Lettin' It Rip
Al Gore, continuing his stinging criticism of the Bush administration, denounced the war in Iraq and deplored the downturn in the U.S. economy.
The former Democratic vice president stopped short of reiterating his demands for the resignations of high-ranking officials in President Bush's cabinet.
Gore last week blamed Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and others for bungling the war in Iraq.
``We have a responsibility to set this right,'' Gore told a crowd of more than 1,500 supporters, ``Our standing in this world has been damaged very badly.''
Gore said U.S. voters still had a chance to help the country regain credibility on the global stage by removing the current administration and electing John Kerry, the leading Democratic for November's presidential election.
``If this nation in November should affirm this administration, then we would be saying that's us,'' Gore said.
I have always had a huge soft spot for Al Gore. There's something about the guy that always hit me as very human, earnest and real. I know that goes against all the CW, but that's how he's always seemed to me, even back in the 80's.
And, I think my instincts were actually right. What happened to Al Gore after that absurd election campaign he was forced to wage against a forked tongued wind-up doll(and I'm talking about Kit Seelye) and then the recount fiasco, is that he stepped back and decided to --- as he himself said --- let it rip. That is a very rare thing. Rather than stay in the game (the nomination was his if he'd wanted it) he decided to use his position as the "real" president, and all the press attention that receives, to just say what he really thinks.
And it's thrilling for those of us who feel like we are screaming into the ether. He's a blogger with giant megaphone who points out that the emperor has no clothes, just as we all have been doing in our small way for the last three years. I don't think it is calculated beyond the fact that he probably doesn't want to hurt Kerry's chances. But, he's not running for anything and he has no reason to do this except that he believes it's the right thing to do. (Even his media venture does not necessarily benefit from it, although it might. It certainly isn't the safe route.)
And there is something about the truth that Al Gore is speaking that scares the living hell out of the Right. It's the same with Soros. You can tell by the patented Fox-style coordinated hysterical reactions. Whenever they start foaming at the mouth in unison (and whenever the little presstarts start their ecstatic dance around the pyre) you know that somebody has hit a nerve. Remember, the Right only exists in two modes --- smug and rabid. And rabid is their defense mechanism.
So, here's to Gore and Soros and others who are outside of the political process but are willing to spend their capital and risk their personal prestige to shape the debate, spread some truth and take some hits in the process. It's the highest form of citizenship.
On the same subject, check out The Daily Howler's four part bitch slap to the assholes who said Gore was "crazy" "unhinged" "off his meds" and all the rest when he gave his prescient speech last year requesting that the administration lay out its post war plans for Iraq. It was brilliant, passionate and articulate but if you didn't see it and only saw the press reaction you would have thought it was well...a George W. Bush press conference --- ridiculous, embarrassing and dumb. But that's how things work in Junior's America. Black is white and up is down. Guys like Gore and Soros are out there pouring cold water down the rabbit hole and they don't like it.