1:39:09
For the last couple of months,
Senator Rumson has suggested...
1:39:12
...that being president of this country was
to a certain extent about character.
1:39:17
Although I have not been willing
to engage in his attacks on me...
1:39:21
...Ive been here
three years and three days...
1:39:25
...and I can tell you without hesitation...
1:39:28
...being president of this country...
1:39:31
...is entirely about character.
1:39:35
For the record:
1:39:37
Yes, I am a card-carrying member
of the ACLU.
1:39:40
But the more important question is:
Why aren't you, Bob?
1:39:44
This is an organization...
1:39:46
...whose sole purpose is to defend
the Bill of Rights.
1:39:49
So it naturally brings the question:
Why would a senator...
1:39:52
...his party's most powerful spokesman
and a candidate for president...
1:39:56
...choose to reject
upholding the Constitution?
1:40:00
If you can answer that, folks,
then you're smarter than I am, because...
1:40:04
...I didn't understand it until...
1:40:06
...a few hours ago.
1:40:09
America isn't easy.
1:40:12
America is an advanced citizenship.
You've gotta want it bad...
1:40:17
...'cause it's gonna put up a fight.
1:40:19
It's gonna say, "You want free speech?
1:40:22
"Let's see you acknowledge a man
whose words make your blood boil...
1:40:25
"...who's standing center stage,
advocating at the top of his lungs...
1:40:29
"...that which you would spend
a lifetime opposing at the top of yours.
1:40:32
"You want to claim this land
as 'the land of the free'?
1:40:35
"Then the symbol of your country
cannot just be a flag.
1:40:39
"The symbol also has to be...
1:40:40
"...one of its citizens exercising his right
to burn that flag in protest.
1:40:46
"Show me that, defend that,
celebrate that in your classrooms.
1:40:50
"Then you can stand up
and sing about 'the land of the free.'"
1:40:54
I've known Bob Rumson for years and
I've been operating under the assumption...
1:40:57
...that the reason Bob devotes so much
time and energy to shouting at the rain...