MARIO CUOMO CALLS ON LAWYERS TO RISE UP IN DEFENSE OF CONSTITUTION

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FIRE DOG LAKE - Mario Cuomo gave a speech to 2,000 of the most
influential lawyers in NYC. The program didn't give a title for the
speech, but Gov. Cuomo repeatedly invoked, as if she were some kind of
Catholic saint, "Our Lady of the Law."

He called out "power seeking presidents" who engage in "efforts to throw
off constitutional restraints" through various means. He decried in
particular "signing statements," "secret White House task forces," and
the "unprecedented politicization of the Department of Justice."

But of all the overreaching by presidents, the one that came under Gov.
Cuomo's harshest criticism was "the seizing by presidents of the power
to declare war."

He pointed out that under our Constitution the Congress' power to
declare war is non-delegable. . .

I lost count of how many times he used the word Monarch in his
speech-but it was a lot. He said, "There is a time to be silent and a
time to speak. This is the time for lawyers to speak."

Later, the following line caused quite a few members of the audience to
interrupt the speech with spontaneous applause when he made reference to
a march by lawyers that had taken place in NYC the previous week to
express solidarity with the lawyers protesting in Pakistan:

"If US lawyers are marching in the streets in support of the rule of law
in Pakistan, why aren't we marching in support of the rule of law here?"

He said that Our Lady of the Law had endured for 200 years because we
had upheld her, but now a timid Congress was throwing away the
Constitution with both hands and that "We have no heroes. We are not
even sure what we want to make of ourselves as a nation.". . .

His final call to action was this: "If not the lawyers, then who? If not
now, when?"

http://www.firedoglake.com/2007/11/23/our-lady-of-the-law/

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