Al Gore for President?

[Sylvester]

I think at the moment Mr Gore is doing well in getting his message out. It would be a big change to go back to be told what you are doing. Then again, how could you make an Inconvenient Truth, and not come into the Oval Office slinging for the environment, alternative power and a dislike for Big Oil? No, it won't happen.

You load sixteen tons, and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store...

[Ritter]

Well, it looks like he'll have to share the Nobel:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/10 ... index.html

[Amskeptic]

I agree. Blow-job Clinton did not have a democratic congress. Al Gore presumably would and I think he would be more discrete about his sex life too. In what position could you possibly have more influence than as president of the U.S. with a supportive congress?

Having watched principled, committed, smart people get close to the reins of power over my lifetime, I see/feel/sense a great stress overcome their thoughts and words time and again. There are huge forces of greed under the carpet at the White House. If Gore is committed to his present course (and congratulations to him for his Nobel Peace Prize), he will not hamstring himself by the insanity of politics. Generalizations like "a supportive Congress" can quickly go up in smoke the second that the "supportive Congress'" constituents have to actually sacrifice something. Gore has already lost my vote for life. I am still painfully sad at how quickly he collapsed after the 2000 election, his heart was not in it, and his opportunity to truly defend this country against the self-installed junta was wasted. He is happier now and closer to what matters to him. I do not see him as a good President because I know he would be an unhappy President. Clinton loved every damn second of it, and it showed.
Colin

[Sylvester]

Clinton loved every damn second of it, and it showed.
Colin

Boy that is the inconvenient truth, oops I did it again, no wait, I am not a crook!

[LiveonJG]

Gore has already lost my vote for life. I am still painfully sad at how quickly he collapsed after the 2000 election, his heart was not in it, and his opportunity to truly defend this country against the self-installed junta was wasted.

He had a difficult choice to make. Create a constitutional crisis or wait until Bush's term ends and let the country sort itself out. Yes, from the standpoint of me, me ,me he could be perceived as dropping the ball but from the standpoint of understanding the role of the individual in the greater scope of History (capital H), he made the only correct choice. Having grown up in a political family I like to think I have t least a decent insight into the mind of a politician. Gore concession speech was the utmost expression of selflessness and statesmanship. It was also one of the hardest things he ever had to do in his life. Do you think it's easy walking away when you are that close? President of the United States, that's the "E" Ticket, that's the Golden Ring, that's why you got into politics to begin with. He's not done. Just watch and see.

I'm sorry he won't be able to count on your vote.

-John

[LiveonJG]

Clinton loved every damn second of it, and it showed.
Colin

Boy that is the inconvenient truth, oops I did it again, no wait, I am not a crook!

Some seconds a whole lot more than others... Would you like that cigar dipped? For me, always YES!

-John

[turk]

Ron Paul is interesting.

[covelo]

I agree that he shouldn't have given up so easily in 2000, but by 2002 he certainly was passionate about his politics. (Where were Hillary and John Edwards when Al Gore made this Iraq speech?).

http://www.commonwealthclub.org/archive ... peech.html

[LiveonJG]

HE WOULD NOT HAVE CREATED ANY CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS!!!!!!

No matter what you think about the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore, it is still a Supreme Court RULING. According to our Constitution, that's the end of the line, shut-up and sit down event that ends conversation. Yes, yes, the Congress could have stepped in. That would only have happened if Congress were an effective branch of our government. Doesn't seem to matter who the majority party is, we still get the Keystone Congress.

Horse horse horse horse horse . . . . pucky.
This was not about ego! Yuck! That is what neo-fascist Republicans would call it. That is so conventional spin wisdom, "he was gracious enough to get out of the way before it got, eeewww messy."

So you believe the structure that was laid out by the Founding Fathers would be too weak to withstand the reign of a tremendously shitty president? Al Gore understood the strength of our basic form of government, tis a shame your cynicism prevents you from that.

That "utmost expression of selflessness and statesmanship" was an abject failure. You think he had no idea of what was coming with those Texas twerps? "You wanna play wid da Big Boys, AL, then STEP UP when those morons attack the very foundation of our Representative Democracy. You owed it to every person who voted for you and all the people who would not have died on your watch."

So you suggest he should have been able to see into the future? When Bush was appointed, my belief was four years of a president totally beholden to corporate interests might just be the thing to give us a collective kick in the ass. Then the events of September 11, 2001 gave these criminals a blank slate to piss all over the Constitution, which the did and continue to do. Do you really think Al Gore could have foreseen those events?

Easy to walk away? Hell yes. Al Gore had lost his interest a long time ago.

It's in his blood, the very nature of what makes him, him. No Colin, that wasn't an easy thing for him to do.

If you have the time, give a listen to a speech he gave last year on Martin Luther King Jr. day. You can find it HERE.

He is fighting the good fight on many fronts.

-John

[Amskeptic]

HE WOULD NOT HAVE CREATED ANY CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS!!!!!!

No matter what you think about the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore, it is still a Supreme Court RULING.

The terms of the discussion are shifting subtley here. I was answering your claim of Gore throwing us into a Constitutional crisis by not conceding, I said "The crisis was already here!" and you are now saying after the fact that it was just a "ruling" i.e. deal with it. It was the most highly irregular and shameful ruling in the Court's history, ask Sandra Day O'Conner.

So you believe the structure that was laid out by the Founding Fathers would be too weak to withstand the reign of a tremendously shitty president? Al Gore understood the strength of our basic form of government, tis a shame your cynicism prevents you from that.

What? Don't put your presuppositions in my arguments, then judge me for your erroneous presuppositions. That is not a clean discussion. That is Sean Hannity stuff.
No! I do not believe I made any judgment whatsoever about the strength of the structure of our government in any preceding argument. I certainly do not believe that the structure of our government is too weak, where did that come from? Cynicism? Shame?

Whether or not Al Gore understood the strength of our basic form of government is not the issue here. The issue here is:
WE DID NOT FOLLOW OUR OWN RULES! It was not a fair election, it was not reconciled according to RULES OF LAW it was decided by fiat. That is not respecting our form of government. That is abusing our principles.
Cynicism? Me? Cynicism. . . . . . . cynics are those who say "hey, don't worry about it, your dead son in Iraq, it's just the result of a shitty self-installed president, don't worry about it, we'll survive."

So you suggest he should have been able to see into the future? When Bush was appointed, my belief was four years of a president totally beholden to corporate interests might just be the thing to give us a collective kick in the ass.

I don't give a damn about any "shoulds." I do not carry on those kinds of "so you just think", "so what you're really saying", "so you really think" conversations. I stick with my opinions and leave "you" suppositions out of it.

Al Gore is a brilliant guy. Al Gore was briefed on every national security issue before us for the prior eight years. Al Gore knew Dick Cheney and George Bush Sr. Al Gore was familiar with the Carlysle Group. Al Gore was perfectly capable of assessing the future path likely to be charted by the Bush klan. I will leave it to him as to why he decided to relinquish the most irregular election in the history of the Republic. That does not change my disappointment at him what actually ensued. OK, you thought that the Bush years might wake us up, I personally thought that a pillar of the Republic was pulled down by a bunch of thugs, and it has been far worse, far worse, than any of my initial imaginings. The worst thing of all, in my little mind, is that we let it go down without a fight. We should have been in the streets. Throw in the Patriot Act for good measure. Who resisted the suspension of habeas corpus? Who gives a rat's ass about our secret renditions? We deserve to lose this Representative Democracy.

Then the events of September 11, 2001 gave these criminals a blank slate to piss all over the Constitution, which the did and continue to do. Do you really think Al Gore could have foreseen those events?

That is not what I was asking of Al Gore! Or us citizens! An event does not give anyone "a blank slate" to piss all over the Constitution, they took advantage of the crisis and we then gave them indiscriminate permission.
All I asked of Al Gore was to uphold the damn truth as he knew it that fine November Friday afternoon when the Supreme Court decided who was going to be President.

Al Gore is fighting the good fight on many fronts.

I think he is more effective now, closer to his joy, and I admire the hell out of him. He would make a lousy President, he does not want to be President, and my disappointment is real. The results of his standing down are incontrovertible. I can easily admire a person who, in my mind, also helped to unleash the greatest political tragedy of our times.
Colin

[LiveonJG]

This debate has become academic. He most recently flatly stated he won't run. If I had the time, or inclination to continue this one with you Colin, I would. Till we cross swords again!
-John

[Amskeptic]

He most recently flatly stated he won't run. If I had the time, or inclination to continue this one with you Colin, I would. Till we cross swords again!
-John

'Til then. . . may your mind remain as sharp as the winds of change to come. . . .
Colin

[skin daddio]

i am vomiting for a hillary/tipper ticket.

[MeyerII]

Sometimes it take me nearly a whole week to read the damn Sunday paper all the way through. I saw this thread for the first time within a minute after reading this article:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/3 ... ore21.html

 

[skin daddio]

Sometimes it take me nearly a whole week to read the damn Sunday paper all the way through. I saw this thread for the first time within a minute after reading this article:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/3 ... ore21.html

 

gore is an inconsistent middle reliever, never a starter, never a closer.
and i have a feeling if he had to make a play at first, AGAIN, he'd drop the ball.

forever the bill buckner of politics.