When the “Weapons of Mass-Destruction” thing turned out not to be true, I expected the American People to rise up…. but …. they didn’t.

Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced, and it was revealed that our government participated in “rendition”; a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specialize in torture…. I was sure then, that 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 citizens; you and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally; finally, the American People will have had enough….. And evidently, we haven’t. In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is “We’re OK with it all”. Torture, warrantless search and 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 is 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 placard 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…. and try 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?

<Mr Shore, the defense attorney sits down, and Judge interjects> “Mister Shore, that’s a chair for witnesses only”.

Really long speeches make me so tired, sometimes.

<Judge interjects> “Please get out of the chair!”

Actually, I’m sick and tired,

<Judge interjects> “Get out of the chair!”

And what I am 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”.

<Prosecutor interjects> “Evidently, it’s speech time”.

And speech in this country is free, you hack! Free for me, free for you, free for Melissa Hughes to stand up to her government and say “Stick it!”

<Prosecutor interjects> “Objection!”

I object to government abusing its power to squash the Constitutional freedoms of its citizenry, and God forbid anybody challenge it; they’re smeared as being a heretic. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American.

<Judge interjects> “Mister Shore, unless you have anything new and fresh to say, please sit down”. You’ve breeched the decorum of my courtroom with all this hooting”.

Last night, I went to bed with a book…. not as much fun as a twenty-nine year old, but the book contained a speech by Adlai 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. That’s all Melissa Hughes is trying to say. She was speaking for you.  I would ask you now to go back to that room…. and speak for her.

— Alan Shore, Boston Legal, TV series —