Barack Obama

“ The job is not simply to facilitate the President's power, it is to speak truth to that power as well.
The job is to protect and defend the laws and the freedoms for which so many have sacrificed so much.
The President is not the Attorney General's client - the people are. And so the true test of an Attorney General nominee is whether that person is ready to put the Constitution of the people before the political agenda of the President. ”

“ How, in a world without such basic constraints would we feel about sending our sons and daughters to war? How, if we are willing to rationalize torture through legalisms and semantics, can we claim to our children, and the children of the world, that America is different, and represents a higher moral standard?
This policy isn't just a moral failure, it's a violation of half a century of international law. Yet while Mr. Gonzales' job was White House Counsel, he said nothing to the President. ”

“ As Americans, we can take pride in the fact that this kind of courage has been inspired by our own struggle for freedom...by the tradition of democratic law secured by our forefathers and enshrined in our Constitution.
It's a tradition that says all men are created equal under the law - and that no one is above it. ”