Texans for Truth move over. Tennessee for Truth is in town..;-)
Posted : February 26, 2007 at 4:11 pm [America/Los_Angeles]
If I had asked folks less than a week ago (let alone yesterday) about the “The Tennessee Center For Policy Research”, chances are the answer would be, “Nope, No idea”. And yet, the day after Al Gore wins an award for his movie, in true Swift Boating style that the extreme wing of the Republican Party seem to have mastered, we will soon all now know about them. If you don’t, shame on you for not reading the “Drudge Report” today. Anyways, here’s the press report from this otherwise unknown Research Group. If you want to know more about how the Swift Boating game is being played, read the diary titled “Drudge Attacks Gore Over Utility Bills” at Daily Kos.
In any case, here’s what Richard Cohen from Washington Post had to say about Al Gore in his article titled “Al Gore’s Second Act”:
Now, somebody ought to make a movie about Al Gore. I would call it “An Uncomplaining Life.”
The movie would be about a man who did not quit, who came off the canvas after a painfully close election — he won the popular vote, after all — who accepted defeat graciously and tried to unite the nation, who returned to the consuming passion of his earlier days, the environment…. This may or may not be a stepping stone to the presidency, but Gore gives us all a lesson on how to live one’s life….
Gore would not have taken the United States to war in Iraq. He would have finished the job in Afghanistan — it was al-Qaeda and its Taliban enablers who were responsible for the attacks on us on Sept. 11, 2001, not Saddam Hussein, no matter how vile he might have been. Gore would not have dealt with the Iranians and the North Koreans in such a juvenile fashion — axis of evil, after all — and all over the world, wherever you and I went, we would not detect such anger toward America….
Jimmy Carter said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that he thought Gore ought to run and had told Gore so insistently. “He almost told me the last time I called, ‘Don’t call me anymore,’ ” Carter said. What Gore told me was something similar: “I think there are other ways to serve.”
We’ll see. After all, Gore — the son of a senator himself — was raised for the presidency. But for the moment at least, he is showing all the irritating signs of a man at peace with himself. He abandoned Washington for Nashville…. and he has set out to show that there is life after a failed candidacy, a purposeful life in which a man can do some good. His movie and his speeches are — to paraphrase what Clausewitz said about war — a continuation of politics by other means. He cannot make war but he can still make a difference…. With an Oscar in his fist and triumph on his face, Al Gore is a man you can tell your kid about. That, maybe, is even better than being president.
I may not agree with Al Gore on many things. Heck, I may not even agree that his movie was the Best Documentary for the year. However, I will give the man credit for being able to do so much despite what must have been a very difficult last seven years (since 2000) for him and his family. Simply put, he has done a good job of putting forth an argument that we as a nation and as citizens of this beautiful Blue Planet ought to think about Global Warming. What’s the worst that can happen if Americans rally around the message (not necessarily the messenger) - we may find that we reduced our carbon footprint only to find that the threat of Global Warming was not as great as Mr. Gore and many of the scientists in the world today would have us believe. Bummer, yes, but as far as I am concerned, no harm would have been done. Now, what’s the best thing that could happen if we did take this threat seriously - Americans use their immense creativity and imagination and solve their dependence on oil and natural gas, or atleast significantly reduce it only to then find out that in turn they helped the world avoid a major catastrophe.
Whichever way you look at it, the message brought to the frontpage news by this man is worth paying attention to. Again, I repeat - the message is an important one, even if you can’t find it within you to appreciate the efforts of the messenger. Bottomline, I just see no point in shooting the messenger. It’s ridiculous and downright pathetic, to say the least 
- Anand
Category: US Presidential Elections 2008 |
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