James Spader's Speech on Boston Legal
Somebigguy Sat, 03/18/2006 - 2:17am
Wow, was this shown on TV???? Check it out, thanks to Crooks And Liars, the video is a little poor, if anyone finds a better version, please let us know:
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Boston-Legal-Sti.mov
Edit, Much better version, thanks to Neil: http://www.stoplying.ca/media/bostonlegal.rm
Edit, leave your comments here: http://www.boston-legal.org/
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I have a cleaner version.
I have a cleaner version.
this? http://www.crooksandlia
this?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/03/15.html#a7532
http://homepage.mac.com/dougl
http://homepage.mac.com/douglas_ascott/iMovieTheater12.html
real player
real player version
http://www.stoplying.ca/media/bostonlegal.rm
so what was she on trial for
so what was she on trial for anybody know?
Loud From first glance looks
Loud From first glance looks like you have a good site.
I watched the whole episode
I watched the whole episode (yeah, it was on). She was on trial for refusing to pay a $400 tax bill: she wrote a post it note back to the IRS saying "Stick It".
That's funny, I was planning
That's funny, I was planning to do the same thing.
Could someone post actual
Could someone post actual transcript of relevant passages. I don't have a sound card in my computer...Thanks!
Alan Shore's closing
Alan Shore's closing argument
Alan Shore: When the weapons of mass destruction thing turned out to be not true, I expected the American people to rise up. Ha! They didn't.
Then, when the Abu Ghraib torture thing surfaced and it was revealed that our government participated in rendition, a practice where we kidnap people and turn them over to regimes who specialize in torture, I was sure then the American people would be heard from. We stood mute.
Then came the news that we jailed thousands of so-called terrorists suspects, locked them up without the right to a trial or even the right to confront their accusers. Certainly, we would never stand for that. We did.
And now, it's been discovered the executive branch has been conducting massive, illegal, domestic surveillance on its own citizens. You and me. And I at least consoled myself that finally, finally the American people will have had enough. Evidentially, we haven't.
In fact, if the people of this country have spoken, the message is we're okay with it all. Torture, warrantless search and seizure, illegal wiretappings, prison without a fair trial - or any trial, war on false pretenses. We, as a citizenry, are apparently not offended.
There are no demonstrations on college campuses. In fact, there's no clear indication that young people seem to notice.
Well, Melissa Hughes noticed. Now, you might think, instead of withholding her taxes, she could have protested the old fashioned way. Made a placard and demonstrated at a Presidential or Vice-Presidential appearance, but we've lost the right to that as well. The Secret Service can now declare free speech zones to contain, control and, in effect, criminalize protest.
Stop for a second and try to fathom that.
At a presidential rally, parade or appearance, if you have on a supportive t-shirt, you can be there. If you are wearing or carrying something in protest, you can be removed.
This, in the United States of America. This in the United States of America. Is Melissa Hughes the only one embarrassed?
*Alan sits down abruptly in the witness chair next to the judge*
Judge Robert Sanders: Mr. Shore. That's a chair for witnesses only.
Really long speeches make me so tired sometimes.
Judge Sanders: Please get out of the chair.
Alan: Actually, I'm sick and tired.
Judge Sanders: Get out of the chair!
Alan: And what I'm most sick and tired of is how every time somebody disagrees with how the government is running things, he or she is labeled unAmerican.
U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shapiro: Evidentally, it's speech time.
Alan: And speech in this country is free, you hack! Free for me, free for you. Free for Melissa Hughes to stand up to her government and say "Stick it"!
U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shapiro: Objection!
Alan: I object to government abusing its power to squash the constitutional freedoms of its citizenry. And, God forbid, anybody challenge it. They're smeared as being a heretic. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American. Melissa Hughes is an American!
Judge Sanders: Mr. Shore. Unless you have anything new and fresh to say, please sit down. You've breached the decorum of my courtroom with all this hooting.
Alan: Last night, I went to bed with a book. Not as much fun as a 29 year old, but the book contained a speech by Adlai Stevenson. The year was 1952. He said, "The tragedy of our day is the climate of fear in which we live and fear breeds repression. Too often, sinister threats to the Bill of Rights, to freedom of the mind are concealed under the patriotic cloak of anti-Communism."
Today, it's the cloak of anti-terrorism. Stevenson also remarked, "It's far easier to fight for principles than to live up to them."
I know we are all afraid, but the Bill of Rights - we have to live up to that. We simply must. That's all Melissa Hughes was trying to say. She was speaking for you. I would ask you now to go back to that room and speak for her.
stream video from Boston Legal website
http://www.boston-legal.org/19-stickit/BL-2x19-StickIt-ClosingArguments.asx
Full episode transcript is
Full episode transcript is also at http://boston-legal.org
You can find the transcript pdf link on the home page under 'site updates', on the "Stick It" episode page:
http://www.boston-legal.org/19-stickit/ep19-stickit.shtml
or the regular episode page:
http://boston-legal.org/episodes.shtml
[this is my site, by the way]
That's the speech Spitzer
That's the speech Spitzer ought to be making.
http://abc.go.com/site/contac
http://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html
Needless to say, the warhawks and Bushistas are trying to flood ABC with negative messages about the James Spader monologue on Boston Legal. They are out to make sure the speech never appears in reruns.
If you agreed with the speech, if you applaud the stand for the Constitution expressed in the show, if you want to encourage mainstream media to finally exercise their role as watchdog on government abuse, even if it is in a drama, then YOU NEED TO WRITE IN AND SUPPORT THE SHOW.
Boston Legal is under attack for the courage they showed in last week's episode. Left unchallenged, the manufactured email flood will at best silence the show, at worst drive it off of the air. If Boston Legal is "punished" for speaking out, what other shows will dare follow?
Now is the time to prove James Spader's character wrong; that We The People DO care about what is going on, and we are capable of acting in our own best interests.
Send a message.
Do it now.
I donÂ’t know what the
I donÂ’t know what the hell Boston Legal is, but this was just simply fantastic!! Wicked speech!!
Anybody got an address to
Anybody got an address to email Boston Legal's producers?
Beautiful performance from
Beautiful performance from James Spader... and I can almost GUARANTEE that it came from the heart.
"U.S. Attorney Jonathan
"U.S. Attorney Jonathan Shapiro: Evidentally, it's speech time.
Alan: And speech in this country is free, you hack! Free for me, free for you. Free for Melissa Hughes to stand up to her government and say "Stick it"!
Priceless...
"That's the speech Spitzer
"That's the speech Spitzer ought to be making."
You sure got that right, Randy!