Al Gore's absolutely right.

I think.

The President's behavior is criminal and ignoring that threat has created a clear and present danger to Constitutional government in the United States.

Much as I may agree with what I gather he said, though, several attempts to wade through the entire transcript have yielded little success. A hat tip, then, to all who are busy digesting and excerpting it for those of us with shorter attention spans. Meanwhile, anyone who praises the rhetorical construction of the speech, as opposed to its actual point, should be disqualified from making dismissive comments about John Kerry's supposedly ecessively 'Senatorial' style.

My dips into the transcript did reveal this gem of a notion, though, drawn from one of the more eloquent passages...

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. Yet they faithfully protected our freedoms and now it is up to us to do the same.

Exactly so.

OK, he's waving the bloody shirt, but it works because it's true. Americans have not fallen in battle under the banner of diminished liberties. The kids in the recruiting ads are always talking about protecting our freedom, never restricting it. The bedwetters who run around hollering "Take my freedoms and save me, Daddy!" are the worst of us, not the best, and dishonor all who serve or have served. It's a theme Democrats should broadly adopt.

(I'll grant you, reading isn't hearing. Al may have delivered a speech that overcame the text. The clips I've seen are unpersuasive, though...)