'Democracy is under attack': Gore

[deadparrot]

LONDON (AFP) - Former US Vice-President Al Gore warned an audience at the Edinburgh International Television Festival that "democracy is under attack".

The former presidential candidate said television networks in the world's biggest and most powerful democracies must do more to foster debate, which he said was crucial for democracy to flourish.

"In my country and others around the world democracy is under attack," the 58-year-old said.

Gore, who was also in Edinburgh partly to promote his film and book about climate change, both titled "An Inconvenient Truth", continued: "There's a feeling in the US on the part of many that the way democracy operates today is very different from the system we learned about in school."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060827/ennew_afp/afpentertainmentbritain_060827194835

[Vidar]

1. Bit of an understatement, but good for Gore.

[deutsey]

35. And a little late, but at least he's saying it. More need to...

[OKthatsIT]

51. It's quite amazing how these globalists have let the USA down

I dont trust Gore or Clinton. They say they believe in democracy, but they know the corporatists are in control, yet they say nothing.

I will support Gore's ecological stance..but I will always scrutinize anyone from the Clinton camp.

[Vidar]

56. "Trust but verify" --from a really nauseating source

[Eric J in MN]

2. self-deleted

NT

[EFerrari]

3. Someday, we'll remember that President Gore spoke up

when it was crucial.

[NastyDiaper]

29. That day was March 19, 2003.

Polls have some catching up to do. The public is uninformed, pretty much wha AL is talking about imo.

[nam78_two]

33. He always has

and hopefully always will....pity not enough people are listening except folks on the "fringes"like us :-/....

[Eric J in MN]

4. "Current TV" could have more interviews with candidates.

There haven't been any pods I've seen devoted to interviews with candidates for Congress.

Al Gore is the chairman of "Current TV."

www.current.tv

[AlGore-08.com]

18. Current is driven by viewer content - - so interview a candidate yourself

Upload it onto the Current site, and if enough viewers vote for it, it'll be broadcast on Current.

[IndianaGreen]

5. K&R for our future President

Media concentration and the replacement of news with entertainment have undermined democracy in America.

[Dem_in_Nebr.]

22. You mean our "Once and Future President", right?

(Borrowed from T. H. White!)
;-)

[young_at_heart]

6. Let's hope this fact will soon be noticed by more than a few

The older people need to explain to the young "how it used to be" in this country, before it's too late.

[cal04]

7. guardian article, very good

In the US, the dominance of television and the relaxation of impartiality rules by the Reagan administration in the 1980s had diminished the level of political knowledge and debate, said Mr Gore. He pointed to figures showing that at the time of the Iraq war, 77% of Americans thought Saddam Hussein was responsible for the attack on the Twin Towers.

"Saddam Hussein was not responsible for that attack, so how could that be? Why was the chamber silent? Where were the representatives?" he asked. "They were at cocktail parties, raising money. Why? The only thing that matters is that you have enough money to put 30-second TV commercials on the air to persuade voters to elect you."

He said he hoped that projects such as his own Current TV, which launched last year, could "use the internet to give individuals access to television" and allow them to "rejoin the debate". "We have to find a way for that to happen," he said.

But Mr Gore, who narrowly lost the presidency to George Bush in 2000, cautioned that the shift would take longer than some had predicted. He said senior US candidates still spent up to 80% of their budget on television commercials because of the "quasi-hypnotic" effect of the medium.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1859679,00.html

[PinkyisBlue]

13. Al Gore did NOT narrowly lose the 2000 election to Bush--he actually WON!

I take issue with these news stories that repeat the fallacy that Bush beat Gore. The Republicans halted the vote counting in Florida because it was clear that Gore was winning the popular vote. Bush was then appointed President by the Supreme Court.

The fact that this lie is told over and over again will never make it true--Al Gore WON the Presidency in 2000!!

By the way, an excellent documentary I just saw on DVD called "Orwell Rolls in His Grave" discusses how and why media has changed over the last couple of decades and how it influences and shapes public opinion. It features Mark Crispin Miller, Charles Lewis, Greg Palast, etc. It shows that Al Gore actually won the 2000 election but that the media was complicit with the Republican Party to steal this election. And one of the techniques media uses to shape public opinion is to repeat a lie over and over and over again. After a while people begin to believe it. Excellent film!

[Pat Speer]

19. The Big Lie as repeated by the media

You're absolutely right about the BIG LIE, and how the media keeps inaccurately repeating that Bush beat Gore in the election. When I began researching the assassination of John F. Kennedy I was horrified to discover how many inaccurate statements have been repeated over and over. There are conspiracy myths and lone-nut myths. The media in fact has little interest in uncovering a truth beyond what they've been told is the truth. A typical example of this is the "first shot miss." This is an utter fabrication made up by CBS television years after the Warren Commission in order to give Oswald more time in which to pull off the shots. The eyewitness statements ran something like 20 to 1 that the first shot hit Kennedy. And yet "the first shot miss" LIE has been repeated so often now that almost everyone believes it. I pray that future text books will report that Gore won the election but that Bush outmaneuvered him politically, but I wouldn't bet on it.

For a look at the Kennedy assassination medical evidence, go to: http://homepage.mac.com/bkohley/Menu18.html

[goddess40]

24. Gore also got "beat" by the democratic leadership

I'm so glad that Terry is gone! But there are still others in place - I hope Dean gives better advice.

If the party had let Gore be himself the landslide would have been too great for the Republican fraud to have worked.

[flaminbats]

47. Gore could even win my primary vote..

if he supported abolishing the Electoral College. Even Republicans would support abolishing the ec, if they knew four Presidents who lost the popular vote also won majorities in the electoral college. Democrats need to make this a central issue in 2008, this is an issue voters everywhere would support us on!

The problem is most Americans still think Bush won the popular vote both times! They think the President is elected, not selected by a state delegates who never proportionally represent how the public voted in each state. If most Americans knew how our President is selected..they wouldn't stop screaming until this was changed!

Supporting universal healthcare, abolishing the Electoral College, and fighting to take money out of politics are all winning issues for Democrats. So why are Republicans still in power? :grr:

[RestoreGore]

8. Mr. Gore hits the mark

And yes, he is also correct that it is astounding that Americans watch so much television. But perhaps it is not the quantity but the quality that matters here. I'm sure people who may watch four or more hours of CURRENT everyday don't bother Mr. Gore ;-). It sure doesn't bother me. What we need is television that educates, inspires, stimulates, and brings about debate. Mr. Gore hopes to see CURRENT reaching 50 million homes by 2010. It is an attainable goal, but only with the help of the people standing up to the status quo by becoming involved in that process instead of supporting it. And as far as political ads are concerned, unfortunately the attention span of many Americans on such matters doesn't go beyond 30 seconds. It truly is sad. That's why I'm thankful to have Al Gore out here amongst the people now to really be able to tell the truth that he would not be able to tell as a candidate for any office in the very corrupt political system that feeds the corporate media beast.

[glitch]

9. As usual he is absolutely correct and way ahead of the pack.

I wish we deserved him as President.

[IChing]

10. Democracy is losing the battle worldwide to Corporatism

Business and entrepreneurship have its place in all nations but when the rights of the corporations outweigh the needs of the people then an adjustment needs to be done. World wide corporations whose wealth is greater than many nations wield power in relationship to the number of shareholders far greater power than their benefit to mankind.

The questions of a sustainable economy goes hand in hand with a sustainable environment which needs democracy as it's guardian.
The corporations can never be the guardian of the people. Racial injustice, war, urban blight, and environmental rape have a common denominator in our exploitative economic system.

Call a thing immoral or ugly, soul-destroying or a degradation of man, a peril to the peace of the world or to the well-being of future generations; as long as you have not shown it to be ''uneconomic'' you have not really questioned its right to exist, grow, and prosper.”

The poverty of our century is unlike that of any other. It is not, as poverty was before, the result of natural scarcity, but of a set of priorities imposed upon the rest of the world by the rich. Consequently, the modern poor are not pitied... but written off as trash. The twentieth-century consumer economy has produced the first culture for which a beggar is a reminder of nothing.

[bleever]

11. Gore is wise enough to point out

where the cracks in the dam are, and where the camel's nose has gotten under the tent, in order to wake people up to the flood around them, and their loss of protection, under the spell of the forces who have paralyzed democracy, the press, and the free confluence of ideas that our country was designed to be by the founding fathers.

[AtomicKitten]

12. Re-Elect President Gore in 2008.

eom

[brentblack]

31. Gore 2008

Sounds like he will not be running - personally that will be fine with me. I think we need Gore where he can do the most good - Outside of the constraints of a political office. Like Jimmy Carter (Good Georgia Boy like myself) before him, Gore has become a better influence after leaving office. History will not be kind to the Carter administration (I agree, but those were turbulant times - Carter was too nice for such a time), but No one can deny that Carter has been a wonderful force for good since leaving office. So let it be with Gore.

Now....I strongly suggest you look at Evan Bayh as a candidate for President in '08. Probably not as liberal as many would like, but he has the experience and standing to get elected. Bayh\Obama? Bayh\Feingold? Bayh\Sharpton? - just kidding....I want Al Sharpton to run for President - I own his domain names (sharpton2008.com\net\org) ...lol.

It is a beautiful day here in Rome, Georgia. Time to go fishing....

[nam78_two]

34. Hells yeah!!!

seconded, thirded and so on...
:toast:

I DO wish Prez Gore would change his mind about running....I have high hopes he will and that he is just trying to stave off the media hatchet job thats bound to follow...

Gore/Feingold 2008 or Gore/Kerry would be great too....

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[atomicdawg38]

14. GO GORE!

I'm so proud of him!

[samsingh]

15. big time in the US

[terminal_concept]

16. Good job Gore !

What channel was this on?lol

[cyclezealot]

17. This event was covered on the BBC last night.

Gore was impressive. Maybe my faith in him is being restored.

[mdelaguna2000]

20. "refused to rule out" presidential run in 2008...

...it says at end of article. Nice to hear, imo. A true visionary.

[midnight]

21. I think it's important for the rest of the world to start hearing

that many American's see a different system of operation in our Govt. than we are taught about in school. Not only that but those in office are breaking the law.

[mkb]

23. Maintaining Equilibrium Can Be A Problem

     This article is one reason why I think Al Gore is
probably the best of the available candidates for the 2008
Presidential election.
     Gore, whether he is truly well meaning or not, has
certainly made the most progressive statements of the
Democratic hierarchy.  The question will be, will he run, and
would he defeat the Republican opponent in the general
election?  Those two questions are important for us to
consider as we wind our way down the road.
     It's a positive sign that such candor is out there at
all, but of course, it must be reasoned that the truth of what
he said as concerning open democracy still exists, and may
take time to turn around.  So once again we are faced with the
problem of whether to change focus or to not get our hopes up.
 I certainly believe we need to remain disciplined in our
approach.  It's left to the individual to determine, based on
how well they think they understand things, to know if this is
a sign of real progress or a false start.  I still think it's
best to remain cautious, and maintain a disciplined attitude
towards the situation.  I realize there will be uncertainty
about much of this, but I doubt that we can afford to lower
our guard.  I realize it can be difficult balancing hope and
having a defensive attitude, but do the best you can to remain
stalwart, because bad news can return at any time. 

[rosesaylavee]

25. Too bad he had to go to the UK

to have this speech. I would bet that if he gave it in the US, it would not be reported or under-reported. He is a true American hero. I hope he does run. I would work as hard as I know how to get him in the WH.

[ananda]

26. Ok, I'll say it..

.. Bush is both: incurious -and- stoopid.

And he did not win the election in 2000. Gore did.

So saying that there's any democracy at all is quite a stretch.

Sue

[missTheBigDog]

27. Al, please do something about it...

and run in '08! We need some real leadership back in the White House.

[DallasNE]

28. I Wish Gore Would Have Expanded On

The 30-second TV ads. I can't remember the last one that was informative. They rarely say what the candidate stands for, rather they smear the opponent. People routinely tune them out, so why do political campaigns still make them the centerpiece of their campaigns? I generally can't even stand the ads of candidates I support.

[civildisoBDence]

42. The American people want to participate in democracy

while sitting on their asses watching TV.

TV reduces a three-dimensional world to two dimensions for one-dimensional citizens.

Welcome to flatland.

Satire as thick as a president's skull

[oc2002]

30. media controll by a few is a direct result of Reagans deregulations.

Gore should know this, its not incidental that the media is now just another corporate profit center, not news analysis or discussions.

The consolidation of corporate media is the biggest untold story of how to subvert a democracy by controlling the message and the 4th estate. This is nothing new, its been going on since Reagan deregulated ownership rules, its funny that this is not a major issue for the DemocratIC party.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996

[ooglymoogly]

32. k&n for the real president of the united states nt

[NVMojo]

36. Consolidation Of Media Control; Threatens Democracy (Gore)

Aug. 28, 2006

Former Vice President Al Gore said that ever-tighter political and economic control of the media is a major threat to democracy.

Gore said the goal behind his year-old television channel Current TV was to encourage the kind of democratic dialogue that thrives online but is increasingly rare on TV.

Gore told an audience yesterday at the Edinburgh International Television Festival that "Democracy as a system for self-governance is facing more serious challenges now than it has faced for a long time."

He said that in many countries, media control was being consolidated in the hands of a few businesspeople or politicians.

more...

http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=B984D9CD-F550-4B18-A1E9-E775CE133417

[CornField]

37. With all due respect to VP Gore

Those of us in the media, especially in smaller outlets have been harping on this since the mid 1980s. In the US it is rare to find markets with more than one voice and local, independent voices are almost extinct.

[nam78_two]

38. Go Al!

You tell them Mr.President :)!

Gore 2008
:bounce:

[Demeter]

39. So Why Vote for It in Congress?

Have we had any insider leading on the anti-consolidation, or even the Equal Time policies that were recently canned? NO! It's all coming from outside the beltway, and getting no support from our duly elected, not even those who are being most slandered by it.

Too little and far too late. And don't worry about other countries, Al. Our best most accurate and timely news is coming from Canada, Russia, and even Britain! Fix the US first.

[redqueen]

45. Vote for it?

Did he, now?

Something makes me think you're not so familiar with the history of this bill. Do you recall his efforts in congress during the time it was being debated?

I remember reading he did a lot of work on it, and that his efforts were directed towards mitigating the damage, since republicans were in the majority and the thing was going to pass no matter what.

Perhaps you remember it differently?

Please, enlighten us.

[FighttheFuture]

53. What the fuck are you talking about?

In 1996, Gore did support the ongoing Media Deregulation in the Telecom deregulations. However, he opposed further deregulation in 2000 when running for President, realizing the damage it was causing. This was at a great cost to him as the media did thier hack job on him (just like they did to Dean a few weeks after he mentioned on one of the NBC Sunday shows he would go after the media).

Here's an interesting article:

Bush earned this vital assistance at the start of the campaign when he became the only competitive candidate in either major party who pledged to completely deregulate the broadcasting industry. Such a change in government policy offered a financial bonanza to the media companies, because their profit margins would increase as mergers resulted in less competition. Gore had supported the partial deregulation of the telecommunications industry in 1996, but prior to the 2000 campaign announced that he opposed the changes advocated by the New York Times Company and the other major communications conglomerates. The vice president claimed that further consolidation of media ownership would deprive Americans of much-needed diversity in reporting.

Gore’s principled decision to oppose media deregulation was the most decisive factor in the presidential election. For most of his career, The New York Times had portrayed Gore as a “boy scout” - a man of “personal rectitude” - but those descriptions were nowhere to be found in 2000. The Times and the other news subsidiaries of America’s media businesses methodically applied a journalistic makeover to the vice president; by the time they were finished, Al Gore’s reputation had been stained with unsubstantiated allegations of duplicity. The Times aggressively promoted the Bush candidacy for the purpose of gaining the deregulation necessary to achieve corporate profit objectives. Without the distorted coverage that presented an honorable candidate as a liar and vice versa, the election would not have been close enough to steal.

....


In fact, the serial sliming of Democrats has absolutely nothing to do with Clinton or Gore or Dean or Kerry – it is all about the profit motive. The anti-Democratic bias in the media is directly proportional to the level of consolidation of the industry. While it is true that mainstream reporters are excruciatingly shallow, that is because journalists of substance who will not conform to the corporate agenda are unwelcome at the major media outlets.

What remains at America’s metropolitan newspapers and national broadcasting networks are the reporters who are willing to trade their integrity for high-paying jobs. In 2000, these mercenaries savaged the Democratic nominee because their employers viewed anything else as being unacceptable. In 2004, they will do exactly the same thing for exactly the same reason.

[road2000]

40. If you're a Gore supporter...

Please sign and comment on the petition at draftgore.com.

[donkeyotay]

41. Nice site! It's great to see his speeches and accomplishments in one

place where those that never quite recovered from the 2000 character assassination can go and see why Gore is the best candidate for 2008.

Re-elect Gore!

[RestoreGore]

60. What about the topic?

Do you have a comment about that?

[Uncle Joe]

43. Kicked and recommended for President Gore

:patriot:

[Chicago1]

44. Al Gore is OUTSTANDING. Hopefully he'll be elected on 08

PRESIDENT Gore is a wonderful example of how good America is and what it stands for.


START THE REVOLUTION
START THE IMPEACHMENT

[Nebulous Abstraction]

46. I really wish Gore would run again:

He may be a Harvard prick, but at least he's smart and competent. Two qualities which are obviously in short supply with that shovelhead currently squatting in the Oval Office.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[autorank]

49. Thank you Dead Parrot..two resources on Gore on this issue

"In my country and others around the world democracy is under attack," the 58-year-old said.

The Speech January 16, 2006
Constitution Hall, Wash, DC

A Gore’s Devastating Indictment of President Bush
Al Gore’s Devastating Indictment of President Bush
CALLS FOR SPECIAL COUNSEL
Quiescent Congress and Judiciary Enabling Tyranny
Tuesday, 17 January 2006, 11:51 am
Article: Michael Collins

[DemReadingDU]

52. That was an excellent speech by Gore!

It was televised on c-span

[autorank]

54. Wasn't it...he was in full command, powerful yet relaxed and he

knew that this was a date with history. When we win, and we will eventually, the history of this time will show that speech as the turning point uniting all true patriots, right and left, in support of liberty and self determination. I was there. I wouldn't have missed it for just about anything. He has a major role to play in our history. As all this unfolds with Bush, it's important for the public to remember just how unfair and nasty the press was to Gore. They need to be held accountable.

I think I'll check out the archives and see the speech again. Thanks.

[tired of the right]

50. Republicans will attack him

for saying it in another country. :sarcasm:

[Apollo11]

55. Want more Gore?

Then check out these links:
www.algore.org
www.draftgore.com
www.draftgore2008.org
www.climatecrisis.net

In Gore We Trust :)

[RestoreGore]

62. And don't forget this one

http://www.patriotsforgore.com

Oh, and BTW, the last site you noted is the site for the movie An Inconvenient Truth, and is in no way related to any of the other sites you noted.

[Zorra]

57. "In my country and others around the world democracy is under attack,"

Fascism is spreading like the plague in medieval Europe.

[Lisa]

58. eerie parallels -- in both cases, they're carried by vermin! (n/t)

[samsingh]

59. Democracy is losing.

[CollegeDUer]

61. That was as true under his vice presidency as today

Although it's much worse today.