In This Truly Dark Hour For America-The Door To Choose Is: "THE GORE DOOR" (David Michael Green)

[kpete]

Published on Friday, June 8, 2007 by CommonDreams.org
The Gore Door
by David Michael Green

It is truly a dark hour for America, and all roads lead to the same explanatory address: the country has been hijacked by a movement of regressive kleptocrats who have not governed well in large part because their intention never was to govern well - but rather, instead, to liquidate every asset from the beast before then dumping its tattered carcass in a fire sale. There are no parallels for this in our political history. Only the leveraged buyout does it justice. Think of this as the Gordon Gekko model of governance. Woo-hoo.

.....

.......... Today, I look at Gore and I see a man on fire. I see a guy who is not only angry, but angry for all the right reasons. And I see a candidate who could be devastating in response to the right-wing cheap shots sure to be tossed out by the GOP in 2008. I think Gore would be willing to call out the purveyors of political filth on the right, to dress down their facilitators in the media, and to publicly humiliate both when they pull their egregious stunts. Indeed, I think he knows that to do otherwise is political suicide. If he does run, I can’t imagine him running the sort of weak campaign like the one he mounted in 2000, or the inexcusable disaster that Kerry (who absolutely should have known better) put forth in 2004. I can’t imagine him not dismissing the GOP and its surrogate pundits by saying “You’re the same folks who’ve gotten everything imaginable wrong these last years, so shut up already. We’re done with you and your disasters.”

............


I think today’s Al Gore frightens these people very much. His presidency would follow our era’s Pierce/Grant/McKinley/Hoover/Eisenhower/Nixon/Reagan meltdown, thus setting the stage for maximum receptivity to real and significant change. He likely would not be intimidated or shut down by personal assaults or fabricated scandals. (In fact, if he was really smart, he would inoculate himself against them by warning the public right from the beginning to expect that they are coming, reminding them of what was done to Clinton. Then each time another bogus scandal was proffered he could simply offer a Reaganesque display of disdainful tedium, along the lines of “There you go again”. He could also publicly challenge members of the media to also investigate their sources, as well as the allegations of those sources, and he could play a game of resignation brinksmanship with Republicans making warrantless accusations, as in “If you’re right Senator, I’ll resign. If you’re wrong, you resign. Agreed?”.) Gore would also likely not be afraid to continue to explain to Americans the depth of the pit the GOP has dug for us these last years, perhaps launching continuing investigations into war profiteering and other scandals. In short, Gore could take progressives from a position of playing weak defense to one of playing offense, and leave the right stuck licking their wounds in a collapsing world of hurt. My own guess is that regressives will completely crumble at the point anyone stands up to them and starts hitting back, and thus the attacks already being mounted on Gore - it is imperative to them that anyone who would do so be silenced, preferably by means of ridicule. But I suspect Gore now well knows what so many of us learned in kindergarten, that the best way to deal with a bully is to push back. Hard.

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Lord knows I’ve had my heart broken by too many politicians not to be a bit cautious. Moreover, the old Al Gore could sometimes make Bill Clinton look positively liberal. But nowadays I think a Gore presidency would very likely be different. I think it would be bold enough to end the war, to seriously address global warming, to create a real universal national healthcare program, to begin re-balancing the distribution of wealth in the United States, to restore the Constitution, to appoint progressives to the federal courts, to restore America’s participation in international institutions and its reputation in world opinion, to implement a full-scale alternative energy program, as well as job development, stem cell research, and a whole lot more. I think the majority of the American public already wants all of those things, and it might be very easy to achieve them under the combined circumstances of a completely failed conservative experiment, a clearly articulated progressive vision, and a bold agenda-setting president showing aggressive and fearless leadership in pointing the way.

more at:

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/08/1746/

[Rydz777]

1. I think the RW used up all their cheap shots against Gore in

2000, and he has risen so far above that that he is now immune. They might try again, but I think only their rapidly shrinking base would buy it this time.

[NastyRiffraff]

2. Oh, they won't give up...

They have a script, as Bob Somerby at Daily Howler has pointed out many many times. They're not about to give it up. They're still talking, to this day, about how Gore claimed he "invented the Internet" after that's been shot down repeatedly.

But the point is taken....Gore can be above it all, AS LONG AS the liberal bloggers and others call the so-called commentators on it every single time they use that tired, old script.

[glitch]

7. They're already into reruns. See Dowd, Milbank. Not much imagination there.

But I very much doubt their opinions affect him, he knows who they are now. We all do. Ok maybe not all of us. Most.

[WiseButAngrySara]

3. He is angry enough, eloquent enough, intelligent enough, and

courageous enough!

I so hope Gore enters the race!

Run Gore, RUN !!!!

k(pete)nr!

[frogcycle]

4. my one small bit of advice to Al Gore

presumptious though it is of me to say anything - the man is a genius, is driven to save the world, and making headway in that direction.

But here it is:
IF he were to bite the bullet and enter the toxic process of running for office again, he should practice what I call "disciplined rage" and use it on select occasions. There are times when "losing it" over an offensive question or accusation is a good thing. One has to be secretly in control, or else one can REALLY "lose it," but showing anger - baring your teeth like Joe Biden does, getting that "steam coming out of your ears" look and cutting someone down can serve to enhance credibility.

The handlers who coach politicians to watch every syllable create these automatons that NOBODY trusts.

Dukakis' response to the hypothetical question about his wife being raped is a perfect example.

He should have just said "That question is offensive in the extreme. If you want to have a reasonable conversation about my views, we can do that, but you are just trying to back me into a corner and trip me up so you can score points. This interview is over." then get up and walk away.

I watched Gore testifying @ congress, and when Inhofe tried to browbeat him he was, in my opinion, too polite. Of course, it was not a debate between equals - he was a private citizen testifying before congress - but still, he could/should have thrown in a comment somewhere along the line that Inhofe was lecturing and introducing unsubstantiated claims, not actually questioning, and he declined to respond. Rudeness should be met with measured rudeness. Turning the other cheek looks weak or overhandled. He did go on the offensive by asking to meet one-on-one and have a real conversation. I am sure that was planned in advance, and it was pretty good.

He needs simply to reject the "toxic" nature of politics. Whenever it turns that way, just do what people do in blogs - say "I call bullshit!" (metaphorically, of course) like Clinton did in the Chris Matthews interview.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. The simple fact is, Gore knows what he's facing.

He is very clear-eyed, as a reading of Assault will quickly prove to you. Unlike most politicians, I think his commitment to the issues is larger than his commitment to his own self-aggrandizement. If he runs, his major motive will not be to elevate himself to the Presidency for vainglorious reasons. There is too much at stake for the planet in this election. Therefore, I think he will only run if he is overwhelmingly convinced he can win. If he runs, he will have strategies for the various obstacles he will face. He knows about Diebold, he knows about the predatory health insurance industry, he knows about the corporate media. He knows about the Blackwells and Cruella Harrises. He will not run unless he has a plan to take them all on.

[glitch]

8. Goosebumps. I hope you are correct, if he does run that will give me more hope for the future.

We also have to make sure he is protected.

[Stephanie]

6. Draft Gore >

http://www.algore.org/blog/janet/what_do_you_want_ask_al_gore

[DesertRat]

9. kick!

:kick: