Al GORE: "Count me among those supporting and cheering on the Occupy Wall Street movement.”

[kpete]

Thoughts on Occupy Wall Street October 12, 2011 : 5:07 PM

For the past several weeks I have watched and read news about the Occupy Wall Street protests with both interest and admiration. I thought The New York Times hit the nail on the head in an editorial Saturday:

“The message — and the solutions — should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention since the economy went into a recession that continues to sock the middle class while the rich have recovered and prospered. The problem is that no one in Washington has been listening.”

“At this point, protest is the message: income inequality is grinding down that middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people. On one level, the protesters, most of them young, are giving voice to a generation of lost opportunity.”

From the economy, to the climate crisis our leaders have pursued solutions that are not solving our problems, instead they propose policies that accomplish little. With democracy in crisis a true grassroots movement pointing out the flaws in our system, is the first step in the right direction. Count me among those supporting and cheering on the Occupy Wall Street movement.

http://blog.algore.com/2011/10/thoughts_on_occupy_wall_street.html

[Odin2005]

1. GO AL!!!

[AzDar]

2. Al !

:loveya:

[lunatica]

54. I love that man for his mind too

[Better Believe It]

3. Good! Now how many people can you convince to join the protests Al?

Let's see what you can bring out.

I know you can do it!

[donheld]

58. It would help a great deal if Al himself would show up

[grasswire]

4. The best president we never had. n/t

[Deep13]

31. +1 nt

[Matariki]

44. +2

[Raksha]

48. So true!

[Left Brain]

51. {sigh}

:cry:

[PotatoChip]

82. Can you imagine how different

things would be right now if Al Gore had assumed his rightful place as our President in Jan. of 2001? No Iraq debacle, no 10 trillion dollar tax cut to the wealthy, no Alito in the Supreme Court, ect. ect. ect. :-(

[fishwax]

5. k/r

:kick:

[lonestarnot]

6. Thank you Mr. President!

K & R

[rosesaylavee]

7. I so appreciate this man and his work - glad he lent his voice to this.

Thanks for the thread kpete!

[myrna minx]

8. K&R n/t

[malaise]

9. Very Nice Al Gore

Rec

[Kingofalldems]

10. Looks like only republicans are against OWS

[LWolf]

12. Al Gore doesn't speak for all Democrats.

There are plenty who have been noticeably silent on OWS.

[ThomWV]

13. No he doesn't - but he does more to speak for this Democrat than the President does.

[LWolf]

67. While I don't think anyone speaks FOR me,

Gore definitely gets my approval in many cases, while the President lost any chance of my support long ago.

[karynnj]

14. President Obama, VP Biden, Kerry, Pelosi all have commented positively

Obama:
http://thepage.time.com/2011/10/06/obama-and-ows/

Biden:
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111006/occupy-wall-street-dc-joe-biden-atlantic-aspen-institute

Kerry:
http://www.cbs3springfield.com/story/15659464/protestors-occupy-springfield

Pelosi:
https://twitter.com/toddzwillich/status/122039679800451072

Clinton was mostly positive - the only leader I looked for and couldn't find was Reid - and that was because the right connected his addition of the millionaires tax with OWS - meaning there were many google results and I couldn't find a comment directly on OWS.

This does not diminish that Gore strongly backed it. (Gore has come a HUGE way since his days as a conservative Democrat and the first DLC endorsed Presidential candidate. Something to think of when people want to kick Senators out of the party for any one vote - or even a long pattern of them.)

[mopinko]

20. clinton was here in chicago yesterday

and spoke very positively about the protests here.

[karynnj]

22. I saw a more mixed, though mostly positive comment

Thanks for responding to my error.

The point really is that the Democrats basically agree and the Republicans hate them. I can find various comments - especially from Kerry and Kennedy going back decades. Kerry spoke of the 70% falling behind and the 30% gaining - calling it the Americas of Roseanne Barr and the yuppies on LA Law back in 1993 - using words to describe the life of the 70% as a "treadmill world" - speaking of two income couples working more than one job to have the life that once could be had with one income.

He was certainly not alone in speaking of this - the trend to giving the top more has been there at least since the 80s - and possibly before. People like Cuomo spoke eloquently about this in the 80s - and there was passion then that this was unfair. But, it was nowhere near as unfair as it became over the 90s and the 00s - and now.

[cui bono]

24. Yeah, and then they passed three more "free trade" agreements.

We need more than words from those that hold office. Especially the POTUS.

President Barack Obama said passage of the agreements was "a major win for American workers and businesses."
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2011/10/13/congress-passes-three-free-trade-agreements/

:puke:

[amandabeech]

34. Well, what they do is more than what they say.

That was always true with the "big doofus", er, I mean the "BIG DOG."

[LWolf]

65. I'm pleased to see Gore speak up.

I agree that he's come a long way. We can't really tell how far since he's not in public office, making public policy decisions.

The rest on your list are, and what counts for me is not their words, but their actions. What are they DOING regarding policies and laws that affect the 99%, for good or ill?

What about, for example, the new free trade bills? Who is voting for or against?

Pelosi voted for 2/3. So did a bunch of other Democrats. Obama praised them. What does it matter, if they say something nice about OWS, if they won't put their votes and signatures, let alone their "comfortable shoes," where their mouth is?

[bullwinkle428]

17. Some slimy little Repuke Congressman was trying to co-opt

the OWS movement this morning on NPR by claiming the original tea-baggers were all about "No Bailouts", and TOTALLY non-partisan in their political leanings!

[cui bono]

26. Apparently though, they were for no bail-outs for the people.

So it's not the same thing even if they opposed bailouts to the banks as well. Though all I remember was them screaming "socialist!", "anti-christ!", "death panels", "don't touch my medicare", "Obama wants to kill! grandma!".

They are basically anti-government completely which is definitely not the same thing as OWS. Plus, most of them didn't even really know what they were for or against, they were just there because Fox News told them to be there. When you here people talk to the OWS protesters they actually articulate their reasons and feelings very coherently.

[Enthusiast]

30. NPR is simply unreliable.

It is nothing more than a conduit for right wing propaganda. I will no longer turn it on even though, at one time, I was an avid listener.

[fascisthunter]

37. Good... They will Alienate themselves from the 99% more and more

the true majority

[ladjf]

11. Thank you Mr. Gore. nt

[Tennessee Gal]

15. Way to go, Al!

[Pigheaded]

16. I think he is one of the biggest

Capitalists and corporatists in the US.
Seems a bit incongruous.

PH

[justiceischeap]

18. Why is no one jumping all over Al because he too is part of the 1%?

There was thread yesterday that jumped all over a young woman who went to protest with a sign proclaiming she was part of the 1% but she stood with the 99% and folks jumped all over her.

[harun]

27. Nobody jumped all over her from DU. We saluted her.

[Dreamer Tatum]

85. Because Gore has a Hypocrisy Pass, evidently.

Wonder which one if his mansions he was sitting in when he chimed in with his support?

[Romulox]

19. NAFTA didn't help these people, Al. The "Third Way" didn't help these people, Al.

:hi:

[FLPanhandle]

21. Wait a minute. I thought Nader said there was no difference between Al and the chimp?

I'm so confused.

[dogknob]

23. Meaningless until...

... he does something besides simply associating his name with #OWS

[Uncle Joe]

29. Gore's Current T.V. has been front and center airing coverage and views

of the Occupying Wall Street Movement.

This happening when most of the dysfunctional and disconnected corporate media was either ignoring or distorting (some of them still are doing it to this day, ie; "What do they want?") the protests.

Keith Olbermann had an outstanding call to action on the first of August, when I find the link, I will post it here.

Here it is, this commentary rocks the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkRgj6j-Pg

[Hubert Flottz]

25. Al you could have been a contender!

In 2004.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

68. Anytime he chooses to run he'll have my support.

I'm glad he's implicitly criticizing Obama.

[Uncle Joe]

28. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.:thumbsup:

[tcaudilllg]

32. I never doubted him. n/t

But I do hope he's arranging for more financial backing, to deal with all these rising costs.... People need to get on that, before the 1% turn this into a game of money.

[L. Coyote]

33. Will he show up in New York City?

I doubt it.

[Firebrand Gary]

35. K&R Thank you Mr President.

[Dont call me Shirley]

36. This wouldn't have happened if Bushbaby hadn't cheated.

Thanks for the support Al.

[upi402]

38. Great news. Now admit NAFTA was evil. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

39. NAFTA and for that matter all these free trade agreements should have been treated as treaties

by the Congress requiring a 2/3 approval by the Senate, just as Alan Grayson points out.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x631572

In regards to the Gore/Perot debate on Larry King, Gore still kicked Perot's ass on the need for a treaty with Mexico.

[upi402]

42. Gore broke my heart in the Perot debate on Larry King

But I knew Clinton was a corporatist and was a delegate against him.

"Free Trade" - the ultimate oxymoron.

[Uncle Joe]

43. I thought Gore did a splendid job and exposed Perot for the

"free trade monopolist" that he was.

Perot had his own private free trade zone, he thought it was good enough for himself, just not the rest of the nation and Al exposed it on Larry King.

Gore recognized the world was changing, the industrialized world rebuilding after WWII, the forming of the EU, the emergence of China and we needed to change with it and help bring Mexico into the fold.

I believe the thing that most aggravated the negative effects of NAFTA was the judicial coup of 2000 bringing us eight years of Cheney/Bush hands-off the steering wheel misrule.

[upi402]

46. fucking bullshit

but thanks for playing

[Uncle Joe]

47. Which part is bullshit, the part about Perot having his own private free trade zone,

the part about the changing world or the part about the need to bring Mexico up to date?

Edit to add. Or the part about the 8 years of Cheney/Bush hands-off the steering wheel misrule?

[stockholmer]

60. the entire apologist slant about NAFTA, get over it, BOTH parties fucked over the 99%

:thumbsdown:

[Uncle Joe]

64. That's a nice coverall statement that means nothing, in case you missed it, there was no apology in

my posts.

I was filling in actual substance, something that's sorely lacking with too many re: the Pavlovian Bell word "NAFTA."

One other point if you actually read my posts, the very first one starts out siding with Grayson and criticizing the Congress, (that would be both parties) for not treating NAFTA nor any other "free trade agreement" as a treaty; which would require a 2/3 Senate vote for approval.

[Romulox]

73. Yeah, there kind of was. You are trying to rationalize a very destructive policy. nt

[Uncle Joe]

74. If you mean, I'm using reason instead of blind fear, then you're correct.

I used context and pointed out the substantive merits pro and con behind the process and the actual treaty.

To this point neither you nor the other posters have actually disputed the points I made as if they didn't matter.

If you can't deal with context or substance stay in the shallow end of the pool, where life is simple and those dynamics may not come up.

1. NAFTA and every other free trade agreement should be treated as treaties requiring a 2/3 Senate majority for approval, that's a critique of both political parties and as it would be more difficult to pass would more likely be a well rounded treaty as all segments of the American People would have greater input.

2. The world was and is changing from rebuilding the Industrialized world after World War II destruction, the forming of greater national entities ie: the E.U. the rise of China and the shrinking world due to technological advancements in transportation and communication.

3. Ross Perot was a free trade monopolist, he had his own private NAFTA free trade zone, so he was compromised and Al Gore exposed it on Larry King, a simple check of you-tube will confirm what I'm saying.

4. The Judicial Coup of 2000 greatly altered the nation's course from war, to economics, to basic morals ie: torture. Cheney/Bush simply didn't give a damn and if you can't take that in to consideration in your deliberations of whether a treaty such as NAFTA panned out the way it should, then you're not even playing in the field of logic.

5. Furthermore it would benefit the U.S. and the world in general if all nations were brought up to fully developed status both from an exploding world population point of view, (developed nations have a slower of rate of growth) and in turn the issue of global warming climate change.

[Romulox]

75. To the extent you are parroting the Gore framing of this issue, this shows why Al can't be Prez.

He has learned little or nothing from his mistakes, and his own ego blinds him to the obvious.

[Uncle Joe]

76. You didn't address the points; whether they have merit or are true.

I think for myself, good luck to you in doing so as well.

[Romulox]

78. I reject Gore's "third way" framing in its entirety. nt

[Uncle Joe]

81. I reject a lot of things, but if I'm going to reject something at least I will debate the

reasons as to why pro and con.

[Romulox]

84. Hundreds of thousands (if not MILLIONS) of jobs lost in Michigan since NAFTA. QED. nt

[Uncle Joe]

87. As my post below points out the greatest job loss came in the 80s and very early 90s before NAFTA.

[Romulox]

89. Your post is simply incorrect. Losses have accelerated greatly since then. nt

[Uncle Joe]

93. The rate of loss decreased after NAFTA, losses accelerated after Cheney/Bush but

you acknowledge their existence so I don't know how to debate that one with you.

[Romulox]

94. NAFTA has been in effect that entire time. So those losses are due to Gore's policy, too. nt

[Uncle Joe]

97. Governing is the equivalent of driving a car, if you start the trip driving and someone else

takes over only to have a wreck, that doesn't make it your fault, no policy by the government exists in a vacuum, there are a multitude of dynamics in play.

[Romulox]

99. That's silly. NAFTA purports to be a "treaty" with independent dispute resolution

It's very Third Way to try to defend NAFTA while distancing oneself from it, btw.

Like I said, Gore (whose views I assume you have repeated with great fidelity) has learned NOTHING since squandering his chance at the Presidency.

Not a thing.

[Uncle Joe]

101. Did it pass the Senate by a 2/3 vote? A treaty would have required that.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x631572

[Cali_Democrat]

40. He would have made a fabulous President

nt

[Faygo Kid]

41. What a better nation we would have had. Better world, too.

W.'s reign of error totally makes him Worst President Ever. Worse than Andrew Johnson, Buchanan, Reagan, Nixon, et al.

The election of 2000 was our most important ever. All that has come after it is reactive.

[Fool Count]

45. So why not enter the Democratic primaries and make OWS

your platform then?

[Raksha]

49. You read my mind - Al Gore is probably the only candidate

who could challenge Obama and win.

[AikidoSoul]

50. Oh how I wish!

I still have the letter from him saying he would not run, after sending him pathetic begging letters saying he was our only hope.

It's good to see that he still directs positive energy towards worthy causes.

[Hubert Flottz]

52. Al lost me when he didn't run against Bush is 2004.

If he'd stepped up and told the truth about Bush and Cheney in 2004, he could have saved the country from four more years of disaster.

[lunatica]

53. He was a little busy saving your planet

But if you want to sulk, go ahead.

[Hubert Flottz]

56. He could have done a better job by stopping Bush.

No, he didn't have the fight left in him anymore. He listened to Joe Lieberman and gave up.

VP Gore promised me in 2000, face to face, that if I'd vote for him, he would never quit fighting for me. In 2004, he never even answered the bell. What if George Washington had said, "Fuck It, I have too many other problems of my own, than to defend and protect the United States of America, from an evil cheer leading corrupt unitary executive/dictator/king George and his band of democracy hating rogues?" Al had a role to play and a country that needed saved, but Al had other fish to fry.

You can do as you please, but I lost my respect for Al Gore when he let his personal problems trump his patriotism and the needs of the nation. He could still win back my respect, if he'd run again NOW and tell the unvarnished truth about America's problems!

I'm really not sulking, I'm fuming and I'm disgusted with bullshit everywhere I turn.

Take a look at our planet...how has Al saved it? He'd have stood a better chance of saving the planet from the White House.

[lunatica]

61. First of all without Gore and his documentaries about the planet

People would be in the dark about the facts of climate change. Getting people's attention about an issue is more than half the battle. He's fought hard.

And if you think he could have moved the Powers That Be after they blatantly broke every law in the book to get rid of him you live in a fantasy world. Where should he have gone after the Supreme Court rejected his obvious win over Bush's family power? I think he saw the facts and realized he could never get anything done as President. As it is he isn't having to spend every moment calculating the political expediency of each moment, or the calculated move to undermine his opposition or sidestep their manipulations designs to remove him from office, or compromise for the sake of politics.

Can't you see how the Republicans and the entrenched moneyed lobbyists are fighting just the Jobs Bill that Obama is fighting for right now? Do you really think the Republicans are so stupid that they don't get the facts about global warming? Of course they do, but in politics that doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is winning at any cost. That's what we're witnessing now. What Democratic President do you think has a chance in hell of making a real difference in this when the only thing the Republicans want is to destroy them?

It helps to understand that in politics things just aren't as you would wish them to be. If you really want to do something clean and real and lasting do it in your private life by following your biggest passion. Most politicians' biggest passion is to play the power game. To rule.

The fact that we aren't the leaders in creating an industry in alternate energy doesn't mean the world is lagging behind. There are lots of countries and businesses who are going green. And a lot of that is due to Gore's efforts to teach about global warming and its effects. But if you refuse to see it then for you it doesn't exist. But that doesn't mean it isn't there and happening anyway, with or without your blessing.

[Hubert Flottz]

63. Nobody has been a bigger Al Gore fan than I was.

And I still wish him the best. I wish you the best too.

[lunatica]

103. And I wish you the best also

Don't let the disappointments get you down. We can't afford to stop fighting for the planet.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

69. Maybe if the Democratic leadership

wasn't filled with douche bags he would have run.

[Romulox]

72. He ran one of the worst campaigns in modern history in the year 2000.

He had no "juice" by 2004.

[lunatica]

104. That's the excuse that people use when they forget he won the election but

the Supreme Court selected Bush.

That is a rationalization that people who are pretending that it was actually an righteous election all legal and all.

Gore won the election. That's a documented fact. You should remember it.

[obliviously]

55. Good for Al

I hope he finds release of his second chakra!

[greytdemocrat]

59. Ha!

I bet he donated a ton of money.

[Marrah_G]

57. Al- Hop on a truck with some food and supplies and start delivering

If I can, you can! I'm serious, btw. We need the one percent who support OWS to join the protest, send supplies, spend some of their stash for the good of the people.

[AverageJoe90]

62. Hey thanks, Mr. Gore! =) nt

[BlueIris]

66. Hi, President Gore, I'm glad you chimed in.

Hopefully it shames others into expressing similar sentiment.

[Rex]

70. We miss you Mr. President.

What could have been...

[Romulox]

71. NAFTA hollowed out Michigan's middle class, Al. When will Current TV cover THAT subject?

:hi:

[Uncle Joe]

77. The American Automobile industry hollowed itself out when it developed amnesia after Reagen

came to power.

The oil shock of the 1970s was all but forgotten, their product was intricately tied to cheap oil, the Japanese didn't forget, so their industry ate Detroit's lunch as U.S. automakers went back to building inefficient tanks again, small fuel efficient cars were all but abandoned.

:hi:

[Romulox]

79. That's simply revisionist history. US autos were making record profits in the late 90s.

Just make stuff up much? :hi:

[Uncle Joe]

80. You didn't address the 80s and apparently from your post, they were making record profits while

the Clinton Administration was in power and NAFTA had been in effect since the early 1990s.:hi:

Isn't that kind of ironic and could that possibly support my point of Cheney/Bush misrule being a major adverse dynamic for eight years?:shrug:

[Romulox]

83. Right. Because Gore advocated job-obliterating free trade when he was Veep. In the 90s.

After which we lost hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Slick you ain't. :hi:

[Uncle Joe]

86. You still never mentioned the 80s when Reagen and Bush the lesser were in power,

and apparently you're giving Cheney/Bush's impact a free pass as well, now who is being slick?:hi:

The 80s and very early 90s is when the greatest job loss occurred in the industrial sector after NAFTA was passed, that number dropped.

[Romulox]

88. Al Gore is responsible for Al Gore's political blunders. "But George Bush!" isn't going to work. nt

[Uncle Joe]

91. So Reagan, Cheney and both Bushes get a free pass from you, their terms of power and effect

never existed, it must be nice living in that alternate reality.

As I stated up-thread, a treaty with Mexico was critical for the U.S. to adapt to a changing world, so NAFTA in and of itself wasn't a political blunder, substance and context are everything.

[Romulox]

92. Nope. But none of those guys were the point man for NAFTA. Gore was.

I expect Republicans to betray working people. It really is devastating when the likes of Clinton/Gore/Obama attack my community's economic well-being!

[Uncle Joe]

95. As I stated above Gore took out free trade monopolist Ross Perot.

The American Automobile industry did not adapt to the reality of being overdependent to cheap oil and the Japanese took advantage by producing quality, fuel efficient vehicles, that's what hurt Detroit more than anything.

I mean good lord, if anything long lines of people waiting for fuel in the 70s and the exploding cost of gasoline should have been a wake up call, that the world was changing and the U.S. needed to adapt.

[Romulox]

98. I don't think destroying Michigan was an acceptable price for that.

You are again launching into revisionism, btw. The auto industry had record profits as late as the turn of the century.

NAFTA has devastated the Rust belt. And, as I said, upthread, you are indeed defending this outcome.

[Uncle Joe]

100. That's not revisionism, that's just history.

Furthermore I'm not defending the outcome, I'm defending Gore's role in the initiation, and I'm taking context and substance into account, the trade agreement was important but it should have been passed or not passed by Congress as a treaty.

NAFTA wasn't perfect but it could have been much better had the Congress treated it as a treaty and the coup of 2000 not occurred, that's just reality as I see it.

[AngryAmish]

90. Does anyone realize Al Gore RUNS A FUCKING HEDGE FUND?

If you don't like Wall Street don't be Wall Street. Jeez.

[deaniac21]

96. He got out in front of this one!

[Uncle Joe]

102. About four or five years ago.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/searchresults.html?q=gore+civil+disobendience&sitesearch=democraticunderground.com&sa=Search&domains=democraticunderground.com&client=pub-7805397860504090&forid=1&ie=ISO-8859-1&oe=ISO-8859-1&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A11&hl=en

Also if you haven't seen Keith Olbermann's rock the world call on Aug 1st you might check it out as well.

Edit to add link to Olbermann's commentary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndkRgj6j-Pg

[deaniac21]

105. Kiefh is always out front!