Al Gore and the Alternative Universe

This morning, Al Gore was supposed to be on at 10:00 on TV. I'm certain he was on TV, but our TV station chose to run a fundraising marathon, thus I am forced to turn back to the Net and read interviews of him.

There was one posted from Fresh Air. Terry Gross asked Gore if he was considering another run. Here was his answer:

GROSS: Is there any chance that you would run for the presidency again?

Vice Pres. GORE: I don't see any chance. I'm not thinking about that, not planning it, don't expect it. I have said that when pressed on this question as I'm sure you're about to press me, that I haven't reached a point in my life where I'm willing to say never again will I ever consider such a thing for the rest of my life. But that is more a function of internal gear shifting, not an effort to be coy and keep the door open to it.

Well, there you have it folks. I think Gore is likely to run, and he will be the main challenger to JRE, if he decides to run.

I had to agree with his comments regarding the Administration since he left office:

GROSS: Did you imagine that that much change would even be possible?

Vice Pres. GORE: No. No. I did not. And I'm not alone in that. You know, the premise of that "Saturday Night Live" skit was the existence of an alternate universe and there are people who sort of voluntarily say now it feels as if we've entered an alternative universe. I would not have imagined, for example, that Americans could be routinely torturing helpless captives in the name of the American people and to continue it day after day. It's going on right now without an ongoing outrage and the demand that it stop. I would not have imagined that the government could routinely eavesdrop on tens of millions of Americans without a warrant and not have an ongoing outrage. I would not have imagined that we, the American people, would tolerate the locking up by the executive branch of American citizens without right to trial, without right to inform their families, to be held in secret, without being charged. These are offenses against the Constitution and the rule of law that I would never have imagined could take place, much less be allowed to continue after they came to light. So, yeah, the degree of change is truly shocking to me.

And about George Bush:

GROSS: You got to see George W. Bush close-up when he was your opponent for the presidency. What surprises you most about how the Bush presidency has turned out?

Vice Pres. GORE: I guess what surprises me most is his incuriosity. That's a real mystery to me because he's clearly a smart man. He has a different kind of intelligence, as everybody does. There's so many varieties of intelligence. He's clearly a smart man, but it is a puzzle that he would ask no questions about important matters. When his first secretary of the Treasury came in for their first meeting and spoke for an hour about economic policies of the new administration, he asked not a single question. When he received the briefing in August of 2001 that Osama bin Laden was planning a major attack soon, you know, on the United States, he did not ask a single question. When he was briefed several days before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and the weather service people were saying it may mark a return to medieval conditions, he asked not a single question. And that same incuriosity seems to be a factor when he just accepts hook, line and sinker the ExxonMobil view that global warming is not a problem, in no way related to the massive volumes of pollution we're putting into the Earth's atmosphere every hour of every day.

When they tell him that the scientific community is wrong and that they're just lying because they're greedy for more research dollars, he doesn't apparently look under the rug. He doesn't ask questions. And in the American system, the president of the United States is the only person who is charged with representing all of the people in every state in every district and looking after the welfare of the people as a whole. And if the special interest has one view, at least you should ask questions about how the public interest is affected, and I really do not know why he is so incurious.

Well said, Al. Hope your movie is a success.

Update: a song called "Wish You Were Gore". Nice parody. However, you have to stay tuned or it breaks up.