Al Gore: Government Shutdown Threat is Political Terrorism

[Coyotl]

September 27, 2013
VIDEO: Al Gore Calls Government Shutdown Threat Political Terrorism
http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/brookings-now/posts/2013/09/al-gore-government-shutdown-threat-political-terrorism

"Political terrorism": that's what former Vice President Al Gore called threats to shut down the government and default on the U.S. debt in his keynote address at today's launch event for the Center for Effective Public Management at Brookings. During his remarks about these issues, he said that "the only phrase that describes it is 'political terrorism'. ... We have a list of demands. If you don't meet them all by our deadline, we'll blow up the global economy." He asked "Why does partisanship have anything to do with such a despicable and dishonorable threat to the integrity of the United States of America? ... How dare you!"

"One of the reasons," he said, for "too much tolerance of trifling with the shutdown of the government and the forcing of a default on payments that are owed," is

hostility to the very idea of government ... [that] has been fed by too many instances of poor management, problems that are allowed to linger, incompetence, bureaucracies that seize up and don't function well. So, the work of this center in bringing to bear the best minds available, the best scholarship available, under the leadship of the best leader of this center you could possibley have—this work is really important far beyond what many might think of when they see the nameplate on the door. ... This is really about the hard work and fresh thinking that is now essential in order to redeem the promise of self-governance."

He laid the blame in part on a "very sick political culture that has grown worse very rapidly in the past couple of decades." ........

[orpupilofnature57]

1. I don't give a shit, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A DIFFERENT WORLD !!!

Thanks again, SCOTUS .

[niyad]

2. k and r for president gore

[Plucketeer]

3. Just imagine

having a president like that.

[Coyotl]

5. He is only 65 years old now.

Still easy to imagine!

[orpupilofnature57]

6. I do on a daily basis .

The kid looks svelte too, just saying .

[demwing]

15. Thought the same. Gore is looking better than he has in years

and younger, despite the grey!


I don't think he'll ever run again, but I'd love to see him as a future president's SOS.

Perhaps even a Chief Justice?

[snappyturtle]

8. Absolutely! I wouldn't have to even think about it....

voting for him, i.e.

[Plucketeer]

9. I agree with what you say

Thing is - his having lost once (and some would say to willingly), it would be tough to push him to the front of the pack again.

[Coyotl]

10. Let the voters decide who is in the front of the pack!

I hope he gets in the race.

[DURHAM D]

4. Glad to see him out and about.

I noticed he was at the CGI but did not see any clips of him talking. Maybe he just attended but did not speak.

ntl He is a much needed voice.

[yuiyoshida]

7. BRAVO Mr. Vice President!

Republicans are Criminals! Extortionists!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

11. Sandra Day O'Connor

Wonder if she's had any sleepless nights since 2000? She deserves every one of them if she has.

[drynberg]

12. Mr. Gore is stating a basic truth

ReThugs are thugs, at least wannabe thugs...they got nothing but their own fear and loathing.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

13. The bat shit crazy right wing loves to speak of terrorism so much,

because they are engaged in group projection. Mr. Gore is correct....................

[LongTomH]

14. Do you see the Brookings Institute as Liberal, Centrist, or even Conservative?

Sorry to hijack the thread; but, I did a quick Google on Brookings Institute and found people describing it all across the spectrum. From Wikipedia:

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Brookings describes itself as independent and non-partisan. A 2011 study examining think tank employee donations from 2003 to 2010 showed that 97.6% of Brookings's employees' political donations went to Democrats and described the think tank as "liberal." Yet, a 2005 academic study concluded it was centrist in that it was referenced as an authority almost equally by both conservative and liberal politicians in congressional records from 1993 to 2002. The New York Times has referred to the organization as liberal, liberal-centrist, centrist, and conservative. The Washington Post has described Brookings as centrist and liberal. The Los Angeles Times described Brookings as liberal-leaning and centrist before opining that it did not believe such labels mattered. In 1977, Time Magazine described it as the "nation's pre-eminent liberal think tank".[25] Newsweek has described Brookings as centrist while Politico has used the term "center-left". In addition, the organization is described as conservative by the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting.

Some liberals argue, however, that despite its left-of-center reputation, Brookings foreign policy scholars were overly supportive of Bush administration policies abroad. Matthew Yglesias, a liberal blogger, has pointed out that Brookings's Michael O'Hanlon frequently agrees with scholars from conservative organizations such as the American Enterprise Institute, The Weekly Standard, and the Project for a New American Century. Similarly, Brookings fellow and research director Benjamin Wittes is a member of the conservative Hoover Institution's Task Force on National Security and Law. Brookings scholars have served in Republican and Democratic administrations, including Mark McClellan, Ron Haskins[36] and Martin Indyk.

Apparently, they started as definitely left-of-center; but drifted right into positions that are usually described as 'centrist.'

[zebonaut]

16. Apt Description

Love the use of the word Terrorists. We need to see more strong language from our side