Raw Story: Gore Hits Back

[AtomicKitten]

Gore responds to White House 'hypocrisy' comments
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Gore_responds_to_White_House_hypocrisy_0117.html

RAW STORY

In response to White House comments that Gore exhibited "hypocrisy" in calling for a Special Prosecutor, saying that the Clinton administration had wiretapped some Americans, Gore will make this statement shortly. It was leaked to RAW STORY in advance.

GORE: "The Administration's response to my speech illustrates perfectly the need for a special counsel to review the legality of the NSA wiretapping program.

The Attorney General is making a political defense of the President without even addressing the substantive legal questions that have so troubled millions of Americans in both political parties.

There are two problems with the Attorney General's effort to focus attention on the past instead of the present Administration's behavior. First, as others have thoroughly documented, his charges are factually wrong. Both before and after the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was amended in 1995, the Clinton/Gore Administration complied fully and completely with the terms of the law.

Second, the Attorney General's attempt to cite a previous administration's activity as precedent for theirs - even though factually wrong - ironically demonstrates another reason why we must be so vigilant about their brazen disregard for the law. If unchecked, their behavior would serve as a precedent to encourage future presidents to claim these same powers, which many legal experts in both parties believe are clearly illegal.

The issue, simply put, is that for more than four years, the executive branch has been wiretapping many thousands of American citizens without warrants in direct contradiction of American law. It is clearly wrong and disrespectful to the American people to allow a close political associate of the president to be in charge of reviewing serious charges against him.

The country needs a full and independent investigation into the facts and legality of the present Administration's program."


Background from AP:

The White House accused former Vice President Al Gore of hypocrisy Tuesday for his assertion that President Bush broke the law by eavesdropping on Americans without court approval.

"If Al Gore is going to be the voice of the Democrats on national security matters, we welcome it," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a swipe at the Democrat, who lost the 2000 election to Bush only after the Supreme Court intervened.

Gore called the program, authorized by President Bush, "a threat to the very structure of our government" and charged that the administration acted without congressional authority and made a "direct assault" on a federal court set up to authorize requests to eavesdrop on Americans.

McClellan said the Clinton-Gore administration had engaged in warrantless physical searches, and he cited an FBI search of the home of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames without permission from a judge. He said Clinton's deputy attorney general, Jamie Gorelick, had testified before Congress that the president had the inherent authority to engage in physical searches without warrants.

"I think his hypocrisy knows no bounds," McClellan said of Gore.

[democrank]

1. Take a bow Mr. Al Gore.

I`m so proud!

[MADem]

2. Al ain't gonna back down--he's got a full head of steam on, and

they'd better watch themselves. I find it interesting that the monkey was too skeered to say anything himself, and left it to Tubby McClellan to come up with a whiney, whinging response.

[cynatnite]

3. Our President

:cry: It breaks my heart every time I think about what could have been. :cry:

[CottonBear]

4. VP Gore knew the firestorm was gonna come and he was ready for it. n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

5. Paging John Kerry...

THAT'S how you do it.

[Nickster]

18. A-Freakin-men!

[montana500]

6. Go Honest Al!

!!!

[samhsarah]

7. Kick ass, Mr. President

:yourock:

[hwmnbn]

8. That's it! McMoonface needs a bitch-slap bad...

That smug mealy mouth bastard is talking too much shit.

We know he's lying, can't one journalist/reporter/correspondent call him on it?

[deminks]

9. Advantage Gore. nt

:applause:

[montana500]

10. gee do you think MSNBc will even report this after...

having the "white house rips gore" story up all day on their front page?

[flpoljunkie]

12. Blitzer just read Gore's response in part on The Situation Room...

while he was interviewing Paul Begala and Victoria Clark, former Pentagon spokesman, now CNN analyst.

Way to go, Al! Stick it to the man!

[lavenderdiva]

20. Wolfie just asked Begala about Gore running in 08...

Begala thought Gore should run. Victoria (being sarcastic) thought he should run as well...

Gore in 08!!!!

[AtomicKitten]

11. any doubts now that Gore is prepared to go toe-to-toe with these bastards?

[Warren DeMontague]

17. Oh, lets hope.

PLEASE.

[Rageneau]

13. Gore's speech made me furious at Tipper all over again.

Had Gore fought in Florida like he called upon us to fight yesterday, we wouldn't be in this mess. I'll never forget him, as vice-president, rolling over the protests of outraged Democrats during the counting of electoral votes. He may as well have licked Bush's boots on national TV.

For that matter, I'll never forgive Tipper Gore for having so large an ego that she insisted on distancing Gore from Clinton. She wanted her Al to win it "on his own." What he did was lose it for all of us. ONE SPEECH from Clinton would have assured the election, but Nooooooooooooooo.

(I miss John Belushi.)

It's nice to see the new Al Gore. Too bad he showed up too late.

[AtomicKitten]

14. time to move on .... n/t

[clarknyc]

22. Indeed.

[leanin_green]

68. I guess my third carries the motion.

I'll just say this about the new Al Gore, "It is through misfortune and calamity that the character of a man is honed." That's why we have the NEW Al Gore.

[Tin Man]

15. Gore hits a homer! The logic of his position is ironclad. n/t

[sui generis]

16. did the AP take a sly swipe at SCOTUS and this administration?

I love this wording:

"If Al Gore is going to be the voice of the Democrats on national security matters, we welcome it," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said in a swipe at the Democrat, who lost the 2000 election to Bush only after the Supreme Court intervened.

[AtomicKitten]

39. sounds like they got it right FOR ONCE! n/t

[PinkyisBlue]

49. I noticed the wording too.

And I haven't seen Gore described this way before. Indeed, he IS the Democrat "who lost the election to Bush only after the Supreme Court intervened."

It implies that he would have won the 2000 election if the Supreme Court had remained neutral and told Florida to continue counting ballots, like they were supposed to.

[MuseRider]

19. I smell a fight a brewin!

Duel at dawn with one unarmed man? Lies do not make things right even in the White House.

Go Get Them Al Gore! We have your back.

[Lugnut]

21. Blam!

:applause:

[mirandapriestly]

23. I bet the WH remarks show up in MSM

but not Gore's, or they will be hidden at the end of the article,

[mom cat]

24. No one should try to fight facts with Gore. He has them down cold.

Bush is just doing the same old smear job.

[dapper]

25. I didn't want to say this earlier

but the dude looked like he was on steroids :-) His speech was so strong, I think just words alone ripped bush a new one.

:-)

[The Backlash Cometh]

26. Gonzalez lied? How can he be in such an important position and lie

like that?

[dapper]

27. kicked and recommended

:kick:

[benny05]

38. Likewise

To borrow from Spike Lee, "Do the Right Thing" :

Give 'em hell, Al.

:applause:

[cctian]

28. Finally

Gore makes Americans proud, finally, after years of being appalled and embarrassed by this administration. Why wasn't evey democratic senator at the event? Get it together democrats and get a spine. Gore clearly has given you a model.

[connecticut yankee]

30. Amen -- and welcome to DU!

The Repukes are showing what liars and hypocrits they really are!

[AtomicKitten]

31. Welcome BOTH of you!!! n/t

[AtomicKitten]

29. I have yet to hear someone cut through the WH BS like Gore did.

It's refreshing to hear someone, finally, step up and call BS on their spin. Damn.

[PurpleChez]

32. ¡Viva Al Gore!

After 9/11 a lot of asshats smirked and said "I bet you're glad Al Gore isn't president NOW." I wasn't. I'm not. I voted for him then. I'd vote for him again. Imagine having someone competent and articulate in the WH.

[Borgnine]

56. There's a very likely chance 9/11 wouldn't have happened under Gore.

And that's not even from a LIHOP or MIHOP perspective. You summed up the reason in your last sentence. "Imagine having someone competent and articulate in the WH."

[AllyCat]

33. Okay, what is this wiretapping thing Puffy McMoonface is trying to pin

on Clinton? I'm unfamiliar with the argument, even if there is one there. Clinton probably did it and then got the okay from the courts using the 72 hour provision of FISA that Bush conveniently dismissed as a waste of his time.

Way to go, Gore!! I'm glad someone is fighting this nonsense.

[wysiwyg]

35. The FISA law changed starting in 1995

The administration's argument is inaccurate as you probably expect. The Republicans refer to the Clinton administration's authorizing physical searches without a warrant for suspected foreign agents. This was done because until 1995 the FISA law only applied to electronic surveillance. At the request of the Clinton administration the law was amended to include physical searches which were authorized under FISA starting in 1995.

Aldrich Ames, used as an example of Gore's "hypocrisy" was arrested in 1994 with the searches being authorized in 1993. This occurred before the searches were covered under FISA making the current administrations argument out to be total nonsense.

In my opinion there is an obvious contrast between the Clinton-Gore administration authorizing actions because it had to and then, recognizing the potential for abuse, asking Congress to amend the law; thus they actually gave up executive authority.

(edited for typo)

[shadowlight]

37. Thank-you.

Your post explains it perfectly.

[funflower]

51. I'd guess Aldrich Ames signed a stack of waivers authorizing searches

when he joined the CIA.

[robbedvoter]

34. For more than four years - he knows it started BEFORE 911!

Glad he said it!

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011306Z.shtml

    James Risen, author of the book State of War and credited with first breaking the story about the NSA's domestic surveillance operations, said President Bush personally authorized a change in the agency's long-standing policies shortly after he was sworn in in 2001.

    "The president personally and directly authorized new operations, like the NSA's domestic surveillance program, that almost certainly would never have been approved under normal circumstances and that raised serious legal or political questions," Risen wrote in the book. "Because of the fevered climate created throughout the government by the president and his senior advisers, Bush sent signals of what he wanted done, without explicit presidential orders" and "the most ambitious got the message."

[youngturk kc]

36. Al Gore for President

Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks (http://www.theyoungturks.com) has some good thoughts on why precisely Gore should be President, especially after the speech he made..

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/al-gore-for-president_b_13949.html

[AtomicKitten]

65. thanks for the links and welcome to DU! n/t

[gordontron]

40. never fight over facts with Al and

never fight over patriotism with Murtha, unless you are prepared to be battered to an argumentative pulp. The republicans seem to be doing exactly that. ah well we have always known not all the lights are on in the attic.

To Gore! :toast:

[Joey Liberal]

41. Al Gore is my President

He has been since 2000.

[colorado thinker]

42. Ironic, isn't it?

How Scotty can even say the word "hypocrisy" without choking on it . . .

[AtomicKitten]

43. he takes big bites! n/t

[Olney Blue]

44. After hearing Gore's speech, everything out of the WH now

sounds like chopped liver.

My apologies to liver.

[KoKo]

45. I know...and hope they ad Gore's comments to every AP story

picked up by our local newspapers in addition to that robot/McMoonface McClellan's comments.

[cctian]

46. Democrats in the house and senate should not sit back and see what happens

After Al Gore made the most cogent argument about how Bush threatens the core of our democracy, Democrats in both house and senate she heed his rallying call, rather than timidly wait and she what happens. Leadership is sorely missing. RUN GORE, RUN.

[Nordmadr]

61. I agree, Bush has NEVER seemed Presidential to me, but

after seeing Gore give that speech, looking at Bush,he seems so small and infantile. Like a 50 something year old baby with a chip on it's shoulder. He looks truly beaten lately, and oh so tired. The man has aged 15 years in the last 5.

BTW, I pointed out in another thread last night, because of Gore's speech, I changed my voter registration back to Dem from Green.

We must fight. We must be the patriots that our forefathers were. Our democracy deserves no less.

Olafr

[Olney Blue]

64. Yes, the stress of his misadministration is taking its toll.

I was raised in a republican family- but I switch to the Dems when I went to college.

Since Bush came into office, I have become a rabid, bleeding-heart liberal Dem!

[cctian]

47. GET MOVING WHILE WE STILL HAVE A COUNTRY.

Every time I thought that this administration couldn't do any worse, something new is revealed. Invading a sovereign country under lies; Torturing prisoners; spying on its citizens, having secret interrogation units, kidnapping and jailing and citizens without formally charging them with a crime, while democrats pose no serious debates, or opposition to the tyranny.

[AtomicKitten]

48. Addendum: AP Updates Facts On White House Smear of Al Gore

AP Reports Facts on White House Smear of Gore

This morning, ThinkProgress revealed charges of hypocrisy leveled against former Vice President Al Gore by Attorney General Gonzales were completely baseless. Now, the AP has updated its story on the Bush administration’s smear of Gore to include the facts:

McClellan said the Clinton-Gore administration had engaged in warrantless physical searches, and he cited an FBI search of the home of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames without permission from a judge. He said Clinton’s deputy attorney general, Jamie Gorelick, had testified before Congress that the president had the inherent authority to engage in physical searches without warrants.

“I think his hypocrisy knows no bounds,” McClellan said of Gore.

But at the time of the Ames search in 1993 and when Gorelick testified a year later, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act required warrants for electronic surveillance for intelligence purposes, but did not cover physical searches. The law was changed to cover physical searches in 1995 under legislation that Clinton supported and signed.

Bush’s attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, made the same arguments as McClellan during interviews Monday on CNN’s “Larry King Live” and Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes.”

The White House responded to Gore’s criticism with a dishonest smear. The media, thankfully, is beginning to understand that.

The larger issue, however, is that the White House doesn’t have an honest response to criticism of their warrantless domestic wiretapping program.


http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/17/ap-reports-facts/

[rg302200]

50. Do you think the rest of the Democratic Party will stand up

and fight for a change, instead of caving in to the Bush WH.

I would love for more Dem's to follow the leads of Murtha, Gore, Reid and even Rev. Sharpton and take a stance and fight back.

Gore brings more hope every time he speaks!

Gore in 2008

[ProudDad]

52. If he'd been talking like this in 2000

There wouldn't have been any need for a damn recount.

Above all else, people want to hear someone with conviction. The person with conviction AND the truth is even more effective.

I'm sure the DLC had Gore under a tight leash in 2000.

[ProudDad]

53. PS: I thing Gore's a shoe-in

for POTUS in 2008.

[rumpel]

54. Gonzales confirmation hearing:

In essence many Senators told him:

You are no longer going to be counsel for the president, you are representing the PEOPLE of this country.

Answer:

Of course, I know that.

Result:

his master's voice regurgitating

He is breaking his oath, btw

[Neil Lisst]

55. Gore is RIGHT ON! That's some AG, isn't it? Special Prosecutor!

Alberto Gonzales is Bush's personal valet and has been for a decade.

Here's Ed Meese, I mean John Mitchell, using his position to bless illegality by the president.

[Apollo11]

57. www.algore.org

Check out this website and forum for Gore supporters: www.algore.org

Registration is free, and it's a good way to show your support for Al Gore.

In Gore We Trust :)

[tomreedtoon]

58. Yeah, Gore was (yawn) a real ball of lukewarm.

His enemies burned down his house, stampeded his wife and raped his cattle...and he got mad enough to...write a long, wordy Letter to the Editor. And if he gets really angry, he might put a stamp on it and really mail it in.

C'mon, do Democrats want to go down to defeat with Gore yet again? If you think this is a fiery speech, I hope you never drink Coca-Cola, because it'll burn your tongue.

[Apollo11]

60. The Honorable Al Gore

Al Gore respects the US Constitution and the rule of law.

He believes in truth, justice, and trusting the people.

It's what he stands for 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

He also believes in the old saying: "Don't get mad, get even".

If the GOP is calling you a loser, then don't help them out by acting like a cry-baby.

Bring facts to light and show people why they must reject the Bush regime.

Climb that mountain one step at a time.

That's why Gore is a honorable leader, and you tomreedtoon are not.

Did you ever get elected to anything in your life?

Al Gore won the trust of 51 million people in 2000 (and those are just the ones they counted!)

He has the responsibility to speak for the fair-minded majority of Americans.

He is not some extreme-left fringe figure - so why would he behave like one?

www.algore.org :)

[AtomicKitten]

62. yeah! what you said!

[tomreedtoon]

69. So you're saying "honorable" means being a wimp. Okay.

I guess it's better to have more right-wing Republican rule, and continue the disaster we're undergoing now, as long as the candidate can feel morally secure and honorable. Let history reward Gore with accolades as a noble idea gone down to defeat, assuming there's anybody left in America with the education to write history.

By the way, I'm not running for any office. And, from the results of the last few elections, neither are any Democratic Presidential nominees. They're posturing and posing and looking noble, but their "honor" hasn't done anything to stop the decline of American freedoms.

[mikelewis]

59. First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,...

then you win.
Gandhi


Never fear the mouth of Sauron.

[emald]

63. Al Gore is still my President

Has been since he won the election in 2000, right before the supreme idiots who hate america took it away from him. The lying chimp and his criminal gang have no right to the office, never have and they probably won't give it up easily or without a fight. But GOOOOOOOOO Al!! Give them hell Al.
Al Gore for reelection in 2008. A thinking president. Now thats an idea whose time has come.

[geiger]

66. He needs to continue to follow up

CALL The Office of the Honorable Al Gore
2100 West End Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

[JWS]

67. half the administrations efforts go into smear campaigns

the other half goes into fighting pointless wars.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

70. lesser individuals will always "smear" great men

It's their insecurity and fear getting the better of them... Those who cannot be great are perhaps jealous of people like Gore as well. Looks like Gore is going to be our go-to-guy... I personally like Russ better but he lacks the visibility of Gore and it's a deliberate action by media to keep him hidden. Did Russ "do it too" Mr Fuhrer? Can you say the same things about him that you said about a good smart man with a good smart plan for health care? Tyrants never stick to issues. What will we, as citizens, do about it?

[JWS]

71. You speak the truth sir. n/t