Alan Dershowitz: An Emblem of our National Crisis
The iconic figure in the battle to preserve this great democracy.
November 26, 2018
David Horowitz
Editor's note: Below is David Horowitz's introduction of Alan Dershowitz at the Freedom Center's 2018 Restoration Weekend. The event was held Nov. 15th-18th at the Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach, Florida.
I have admired Alan Dershowitz ever since I picked up a copy of his first book The Best Defense over thirty years ago, and read its opening words. “The difference,†he wrote, between Perry Mason’s clients and mine is that mine are guilty.†And then he explained why it was important to provide the guilty the best defense. It was to keep the prosecution – the government – honest.
Although Alan is a liberal – and he and I would probably disagree over many issues – when you think about it this idea is the bedrock of the conservative outlook. As conservatives, we believe that the root cause of social problems is not “society,†but us - our flawed nature as human beings. The people who are in government have the same impulses to lie, cheat, steel and destroy, as those they are prosecuting. But because they have the power of the state behind them, they are potentially even more dangerous than their targets. And that is why keeping them honest and holding them to the rules, to the process and the law is such a vital task in our democracy. And it is why Alan Dershowitz, a liberal and lifelong Democrat, is such an important figure to our nation in its present political crisis.
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/272054/alan-dershowitz-emblem-our-national-crisis-david-horowitz
