheless they still have shows like Scarborough Country. CNN isn't so much biased to the right as they are crappy journalists. They don't do any investigative reporting whatsoever and that is inherantly bad for you when you are out of power. It's not that CNN spun things to make * look like a passionate elegant speaker and Kerry to look bland, it's just that they really didn't cover the full speeches, which was good for * and bad for Kerry.

All of that aside, Kerry's campaign was very much an inside the beltway campaign and Clinton's guys are much better at running insider campaigns than Shrum and Cahill. Kerry should've known that.

[kerrygoddess]

70. It's the media stupid!

“No matter who the Democratic nominee was, this machinery had the capacity to discredit and destroy him.” - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

http://www.lightupthedarkness.org/blog/default.asp?view=plink&id=874

[still_one]

77. sorry, but I am tired of that excuse

now we have most of the Democratic senators who voted for giving * the authority to go into Iraq, that the reason they did is because they "trusted" the president.

I am sorry, but I don't buy that excuse either. They knew what they were dealing with from his history, and the facts which they ignored

There were enough Democrats, and two republicans who saw the lie

until we stop blaming the media, and take responsibility that it was us, we will not even have a chance to win.

Face it, both the Gore and the Kerry campaigns were extremely weak. I would hope we have learned from the last two elections, because 2006 is really our last chance

[kerrygoddess]

82. Thanks for sharing...

You believe what you believe... others will work to change things while you stay stuck in the past.

[ray of light]

93. Really?

I saw what they did to Dean. I saw what they did to Kerry and Edwards. I saw them play and replay every speech dumb-bush made while cheating Kerry and Edwards to a 10 second "most harmless" soundbite. (In other words, "Hello everyone, We're so glad to see you in MA, MI, OH...doesn't matter where..." And then the reporters would say, "And there you have it Senator Kerry speaking in OH." or "Senator Edwards, speaking from WI."

Sure the media had NOTHING to do with replaying nothing but trash and "flip-flop" all over the place without saying to the Republican spin machine, "SHOW US THE PROOF!" or "MR. BUSH said he would do _________ and now his position has changed. Why is Mr. Bush a flip flop? Is he a flip-flop as people are saying?"

Sure the media, was HONEST, and when Kerry fought back about the Swifties they IMMEDIATELY retracted EVERY LIE from those liar's mouths! NOT. Nope, the media still trashed kerry even when the facts came out.

Hmmmm....we could go on....Lets see...every speech kerry made, they did not show in its entirety. INCLUDING the speech made about the Iraq war and the conditions there. How did they respond to the allegations that Bush was a big fat liar about Iraq? Hmm....let's think really hard...."Gee, that's interesting Senator Kerry, but we heard you were a flip-flop..."

THEN in November, they had the audacity to pretend it was NEW NEWS instead of the same issues Kerry brought up when a soldeir confronted Donald Rumsfeld about the lack of armor protection.

SO...I suggest you stop pretending that Gore, Kerry, Dean or anybody MESSED up and you stop pretending that the media is not the partison hacks they are.

Me thinks you are just a troll anyways.

[wisteria]

72. I just saw the speech on C-span -WOW!

He spoke about so many things that I have been upset about. He reached out and called for fairness, integrity and unity. There was no holding back when he spoke of the President's true purpose. And I believe him when he says, if he had won the election- none of this would be going on now. Ignoring the really important issues in order to achieve ultimate power. How unfair life can be- he should be our president-not that small minded arrogant man masquerading as our current President.

[me b zola]

73. Home run, Senator!

"Our Founding Fathers would shudder to see how easily forces outside the mainstream now seem to effortlessly push some Senate leaders toward conduct the American people don't want from their elected leaders: Abusing power…Inserting the government into our private lives…Injecting religion into debates about public policy…Jumping through hoops to ingratiate themselves to their party’s base, while step by step, day by day, real problems that keep American families up at night fall by the wayside here in Washington."

[LeahD]

74. Yes, he hit it out of the park.! n/t

[CWebster]

78. Good performance, but

he is still wrong about Iraq--we are not bringing them democracy--it is a crock and as long as he keeps up that rhetoric, he is a crock.

[candice]

84. Kerry was being ironic: "Spreading democracy" is the latest ostensible

reason for the oil/land grab. Lots of unaccounted bucks being thrown at Haliburton as well.

[La Femme]

79. Lies, Lies, Lies

I was able to watch it last night. I loved that he was showing such passion for the topic. John Kerry told it like it was! Lies, lies, lies - this administration continues to pass out lies as fact. They distort the facts to prove their lies. About time someone stood up and called them liars to their face!

[OzarkDem]

81. Go, Kerry, go!

I'm traveling to DC for a few days - looking forward to seeing some of this action.

[skoppa]

89. WOW...

...I think that passion/spirit might have got him the presidency

[undeterred]

92. kick!

:kick: