In A Democracy Dissent Is An Act

The Legislator Is An Indispensable Guardian Of Our Freedom. It Is True That Great Executives Have Played A Powerful Role In The Development Of Civilization, But Such Leaders Appear Sporadically, By Chance. They Do Not Always Appear When They Are Most Needed. The Great Executives Have Given Inspiration And Push To The Advancement Of Human Society, But It Is The Legislator Who Has Given Stability And Continuity To That Slow And Painful Progress.

It Is Amazing How Soon One Becomes Accustomed To The Sound Of Ones Voice, When Forced To Repeat A Speech Five Or Six Times A Day. As Election Day Approaches, The Size Of The Crowds Grows; They Are More Responsive And More Interested; And One Derives A Certain Exhilaration From That Which, Only A Few Weeks Before, Was Intensely Painful. This Is One Possible Explanation Of Unlimited Debate In The Senate.

We Are Inclined To Confuse Freedom And Democracy, Which We Regard As Moral Principles, With The Way In Which They Are Practiced In America With Capitalism, Federalism, And The Two-party System, Which Are Not Moral Principles But Simply The Preferred And Accepted Practices Of The American People.

We Must Dare To Think 'unthinkable' Thoughts. We Must Learn To Explore All The Options And Possibilities That Confront Us In A Complex And Rapidly Changing World.

We Would Be Deliberately Violating The Fundamental Obligations We Assumed In The Act Of Bogota Establishing The Organization Of American States.