Gore the political activist – “immediate favorite to win the Democratic nomination”

ALEX MASSIE in Washington, DC has written a very interesting piece below on Al Gore. The last couple of lines in the story may be the most interesting. You can read the entire story here, which also discusses the republican party’s flirtation with running Condi Rice for President. AL GORE is learning how to laugh. "I used to be the next president of the United States," he tells the audiences that are flocking to hear him preach his message on global warming and the environment. "I don't find that to be very funny," the former vice-President says solemnly. "I'm a recovering politician." The man who spent eight stiff years first a heartbeat and then a few hanging chads from the presidency has finally found a role for himself: the straight man with a message. So much so that thousands of Americans are flocking to screenings of a new film he has made on the threat of global warming. Gore, once again, is hot property. Gore gracefully retreated into the shadows in 2000, even if it took him months, if not years, to recover from the shattering blow of having come so close to the presidency only to lose it on the judicial whim of the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision in favor of Bush. Cast into the political wilderness, he grew a beard and brooded upon his fate. Recently, however, Gore has stepped back onto the political stage - although this time as an activist, chivvying politicians to take a greater interest in his pet causes rather than as a candidate for office himself. He has a new book on global warming titled An Inconvenient Truth that will be published in April and a documentary film of the same name was screened to great acclaim at the recent Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The film was made after Seinfeld creator Larry David saw Gore's presentation and felt that it should receive as wide an airing as possible. David pulled together a team of filmmakers to follow Gore as he traveled the world, making his case that the world risks catastrophe unless it steps up its efforts to minimize and counter the adverse consequences of climate change. That multimedia presentation has packed houses wherever Gore has delivered it as thousands of Americans flock to hear the former vice-president speak. Gore has also begun to play a part in this year's mid-term elections, raising funds for Democrat Senate candidates. In an e-mail sent to potential and existing Democratic donors, he spelt out the stakes: "Let me be perfectly clear. Our American values are at risk. George Bush is pursuing a truly breathtaking and unprecedented power grab that marginalizes the role of both our federal courts and the Congress. "As a result, he has been able to enact the most extreme aspects of his right-wing agenda in virtual secret and without meaningful oversight." Despite this increased public profile, however, Gore remains adamant that he has no interest in running for the presidency again in 2008, even though he would be an immediate favorite to win the Democratic nomination. His new popularity aside, the recovery is not yet complete.

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Gore's Jeddah Speech: A challenge to Tom Bevan of RCP

Part 1: Tom Bevan of RCP claims in this Chicago Suntimes critique of the reported Jeddah speech by Al Gore that: ``Gore is against eavesdropping on potential terrorist communications and he's against tighter screens for visitors originating from Islamic countries''. Mr. Bevan: I challenge you to point out to us exactly where in his MLK-Day speech Gore said that he was against all surveillance? FYI, in that speech, Gore opposed illegal Warrantless wiretapping, and Bush breaking the written law in the process of doing so, and resoundingly indicted the broader powergrab by the administration. Therefore, this claim by you is a mere prevarication. then, have you yet seen the full transcript of the Jeddah speech that you talk about? Can overreaching assertions be made without presenting the full context in which those remarks were made? Isn't it entirely possible that Gore made his case addressing all sides of the isssue? If you indeed have access to the full-transcript, isn't it incumbent upon you to post either the full text or a link to it before you pass your judgements? Until you do so, your credibility doesn't stand much taller than that of Ann Coulter, whom you aptly excoriate in your other writings. Part 2: In his post Al Gore's Jeddah Speech and Conservative Cluelessness, The Anonymous Liberal has this to say: Al Gore's Jeddah Speech and Conservative Cluelessness The other day Al Gore gave a speech to a largely Arab audience at the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia. At one point in the speech, Gore observed that, following 9/11, Arabs in the United States had been "indiscriminately rounded up, often on minor charges of overstaying a visa or not having a green card in proper order, and held in conditions that were just unforgivable." He assured the audience that most Americans do not support such treatment. Conservatives seized upon Gore's remarks and went into a spasm of hyperbolic and misplaced rage. Michelle Malkin hammered out a quick post entitled "Al Gore Slanders America" in which she linked to a bunch of other right-wing bloggers who said pretty much the same thing. Scott of Powerline accused Gore of "defame[ing] his country before a foreign audience for fun and profit." Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters asked : "We held mass roundups of Arabs? When? Where?"  And my personal favorite was a post at RealClearPolitics which framed the issue this way: "Now ask yourself: between the asinine comments of Gore and Coulter, who's done more harm to the cause of the United States?" RCP's answer: clearly Al Gore (For those of you who've been under a rock for the last week, Ann Coulter--while speaking at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)--commented "I think our motto should be post-9-11, 'raghead talks tough, raghead faces consequences'"). In the face of cluelessness of this magnitude, it's always hard to know where to begin. But I guess a good place to start is by pointing out that everything Al Gore said in his speech was true. I'm sure this will come as a surprise to well-informed people like Captain Ed, but following 9/11, people of Arab descent were indeed rounded up for minor visa violations and held in limbo for months, most of them eventually deported. This was well documented. Here's an excerpt from an NBC News article from May 2002 entitled "Caught in the Dragnet": Across the nation, the Sept. 11 sparked detentions of scores of Arab and Muslim immigrants on technical violations of visa regulations. These immigrants, many of whom do not speak English and have little family in the country, are left in jail for months on end, some without legal representation or even the knowledge that they can demand it. . . . Exact numbers of detainees since Sept. 11 are nearly impossible to come by. Figures released by the INS show that 537 individuals were detained between Sept. 11 and Nov. 27. Of those, only 5 percent were from countries outside of the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa. But legal aid organizations estimate that thousands have been detained since Sept. 11. Second, every one of these knee-jerk Gore-bashing posts seems to assume that Al Gore was informing his audience of something they didn't already know, and thereby needlessly stirring up anti-American sentiment. Quite the opposite is true. Gore was simply addressing a widely-held greivance. Stories of such treatment have been chronicled in the Arab media for years. Not surprisingly, those who were mistreated and/or deported told their stories to friends, to family, and to various Arab and Muslim media outlets. Nothing Al Gore said was news to anyone in the Muslim world. Far from fanning the flames of anti-Americanism, Gore was actually doing damage control. He was trying to de-fuse a source of strong anti-American sentiment by making it clear to his audience that the actions at issue were not condoned by most Americans. It's hard to understate just how important it is to make it clear to the Muslim world that American policy almost never represents the views of all Americans. The Osama bin Ladens of the world--who depend on strong anti-American sentiment for their political support--do their best to blur the distinction between American policy and the views of everyday Americans; it's much easier to get people to hate a monolithic, undifferentiated mass. When we allow the Muslim world to see our diversity of viewpoints and our internal political dissent, it humanizes us; it breaks down stereotypes and misconceptions. And that is exactly what we have to do if we are going to win over the hearts and minds of the Muslim world. The Michelle Malkins of the world seem to think we would be better off if we always presented a unified front to the rest of the world, if we never admitted error, and simply refused to address any legitimate grievances people might have with any U.S. policy. That is exactly the wrong approach to take. Conservatives (at least the ones worked into a frenzy over this speech) seem to think that any criticism of U.S. policy directed at a foreign audience amounts to "slandering America." How childish. First, in the age of the internet and global telecommunications, it's ridiculous to think that political dissent directed at a purely domestic audience goes unnoticed by the rest of the world. So, on a practical level, why would Gore's speech be any more damaging to American interests simply because it was made on foreign soil to a largely foreign audience? More importantly, though, how in the world does Gore's speech harm American interests? Are people really more likely to hate America because Al Gore mentioned something they already knew and then apologized for it? Hardly. If his speech has any effect at all, it will be to reduce anti-American sentiment. Compare that to Ann Coulter's crude slurring of every Muslim in the world at an event attended by the top leaders of our ruling party, a remark which apparently prompted a "boisterous ovation" from the Republican crowd. It's hard to imagine a single remark with more potential to engender hatred of America. Conservatives need to understand that it's going to take more than just tough talk and military muscle to win the fight against Islamic extremism. It's also going to take occasional humility and a willingness to at least address legitimate greivances. We have to sell America to the world, and that means making it clear that Americans do not all speak with one voice and acknowledging that American policy, while guided by good faith, is not beyond error. Al Gore understands this. Many conservatives do not.

Al Gore to Address Congress on Climate Change

He'll be addressing the Democratic caucus, anyway - I'm sure the republicans don't want to hear it. For House Democrats, they are looking to gain some insight from Gore, who stars in the new global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," that just debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. Democrats will spend the next three days in Williamsburg, Virginia discussing how best to promote the party's goals on the environment and other policy matters as well as discuss political strategy for the midterm elections. "This important event enables our caucus to explore issues in-depth that are important to the American people like national security, health care, immigration, and the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina," House Democratic Caucus Chairman James Clyburn (South Carolina) tells the Grind. The Democrats will also hear from several governors and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who delivered the Spanish version of his party's response to President Bush's State of the Union address. Sing it, Al!

Just wanted to check in

I am really hoping to hear something from Gore about the national health crisis. He said several years ago that he was in favor of Universal single payer healtcare. This is an idea whose time has come. I think people are going to be willing to listen to the argument for UHC now that our system is so broken. Of course the insurance lobby is going to fight tooth and nail to keep it from happening, but someone who is not afraid to make the case could have a LOT of traction. Are you all aware that in Candada they voted the person who created their system the "Greatest Canadian of all Time" or some such thing? Obviously they are happy with their healthcare. I heard Doctor Tim Johnson on ABC this morning, advocating for the idea. He criticized the bush plan. Does anyone want to join me in asking Gore to explore the idea and speak publically about it?