Al Gore: A Time for Truth or Holocaust
We Americans live in a society predicated on lies of corruption, sloth and greed in our political institutions and in our so-called “mainstream media.” We live in a society where the best person we have to lead us in a path of redemption and survival is still mocked by millions due to the lies of the press. We live in a society on the eve of destruction from ecological holocaust.We live in a world where civilization plays the role of a cancerous parasite, extinguishing species and habitat at a geological rate. One of our reknowned scientists, James Hansen, tells us that we may have as little as ten years to act before losing the final chance to save world civilization. We live in a world that is essentially willing to change course and walk on a path of life rather than death, EXCEPT for the United States!
That is why the upcoming American presidential election is the most important political decision in human history. Individual action on climate change is necessary, but not sufficient. Without systemic, international action we cannot succeed. Without American leadership on this issue as soon as possible, i.e. 2009, we may well be doomed.
Now to the American problem. The biggest problem, and yet our only hope, is the Democratic Party. The GOP offers no solution because it is beholden to interests dedicated to convincing misinformed citizens to vote against their own economic and survival interests. The mainstream media offer no hope because of their mendacity and corruption. Those journalists who promote the most pernicious lies and illusions (viz. Tim Russert, Chris Matthews, Brian Williams, Ceci Connolly and a host of others) are promoted and financially rewarded.
It is now left to the American people to respond to the only leader who provides hope in the most desperate hour humanity has ever faced. The people must use the vehicle of the Democratic Party to put Al Gore back in the White House.
What of the other Democratic candidates? In a normal election year, they would serve as a fine slate of candidates, but as this critical juncture, none of them is adequate. Two things have stood between necessary action: 1) raising the consciousness of the American people; and 2) a leader who is willing to place the fate of the planet above his own political fortunes. Al Gore is the only leader in America who has dedicated himself to giving the American people the knowledge necessary to make political action possible on climate change. Likewise, Al Gore is the only leader who has demonstrated his willingness to put principles above politics and risk everything to solve our global crisis. This is a key point for those who naively say that he can do more as a private citizen than as president. He has already accomplished more in the White House than he could ever do as a private citizen. The place was Kyoto. As detailed in The Prince of Tennessee, by David Maraniss, pp. 287-288, in 1997 Gore personally saved the Kyoto talks at the eleventh hour and thus Kyoto was implemented in 2005. Gore did this against the unanimous political advice of his inner circle!
Now the American people are poised to support even greater political action PROVIDED the necessary leadership is shown in the general election by raising the clarion call to put the planet on a war footing in combating global warming. Only Al Gore is willing, indeed he is locked into, making the climate crisis the centerpiece of his campaign.
There are those who say that Gore will not run under any circumstances and that we should “move on” to our other candidates. This is simply not true. In 2002, when Gore said he would not run in the last cycle he said:“I personally have the energy and drive and ambition to make another campaign, but I don’t think it is the right thing for me to do.” I believe this is a reference to the lack of support in the Democratic Party he had at that time, which will be made clear below. He has since made it clear that he will not rule out running in 2008. But a press corps still carrying animus against him and desirous not to have their ubiquitous lies in 2000 uncovered, still avoids him as much as possible. Tim Russert unbelievably ignored the Nobel Prize on the Meet the Press TWO DAYS after Gore’s historic achievement. Russert was a major perpetrator in the War on Gore in 2000.
The historical problem is not Gore, it is the Democratic Party. In the last critical week of his campaign in 2000, at least one major Democrat exhibited a major lack of message discipline by criticizing the Gore campaign on national television! In the immediate aftermath of the most scandalous American election in over a century, there was a deafening silence from Democratic leaders who should have been shouting their support, as in fact their counterparts were doing for the infamous George W. Bush. Then came a string of cowardly calls in November and December 2000, from Democratic leaders for Gore to concede! This at the very same time that it was being widely reported around the globe that the election had been stolen by Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris by purposely deleting tens of thousands of innocent black Floridians from the voter rolls. Only in America was this story squelched by a pusillanimous press, unwilling to speak the truth for the sake of their republic.
Then came the worst presidency in the history of the republic and 9-11. Spineless Democrats not only voted for the IWR, the Patriot Act and other crimes against humanity and the republic, but one current candidate went so far as to co-sponsor that IWR!! As election 2004 approached, many prominent Democrats publicly stated that Gore should not run. Many of those same “leaders” then went on to support candidates who voted for the war in Iraq. Mind boggling to say the least, especially in light of Gore’s courageous opposition to the invasion in 2002, for which he was mocked.
Despite all that, Gore’s resurgence has been incredible. Polls now indicate he would win a plurality of primary voters and be the most effective candidate against Giuliani, the likely nominee of the GOP. Gore has made one of the most incredible political comebacks in US history and stands poised to be the nominee we desperately need.
Are we willing to sacrifice the lives of our children (and their children) on the gamble that James Hansen is not right? Are we willing to risk everything on a candidate who may not have the commitment, skill or focus to do what only Gore has proposed? The time for cowardice and politically self-serving votes has ended. This may be our last chance to survive as a country and as a world civilization. It is time for bold, proven, visionary leadership. It is time for the Democratic Party to redeem itself from slick, vacuous, half-stepping, unworthy leaders. It is time to say no to politics as usual. It is time to end the insane war in Iraq. It is time to begin an all-out effort to save humanity from the impending apocalyptic climate crisis. It is time for the only leader who has been right all along. It is time for Al Gore.
Al Gore is now running for president.
Last year Ezra Klein introduced me to a word I had never heard: disintermediation. Simply put, Klein (and others) were saying that Gore was bypassing the American press in order to get his message out directly. In 2003 he began a series of speeches on the decline of America due to Bush’s disastrous foreign policy and contempt for our Constitution.
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_new_new_gore_031906
He has continued that path with a movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, which has fundamentally changed the American debate on this most important issue. Along with publishing a companion book for the movie, he has also published a book (The Assault on Reason) on the decline of American discourse, due to the corporate control of television and other media. He goes on to talk about the power of the Internet to change American discourse so that it is two-way in nature (rather than one-way like television) with access for all citizens so as to re-vitalize our democracy.
I believe Al Gore is now running for president. He is using these principles of disintermediation and democratic discussion to run the kind of 21st century campaign worthy of his visionary record. On Friday he held a news conference acknowledging his latest international honor, the Nobel Peace Prize. Toward the end, he stated
“I will be doing everything I can to try to understand how to best use the honor and recognition of this award as a way of speeding up the change in awareness and the change in urgency. It is truly a planetary emergency and we have to respond quickly.”
Gore has stated in recent months that he is waiting to see if the Democratic candidates will give this issue the attention it deserves and that he isn’t currently satisfied with what they have done.
Today, Gore launched his new version of Current (formerly current.tv, now current.com). Not only did he launch it, for the first time he added content. Today he took three major positions:
- We should get out of Iraq as quickly as practicable;
- Universal, single-payer health care for all Americans; and
- The need for new protections for all Americans from governmental spying.
http://current.com/people/algore
In other words, he has taken common sense positions on major campaign issues that leave Hillary and Obama sucking his dust. Of course his concrete proposals on climate change are also light years ahead of any viable Democratic candidate. Soon, I believe he will follow up on his promise to reflect on how best to use his award to help save our civilization by formally announcing his candidacy. It won’t be a traditional campaign, but a visionary one.
Just as 1960 was the first campaign where television changed the race (television viewers thought Kennedy won the historic debate, while the smaller number of radio listeners thought Nixon won), the 2008 campaign will be the first where the Internet plays a major role in determining the outcome.
In 2000, the press framed Al Gore as a liar. That is why some people still believe that Gore said he invented the Internet, or discovered Love Canal, or the Love Story lie, etc., etc. This is why some people still believe that Gore didn’t emphasize the environment, because of the lies of the press. In 2008, Al Gore will be speaking for himself to a much greater extent, aided by fact-checking bloggers. That is a truth which could be much more than convenient, for us and our planet.
Drafting Gore 