Of Bush's history and Gore's future

The Washington Post has done it again. It just produced one of those carefully threaded, nicely nuanced, totally barren pieces of perfectly neutral analysis that lacks even the merits of a warm bucket of spit.

Must have something to do with George W. Bush, I hear you reckon. And you would be right.

What with Al Gore having just won the Nobel Peace Prize, the Post saw an opening for a front-page story devoted to the legacies and comparative leadership qualities of the de facto president and the man actually elected. One would think this would be a rather straightforward task, one in which the exercise of independent judgment would inexorably yield a prejudiced conclusion -- something along the lines of comparing the legacies of Idi Amin and Mother Teresa. Right?

Well, in the real world, you would be right again. The Post, however, saw this as an opportunity to strut its bad objective self; to flaunt, once again, its overweening neutrality on any issue prone to insight, and come down decisively on both sides.

Its story was exquisitely balanced, quoting a couple Bush defenders against a couple Gore advocates, finishing with one of the latter:

"It's hard to look at the disaster of the past seven years and not believe that America would be better off if he had been president," said Ron Klain, Gore's former chief of staff. "Perhaps he has done more for climate change as a private citizen than he could have done as president, but I firmly believe that if Al Gore were president, America would not be at war, our standing in the world would be higher, our economy stronger and our civil liberties more secure."

After seven years of Bush, such musings are beyond what's called "contingency history" -- the "What if?" history of parlor-game celebrity. After seven years of unbroken disasters both domestic and foreign -- disasters of unmitigated and unprecedented dimensions -- there is simply no question in the mind of any thinking person that we and the world would have been better off had Daffy Duck himself assumed the presidency.

One might as well ask if the Union would have been better off with James Buchanan having retained the White House; or if Germany, maybe, would have been a tad less violent had Hitler been admitted to art school; or if the Soviet Union might have been a somewhat more pleasant place to live had Stalin pursued the priesthood.

There is, simply, flatly, undeniably, no question, no debate about such things. But what did the Post conclude in relation to the alternative history of an Al Gore presidency?

"No one will ever know."

Give us, please, one of those famous goddamn breaks. No one will ever know? Everyone already knows.

And speaking of much-needed breaks, I am hereby adjusting my handicapping of a Gore presidential run.

Forty-eight hours ago my book on this was at roughly 45/55. It's now 55/45.

The tea leaves remain thorny and fastidiously inscrutable, but Mr. Gore pruned their inscrutability just a bit yesterday, saying, "I will be doing everything I can to try and understand how I can best use the honor and the recognition of this award as a way of speeding up the change in awareness and the change in urgency. It truly is a planetary emergency, and we have to respond quickly."

Sounds to me like a bid is at least on the table, but with filing deadlines fast approaching -- hence code words(?) such as "urgency" -- all the inscrutability will soon be history itself.

Comments

[Connie In Cleveland]

I want Al Gore to declare today. I would like to see him not as a Democrat, but as an American. I would like to see him re-elected with Chuck Hagel as his choice for V.P. We need leadership that will 'unite' the country, bringing in good Democrats and Republicans. I love Al Gore and would vote for him no matter who he chooses as his running mate. But my choice would be a 'American' ticket. Gore/Hagel '08

[mistah charley, ph.d.]

Connie - I too would like to see Gore re-elected next year, but what you propose seems to be a third-party run. Teddy Roosevelt, already having been president, couldn't pull that off.

What I would consider especially sweet revenge would be the victory of a ticket with Gore and the Senator from Connecticut - i.e. Gore/Dodd.

[cokids]

If Gore won't/can't run, there's nothing to keep us from WRITING HIM IN!!! He hasn't said he'd run, but never has he said he wouldn't SERVE, if called! So start calling and get ready to WRITE HIM IN!

[Gore 2008]

The Washington Post's attitude doesn't shock me at all. Never forget that it was the founder of the Post who was one of the people who gave George Bush Sr the money to start his Texas oil company. Also never forget the media's war against Al Gore in 2000 was lead by the Washington Post along with the Bew York Times.No one should expect anything from the Washington Post.

[Susan]

Go to www.draftgore.com and sign the petition to ask Al Gore to run for prez.

[Linda]

I'd love Gore/Hagel or something similar - and because the time is so right for a candidate to run as an American, as Connie said, I actually think that a third-party run might succeed, with Gore in the spot. Also, there was a thread on Common Dreams yesterday where someone suggested that Gore run a campaign with a full contingent of his picks for Cabinet and other key posts, running on ideas and plans, and really being open to debate on pros and cons. That, too, would be a reversion to an American campaign, and I think the 70% of the country that is sick to death of current politics as well as BushCo Repugs would love it.

[Via]

If he runs, it finally comes down to it. If he wins, America has decided to be America again. If the voters choose to listen to the Mighty Worlitzer, at least the rest of us know where things are headed. I'm not sure I want to know the answer. I'm not sure I have that much faith in Americans anymore.

[Krashkopf]

Gore should strike while the iron is hot, picking a running mate - Edwards, Obama, or Richardson - and announce the ticket! He would have the nomination sewed up in no time, and could immediately start running for President!

Gore/Richardson! Gore/Obama!! Gore/Edwards!!!

Yes! Yes!! And, Yes!!!

I even like Connie in Cleveland's idea - Gore/Hagel!!

[RG Johnson]

We who seek to convince Al Gore to run for President are not waiting. We are taking action to place his name on ballots, with committed delegate slates and we will go to Denver to seek his nomination. In California we are well organized and we are in the process of collecting signatures, not on straw polls, but on Nominating Petitions, county by county, in order to submit 500 valid signatures of registered California Democrats in each of the 53 Congressional Districts in the State, by Dec 4th 2007.

Thank you Dr. Dean for showin' us how...

While I cannot speak for the rest of the State and we are indeed just beginning this effort, bayarea4gore began collecting signatures at Flint Center in Cupertino, where Mr. Gore addressed capacity crowds of 2800 on 10/8, 10/9 and 10/11 as part of the ongoing Celebrity Forum Speakers Series. We fielded volunteers each night and manned a table with banners, buttons and stickers. Over the course of the three nights of appearances by Mr. Gore we collected almost 600 signatures from a number of Bay Area counties. The response from the people in attendance, who sign up for a several months long program which has a years long waiting list and are not exactly a cross section of Progressive Democrats or indeed even Californians, was good on Monday, better on Tuesday and off the charts by Thursday night. We are now prepared and ready with a small army of experienced volunteers to quickly complete the Bay Area counties and reach out to more remote areas to help other groups.

In 2003 Al Gore asked us not to do this, he said he would not be a candidate... He quit shaving and endorsed Dr. Howard Dean, and we listened. He has made no move in 2007 to do this, although we are far more visible and active now than we were in late 2002 and early 2003. If he asks us to cease in this cycle, we will listen and let me assure everyone that we will remain committed progressive Democrats. But as far as I can tell he is shaving everyday, looking great and is by now the most practiced and relaxed stump speaker in America, and he has a message of overwhelming moral imperative.

We are not kids, this ain't our first rodeo and we aren't partial to tiltin' at windmills... We are quite serious and we know where the levers are and how to use 'em... You could ask Richard Pombo, but he is unavailable for comment just now... We believe not only that Al Gore is the best choice to be the 44th President; we believe that what we are doing right now is the most important thing we could be doing, right now, to elect a man of wisdom and stature, a man capable not only of healing the wounds and depredations of the recent years of war, neglect and avarice but also of leading our nation on a sure path to a future where America is always part of the solution, a future where America can be believed and believed in again.

RGJ/Dallas112263
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bayarea4gore/

[Dieter Heymann, Houston, USA]

You are all wrong because you forget the "women's vote". Gore's entry into the "race" will be eventually and correctly be considered by many women as a contemptuous and selfish act to derail the current Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton (she's not my favorite but that is not the issue here). Remember that Nancy Pelosi has already gone down flaming and there are no potential female candidates for our presidency in sight for at least one generation. None. Please get off your silly, counterproductive "draft Gore act". And Hagel? Mr. Sourface? You must be kidding. And desperate, which always spells defeat.

[Realist]

It's tough to swim against the tide, but I will, even if I understand the sentiment behind it.

As much as I have come to respect Al Gore and his activities and his achievements, I can't forgive or forget how his lack of courage and drive in 2000 led to the Bush regime taking power. he blinked when he should have stared. Gore would thus be more valuable as an honored adviser than as a leader with a major loss on his record.

Due to this, I have to lean in the direction of him remaining "above the fray" and to act as a "president emeritus" while someone else leads.

[LeftCoastLib]

Al should not run for President--why should he have to clean up the crap of this Administration? He should just keep doing what he's doing--it's much more fun to watch the mouth breathers squirm and scream every time Al wins another prestigious award or another scientist/scientific group proves him correct! Go Al, keep saving the world!

[H.D. Cole]

It sounds like the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post are owned by the same person Murdock.

[epppie]

Gore should run, but as a third - really second - party candidate. The Dems and the GOP have shown that they intend to deal with nothing. We need a new party, a People's Progressive Party.

Sheehan. Kucinich. Clark. All could possibly be members of such a party.

Hagel is the guy who started the electronic voting machines which have worked miracles. Do not be fooled by Pubs pretending to be moderates. If they were really moderates, they would be left wing Dems - that's how far the political spectrum has strayed from what people really want and believe.

[Doug]

Secretary of State. perhaps?

[veracity]

Gore OWES us a 2nd run for the White House... but he won't. He is a victim of his own insecurities. He nominated Lieberman because he bought in to the right-wing "moral values" BS, Gore too dazed ("dumb" is the better word) to realize that the "moral values" bible thumpers were of the same stripe as those who thumped the bible to defend slavery and, later, segregation. Which (segregation, btw, was explicitly in violation of the 15th Amendment, "the right to vote SHALL NOT BE ABRIDGED on account or race or previous condition of servitude." For nearly 100 years (from end of Reconstruction to the passage of Voting Rights & Civil Rights bills of 1964 and 1965 respectively) the rights of voters WERE ABRIDGED, duh. Gore took this right-wing bias one step further in his 2000 campaign: the SIGNATURE ISSUE of campaign 2000 was Texas Governor George W. Bush SLASHING pre-school, after-school, and health-care (insurance) for poor Texas schoolchildren, while giving huge, budget-busting TAX BREAKS to Texas' wealthiest corporations and millionaires. Gore (and his African-American campaign manager, Donna Brazile) were AFRAID to make this an issue in 2000... and, 7 years later, the Democrats are STILL FOLLOWING Gore's "lead," still AFRAID to CONFRONT the brutality that is the core of the Right-Wing agenda.

Actually, Gore's campaign shortcomings were even worse than that dismal shortcoming: for, all through the late 1990s, DICK CHENEY, as CEO and Chairman of Halliburton corp., had been SELLING SADDAM HUSSEIN's REGIME in Iraq oil-drilling equipment via Halliburton's European subsidiaries. At the time, American aircraft were BOMBING Iraqi AA positions to enforce the "No Fly Zone," and Iraqi AA sites were returning the favor, trying to SHOOT DOWN US aircraft. Iraq TRYING TO SHOOT DOWN US AIRCRAFT... Dick Cheney SELLING SADDAM OILFIELD EQUIPMENT. In 1997 Dick Cheney signs the PNAC manifesto, "IRAQ IS A DANGEROUS NATION SEEKING NUCLEAR WEAPONS"
http://newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm - yet at the same time, and for the next 3 years, Dick Cheney continued to sell Iraq oilfield equipment that would help finance any such illegal Iraqi WMD program!

The failure of the Gore-Lieberman campaign to take note of, and bring to the American public's attention, Halliburton's equipment sales to Iraq through the late 1990s (while Right-Wing Republicans were accusing Bill Clinton of "treason" for ANY US business deals with Communist China) - is simply the most breathtaking campaign failure in America history - a simple, single-issue "golden bullet" that Gore refused to use.

[Cleaninggirl]

Of course Gore would have done more.
All the pollution Bush has contributed to by regulating in favor of and/or turning a blind eye to his buddies in the smoke-stack industries would not have happened. It's like the wild west in Bush world--no curbs on anything for the common good. Bastards.

[Will]

It's too late for America. Since 2000, the reichwing echo chamber has clear-channel succeeded in having more than 40 percent of the public brainwashed with religious or ideological hatred, and one-issue politics. They don't deserve a great leader like Al Gore with or without an Emmy, Oscar or Nobel Peace Prize. That 70 million voting chickenhawks deserve to be drafted and shipped off to Iraq. I just hate to see them take our treasure with them and leave us bankrupt. Can you imagine how Churchill, Roosevelt or Lincoln would fair against Fox News let alone the WaPo?

[reagansbrain]

Two points:

Number One:I think the lesson of the last two elections has been that the corporate media doesn't care who we favor during the election nor it doesn't seem to matter much who wins the vote.

Number Two: American politics doesn't deserve men of intelligence and integrity, and it'd be a lively argument as to whether the American people do either.

[epppie]

Gore - third (really second) party

[Kitty]

It is not a simple as "should Gore run in 2008." (Although, I could speak the word "president" again without feeling the need for mouthwash.)

For one thing, I suspect that Gore didn't actually "choose" Lieberman as his running mate. If the bloody political truth were known, he was probably given a really short list of candidates acceptable to the Democratic National Committee and had to make the best of it.

For another, Bush and Company have had the luxury of an uniformed and apathetic electorate. The notion that some folks based their vote on who they'd rather have a beer with speaks volumes, and sadly, reaps ugly humanitarian consequences.

Add paperless voting, voter intimidation, a mainstream media that wouldn't recognize actual journalism if it bit 'em and the fact that the Democratic Party may (or not) have a good heart, but are chronically lacking in spine, and one cannot lay the burden of saving America on Al Gore's shoulders.

Gore's vision, wisdom and leadership are beyond question. Is he my first choice for President? Absolutely! He's been my hero since he wrote "Earth In the Balance" fifteen years ago. Even so, Americans (that's plural) must save America. It is up to us to be truly informed, more proactive and infinitely less tolerant of lies, fear mongering, obvious corruption, and the complete dearth of accountability.

If there was ever such a thing as The Anti-America (as in anti-Christ), the Bush administration is it. And it's a sad, sad thing to realize just how many alleged patriots have sported the number of that beast.