Tuesday I listened to the broadcast of Terry Gross's 30-minute interview with Al Gore on "Fresh Air" from NPR. The first part focused on Gore's recently released documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." But late in the interview Gore's talk turned to corporate corruption and the do-nothing Congress, then ended with a magnificent summary of this government's betrayal of the Constitution and the public's acquiescence.

Here's my transcription of that segment—

TERRY GROSS [at 34:40]: Does it ever amaze you how much the world has changed since you ran for the Presidency?
....

Did you imagine that that much change would even be possible?
 

AL GORE: No. No, I did not. And I'm not alone in that.

You know, the premise of that Saturday Night Live skit was the existence of an alternate universe, and (laughing) there are people who sort of voluntarily say now it feels as if we've entered an alternate universe.

I would not have imagined, for example, that Americans could be routinely torturing helpless captives in the name of the American people and to continue it day after day—it's going on right now—without an ongoing outrage and a demand that it stop.

I would not have imagined that the government could routinely eavesdrop on tens of milliions of Americans without a warrant and not have an ongoing outrage.

I would not have imagined that we the American people would tolerate the locking up by the Executive Branch of American citizens without right to trial—without right to inform their families—to be held in secret without being charged.

These are offenses against the constitution and the rule of law that I would never have imagined could take place, much less be allowed to continue after they came to light.

So yes. The degree of change is truly shocking to me.

Let the impeachment begin.

Tags: * Gore Al Gore George Bush Bush impeachable offense torture surveillance imprisonment impeachment