Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Big Al
Al Gore's appearance on Fresh Air today had its interest. I hadn't heard him in awhile. He has been getting press based on his speeches about the dangers of global warming and the movie Larry David's wife made to showcase the issue through those speeches.
Terry Gross, playing, as expected, the enthralled acolyte, didn't press Gore in ways that might have been helpful for the listeners in assessing the man. Although Gross described Gore as “more lively” in his public presentations, he sounded sanctimonious, unctuous, weary with things in a smug way — he sounded like he was sucking a lozenge.
I felt the election was stolen from Gore. I thought he got a bad shake. It wasn't our finest hour. After the election Gore seemed to lose it with shrill demagoguery, something that diminished him, and diminished the natural empathy you have for someone who was robbed. (It was really the country that was robbed.)
Gore is obviously correct about global warming — there isn't much question that corporate governance of the nation has led to exploitation on many levels. And that is what we have now, corporate USA. It has its good sides — look at the great products from Apple. But it has its bad sides. Look at the lack of active government oversight of corporations that sell products that sometimes don't work — right now there is a thread at Macintouch about Toshiba's dubious support for its hard-drives. No doubt Gore's presence on the Apple board has had something to do with Apple's new Green awareness.
Whether Gore will run still seems open. He certainly would have a better chance than The Hilary. Why can't the Dems find a good candidate?