TEXT OF U.S. PRES. BUSH'S OPENING REMARKS TO ANNAPOLIS MIDEAST PEACE CONFERENCE
SPEAKING AT MEMORIAL HALL, U.S. NAVAL ACADEMY, ANNAPOLIS, MD
27 November 2007

Thank you for coming. Prime Minister Olmert, President Abbas, Secretary General Ban, former Prime Minister Blair, distinguished guests... We meet to lay the foundation for the establishment of a new nation — a democratic Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel in peace and security. We meet to help bring an end to the violence that has been the true enemy of the aspirations of both the Israelis and Palestinians. [Full Transcript]

DECLARATION OF THE RIGHTS OF MAN & OF THE CITIZEN
ESTABLISHED 26 AUGUST 1789 BY THE NATIONAL CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, PARIS
Posted 7 September 2007

The representatives of the French people, constituted into a "National Assembly," considering that ignorance, forgetting or contempt of the rights of man are the sole causes of public misfortunes and of the corruption of governments, are resolved to expose [i.e., expound], in a solemn declaration, the natural, inalienable and sacred rights of man, so that that declaration, constantly present to all members of the social body, points out to them without cease their rights and their duties; so that the acts of the legislative power and those of the executive power, being at every instant able to be compared with the goal of any political institution, are very respectful of it; so that the complaints of the citizens, founded from now on on simple and incontestible principles, turn always to the maintenance of the Constitution and to the happiness of all. [Full Transcript]

TEXT OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.'S 'I HAVE A DREAM' SPEECH
AS PRONOUNCED 28 AUGUST 1963 TO THE 'MARCH ON WASHINGTON', DC
11 February 2007

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. [Full Transcript]

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
ESTABLISHED 4 JULY 1776 BY CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, PHILADELPHIA
Posted 4 July 2006

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. —That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed... [Full Transcript]

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
ESTABLISHED 17 SEPTEMBER 1787 BY CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, PHILADELPHIA; RATIFIED 21 JUNE 1788 BY THE STATES
Posted 4 July 2006

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Article. I.

Section. 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.

Section. 2.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. [Full Transcript]

THE BILL OF RIGHTS (US)
DRAFTED 1789 BY JAMES MADISON, RATIFIED 15 DECEMBER 1791
Posted 4 July 2006

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence. [Full Transcript]

TRANSCRIPT OF GORE SPEECH FOR LIBERTY COALITION, ENDORSED BY REP. BOB BARR (R-GA)
REMARKS AS PREPARED BY AL GORE, REPORTED IN PUBLIC DOMAIN, ON SUBJECT OF CONSTITUTIONAL ABUSES BY GOVERNMENT
16 January 2006

The following transcript is provided by Sentido as a matter of national and historic newsworthiness, and on the basis of its lying in the public domain. The text does not represent the specific views of or any political agenda of Sentido.tv, and Sentido's editors claim no relation to its content, source material or authorship...

Congressman Barr and I have disagreed many times over the years, but we have joined together today with thousands of our fellow citizens-Democrats and Republicans alike-to express our shared concern that America's Constitution is in grave danger.

In spite of our differences over ideology and politics, we are in strong agreement that the American values we hold most dear have been placed at serious risk by the unprecedented claims of the Administration to a truly breathtaking expansion of executive power. [Full Transcript]