April 13, 2005: Then Senator Obama Speaks Out Against The So-Called "Nuclear Option" He And The Democrats Just Pulled On Us!
"What makes it so plausible to assume that hypocrisy is the vice of vices is that integrity can indeed exist under the cover of all other vices except this one. Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core." by Hannah Arendt
I have typed a transcript below for your reading pleasure!
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The American people have sent us here to be their voice. They understand that those voices can at times get loud and argumentative. But they also hope we can disagree without being disagreeable. What they don't expect, is for ONE PARTY be it Republican or Democrat to change the rules in the middle of the game so that they can make all the decisions while the other party is told to sit down and keep quiet.
The American people want less partisanship in this town, but everyone in this chamber knows that if the majority chooses to end the filibuster, if they choose to change the rules to democratic debate, then the fighting and the bitterness and the gridlock will only get worse. I understand the Republicans are getting a lot of pressure to do this from factions outside the chamber. But we need to rise above the ends justifies the means mentality because we're here to answer to the people, ALL OF THE PEOPLE, not just the ones wearing our particular party label.
If the right to a free and open debate is taken away from the minority party, then the MILLIONS OF AMERICANS who ask us to be their voice, I fear that the already partisan attitude in Washington will be POISONED TO THE POINT where no one will be able to agree on anything. That doesn't serve anyone's best interest and it certainly isn't what the patriots who founded this democracy had in mind. WE OWE THE PEOPLE WHO SENT US HERE MORE THAN THAT! WE OWE THEM MUCH MORE!
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