David E. Kelley and "Boston Legal" always say it for me!

The conservatives and the evangelicals have the presidency, both houses of congress, and now the supreme court. We Progressives get "Boston Legal." DEAL WITH IT!

Alan Shore was back in court to defend his legal assistant who thought of her grandfather having fought in War World II and was embarrassed by the current state of things in America. To protest, instead of including a check for $400 in her tax return, she placed a sticky note on the return that read, “STICK IT!” The Federal Prosecutor had her arrested and took her to trial to make an example of her. We pick up with Alan’s closing argument…

When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out not to be true, I expected the American people to rise up.

[chuckle] They didn’t.

Then when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and then it was revealed that our government participated in rendition (the 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 terrorist 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 citizenry – you and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, FINALLY, the American people will have had enough!

Evidently, we haven’t.

In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is, “We’re okay with it all.”

Torture… warrant-less search & seizures… illegal wire tappings… 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 even seem to notice.

Well, Melissa Hughes noticed.

Now, you might think instead of withholding her taxes, she could have protested the old fashioned way – made a plaquered 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 protests.

Stop for a second to fathom that.

At a presidential rally, parade, or appearance if you have on a supportive t-shirt, you can be there. If you’re wearing or carrying something in protest, you can be removed. This in the United States of America.

THIS IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!

Is Melissa Hughes the only one embarrassed?

[Alan sits in the witness chair and the judge admonishes him that the chair is for witnesses only]

Long speeches make me so tired sometimes. Actually, I’m sick and tired… and what I’m most sick and tired of… is how every time somebody disagrees with how the government is running things, he or she is labeled “un-American.”

[The Federal Prosecutor calls out, “Evidently, it’s speech time.”]

And speech in this country is free, you hack!

Free for me, free for you, and free for Melissa Hughes to stand up to her government and say, “STICK IT!”

[The Federal Prosecutor yells, “OBJECTION!”]

I object to government abusing its power to squash the constitutional freedoms of its citizenry. And God forbid anybody challenges it, they’re 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 29 year old, but the book contained a speech by Adelaide 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.

In the final scene, Alan Shore and Denny Crain are having their end-of-day Scotch and cigar on the balcony of their Boston office tower.

Alan: You know what I miss most about our country, Denny? Not the loss of our civil rights as much as our compassion, our soul, our humility…

Denny: Nuh…uh…uh… soul… that’s a religious thing. State… Church… It’s unconstitutional for the United States to have a soul.

Alan: Apparently. We seem to be becoming a mean people. Learned Hand once said, “Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it….”

Denny: Just once I wish you would quote a Republican…

Alan: I want a kinder and gentler nation.

[cheers]