I am appalled at the low intellectural capacity exhibited by supporters of Al Gore.  The man would be sweeping up schools if his daddy hadn’t been a Senator.  Gore looks all right when he doesn’t puff up like a frog.

The man is a stupid, privileged idiot.  He won’t run; we know too much about him.  Why don’t one of your groupies ask him about TWA 800.  He covered up this obvious terrorist attack because he knew the Clinton administration wanted to pretend it didn’t happen.  Really a great administration.  No wonder he lost in 2000.

Peppe.  First, neither Gore nor Feinstein are running for President.  The dream ticket would be Kucinich/Gravel.  Go to Kucinich.us if you are curious as to why I would say that.

Mike Mid-City

Truth beer your a joke.  Where did Jesus say get rich for my sake?  When you say things like Jesus wants you to have money your an antichrist.

Once again mike, you have misunderstood what I said..Where did I say Jesus wants us to be rich, well, I can tell you,"I didn’t say that”...I said exactly the opposite…

You keep calling me a antichrist, do you even understand what an antichrist is, I didn’t think so...You my friend are the one that is truly uninformed…

You say that God loves, and you are right, God does love his children...It is also true that God loves the sinner, but hates sin...So, someone that is living a life of sin is going against the word of God and God himself, therefore that man/woman is heading down that road of destruction...(hell)

If it makes you feel good to call me an hypocrite or a antichrist, then so be it, but know this, you are also calling the Holy Ghost the same thing, and what does it say in your bible about blasphemey against the Holy Ghost...I walk in God’s spirit,(Holy Ghost)...**"So there is no misunderstanding, I am not calling myself God"**

When you let go of your foolish pride long enough, come and see me and I will tell you, I will show you what God’s plan for us is...I will show you that we must be an obedient child unto him and his commandments or we shall perish, just like Sodom and Gomorrah…

I am not your enemy…

Unfortunately this post has become a forum for Christ nuts. Too bad there cannot be intelligent discussion about the most cogent and qualified person able to lead this country out of the crap the last six years has dealt it. That would be Al Gore.

Mike Mid-City;

Don’t feel sorry for me mike, Not only am I blessed but I am forgiven..."To Blessed to be Stressed"…

However, I am a little concerned for you...Have you been smoking crack or something? Your kind of like an old LP Album that has gotten scratched and is stuck in one place, saying the same things over and over and over...To bad your so misled…

May you have a blessed day....

books with only blank pages are called sketch books or journals.

If Al Gore did indeed publish a book with only blank pages, It would be one of the few books that Bush43 could read and understand, joining “My Pet Goat” as a Bush favorite.

Mr. Robinson has done it again. I always appreciate his articles, and this one was in fact one of the best.

HOWEVER, I don’t think Mr. Gore will enter the race, for the same reasons that have already been mentioned by other astute observers. He’s far more free to be whom he is now, than he could ever be in the political smear machine. It is next to impossible to maintain any independence of thought and spirit as a major player in the political sphere. We can tell that from some of the really ignorant comments that we read here. People who are afraid of big words, people who are afraid of intelligence. It’s easier for them to mock and ridicule what they don’t know, instead of trying to absorb a bit of the same.

So, I’m pretty sure that Al Gore does not want to go back to the frustration of having to hide his intelligence from a bunch of yahoo’s that are immediately repelled by anything they can’t understand, and that’s everything.

Besides, from a purely selfish standpoint, he could do us a lot more good by continuing to do what he’s doing now, as a private citizen. He would be totally constrained by the neo-cons if he were actually in office. We already saw that horror in 2000, and we knew at that moment, that we were gonna be in for some really bad times. I mean, that was the bloodiest Coup our nation has ever seen. Still, even I could never have imagined a worst-case scenario quite this bad. 

Anyway, just a quick flashback over the past 7 years should give us a pause for thought, (even those who are emotionally insecure about smart people), if Al Gore had taken the office when we voted him in office 7 years ago, there’s a very strong possibility that 9-11 could have been prevented, (if only because he would have actually DONE something about the intelligence that declared “bin Ladin determined to attack the U.S.”, and I’m positive there would be no war on Iraq, so that country would not have been demolished, along with countless lives of troops and civilians, and probably our gasoline would not have gone from $20.00 a barrel in 2000 to $80 a barrel now, and I’m sure our Constitution would still be in one piece, and the rest of the world wouldn’t hate us, and there might even be some semblence of a health plan, and we might even be able to educate more of our population, so that they wouldn’t be afraid of smart people.

Instead, we have an abused and oppressed society. It’s like being locked in the car with Cheney at the wheel on crack, and we’re all handcuffed in the backseat, going right over the cliff.

Mike Mid-City;

Who do you think Jesus Christ is?

When did I say the troops had mental problems, I must of missed that part....

From your picture you don’t look like much of a Christ like person, so I wouldn’t be doing to much talking about appearance if I were you...Your problem is that you don’t like truth, but you do like to run your mouth, maybe that is what your good at…

The gun that the Bear holds is the representation of the word of God...Like it says in the bible about the word of God being sharper than a two-edged sword...I simply used the gun instead of the sword:

Heb 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

To your answer about prosperity preaching:

With God all things are possible...Have you read the part about where it will be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it will be for a rich man to enter into heaven...Being wealthy isn’t always about money, being rich in the word of God,now that is truly being rich…

If you looked at my web site, how could even come up with the idea that I am the antichrist...You are either truly stupid and blind or your willingly being ignorant…

Again I ask you, who is Jesus Christ? Who is God? What is God’s name?

If you truly knew who God is and truly knew his name, you would then know that Jesus Christ was in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament…

A Warrior can fight with weapons and also with words…

I also see that you didn’t catch the part where I said Jesus was Hebrew either...I wanted to see if anyone was paying attention or not, well, I guess not...Jesus Christ, King Of The Jews....

Have a great day mike or whom ever you are

This reminds me of what Chris Tucker said not to long ago when asked if America was ready for a Black President a his reply was…
“Well they were ready for a retarded one!”

#74671 by Tom Doff on 6/01 at 4:56 pm

“If Al wants to be president, but insists on writing books, he should publish some containing only blank pages.”

Thanks for the chuckle...I agree.

JNagarya;

(1) The bible is the inspired written word of God..God’s Spirit,(the Holy Ghost moved upon the Prophets and the Apostles to writethe bible)…

But of course, you must believe and have faith that the bible is God’s word…

(2) Jesus Christ is: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

Jesus Christ (God) was a warrior in the old Testament as well as in the New Testament, and yes, He is also a God of Peace and of Love..However, if you don’t even believe that the bible is the word of God, where did you come up with the fact that God is a God of peace then?  God is also a just God and He is coming to pass judgment upon the living and the dead...The good and the evil, the rich and the poor, the sick and the healthy men/women…

(3) I never said that I hated draft dodgers, you are the one that said that I hate draft dodgers...I merely mentioned the draft dodgers because I was speaking to someone else about that subject and it wasn’t you...Do you even understand what the word hypocrite means? I didn’t think so…

(4) Jesus Christ did not compromise, Jesus came to save the world from it’s sins and to preach the gospel...You either obey the word of God and live for an eternity, or you can die in your sins, it is your choice because God will not force you to live for him…

(5) Buddhism isn’t trying to take over the world, however, Muslim religion is, which is the 2nd largest religion in the world and growing everyday...The liars out there will tell you that Muslim religion is a religion of peace, however, why do they want to dominate the world, why were they run out of Somalia?

(6) Do you understand what it is to be a Christian?  I didn’t think so....

(7) I don’t understand how you can say that we have violated any law...Somebody has got to take a stand on right and wrong in this world, and terrorism is wrong no matter what country you live in...Perhaps it wasn’t the best time to go in and take out Saddam, but were we to wait until he was able to inflict much pain on neighboring countries including our Allies, were we to wait until he was able to produce chemical warfare capabilities, I think not…

(8) I am a Christian today, I was not always a Christian, before I was a lot like you, unlearned…
Basically, you don’t have a clue what your talking about...And I will let it be known, I do not hate people, I hate the spirit that works through them, there is a difference…

Because I stand against what’s wrong in this world today, I am labeled someone who hates...Oh, and Christ was a Hebrew…

george bush is dumb, the american public is even dumberer.

SJ, you would do well to obtain and read David Brock’s “Blinded by the Right.” Once you have, if you have even a semblance of integrity, you will stop repeating the hard-right’s many falsehoods about Al Gore, most of which were made up from whole cloth.

reegarding #75007 by sj on 6/03 at 9:27 am

“This is the Guy that claimed to have invented the Intenet.”

He said, albeit somewhat clumsilly and imprecisely, that he played a leading role in Congress in financing the internet. Reagan kept cutting the National Science Foundation grant money that financed the university-level R&D;that birthed the internet we know today from the budget; Gore kept putting it back. Vint Cerf gave Gore a Webby for his efforts

“To a Union crowd he claimed his Mother used to sing the “Union Label” ditty evn thogh it was written when he was in college (busy flunking out).”

He graduated from Harvard cum laude, hardly flunking out.

“He also claimed the Movie and Book, “Love Story” was about he and Tipper”

He told a TIME reporter, Karen Tumulty, in 1997, that a 1980 Nashville Tennessean newspaper article said that, which is true. Don’t criticize Gore for accurately stating what the paper said.

“even though the Author has publicly refuted even that.”

Eric Segal said the Tennessean misquoted him and that the male lead in Love Story was a composit of Gore and his room-mate, and that Segal didn’t know Tipper, so she wasn’t a model for the female lead. But what Gore actually said, as opposed to the anti-Gore spin, was 100% accurate.

“The list goes on and on”

The list of anti-Gore distortions, half-truths and outright lies sure does.

“but it won’t matter to the Liberal True Believer. Somehow they can drink their grape Kool-Aid and ignore it all.”

Change “Liberal True Believer” to “People who can’t use a library and believe easilly demolished nonsense”.

A huge study was done a few years ago - pre-Bush and Clinton - and the two smartest presidents we had were Herbert Hoover and Jimmy Carter - both engineers.

Since neither was an exemplary president, maybe we can take intelligence out of the criteria for what makes a good president.  Not only were they very smart, they were very nice, very honest, very prudent.

Makes one wonder if there isn’t something basically wrong with the office itself, being that the best candidates should be not very smart, not very nice, not very honest and not very prudent.

Please excuse my spell checking and poor editing.  I meant NASCAR of course.  I hate the flat keyboard of my laptop, it always does something weird when I hit the CTRL key rather than the shift key by mistake.

Many issues raised here, nice to see that most of them are mentioned in a rasonable, rational manner.  I picked up a copy of the Harper’s magazine yesterday.  It contains essays by about a dozen authorities on what it will take and how long it will take to undo the incredible damage that has been done to the Constitution, environment, science, economy, etc. by the Bush administration.  It will make you cry.  I am only very mildly religious, mostly skeptical, but I have come to regard as the Antichrist.  I don’t know if he is personally evil, or just oblivious and uncaring, but the net result of his policies is pure evil.  What else can you call (or what would Christ call) giving tax breaks to millionairs while cutting aid to the needy.  I am not a socialist.  Everyone has the right to become as wealthy as their talent allows, as long as it is legal and ethical.  But it is equally or more important to create an adequate safety net for all citizens.  Once that is in place let the festivities begin.  We absolutey need Mational health care.  I am 70 and had and had a great medical plan with Boeing until my retirement two years ago.  I still have medicare, but I would have tens of thousands of dollars of out of pocket costs were it not for my military retirement medical plan, Tri-care, which also covers my wife.  On religion, I like the term Christianists, to refer to those who warp and exploit the message of Christ to feed their own bigotry and greed.  That includes Falwell, Robertson, Dobson, Haggard, Swaggart, and every beautifully coifed televangelist.  Why do they all sound like they had a mouthful of cornpone?  Why do they all act like they are having a fit?  Having been stationed in the deep south, I suspect some congenital effect brought on inbreeding, a defect that also results into a passion for NAWCAR, which to me is like watching...traffic.

Eugene Robinson is a wonderfully conscious fellow. I agree whole-heartedly with his perceptive commentary. And I agree that Al Gore is just the medicine this country needs as its leader. But if Gore is going to get into the race, then he needs to do now. The morale of the country seems to be at its lowest ebb. It needs hope for a more radiant future. It doesn’t do him credit though to bask in his current popularity one easily sees on the tv and radio shows he has visited yet he doesn’t give a glimmer of hope to those whose applause is almost unending at his appearances. He cannot be missing the passionate and sincere clues from his faithful. Although his choice for VP when he ran previously does give one cardiac pause and if he did run, he should be very careful who he chooses this time. No doubt it would be a tricky path to tread to actually get the Democratic nomination with all the covetous and rapacious candidates now in the race (both Democratic and especially Republicans). It would take unambiguous courage to run.

It’s obvious Gore has detractors from the ascerbic comments above. There is optimism, though, and it is encouraging to read the englightened and exceptionally clearheaded comments also. Robinson’s article is as articulate as it comes to spelling out what this country needs.

Doug (#74975), just for the record, the Internet was “created” by the Department of Defense through their Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA).  NASA had nothing to do with it (which is probably just as well).  The initial funding went into building the first major network, which was known as ARPAnet.  Within a matter of years, a couple of dozen networks emerged around the world, funded by both public and private money.  ARPA played a key role in funding the integration of all of those networks, and the result is what we now call the Internet.  Thus endeth the lesson.

“#74827 by truthbear on 6/02 at 11:20 am
(3 comments total)

“Bigjimbo;

“I know who Christ is because I have his word and His Word is true (And he wasn’t a queer)...You would know that if you read His word...”

How do you know it’s “His” “Word”?  “He” didn’t writeanything contained in the “bible” (a book of Jewish histroy stolen and lied about by those who hadn’t their own).  And how do you know “His” disciples were “inspired by ‘God’”?  Because they said so?  How do you know they weren’t mistaken, or lying?  Becaue they didn’t say so?

“It’s amazing how people confuse truth with hatred...You know, I also remember there being a lot of draft dodgers(cowards as you call them) in the VietNam era too, who was President then, it wasn’t Bush...”

Christ was a “peacenik”.  He would have avoided the draft also.  But I see you hate “draft dodgers”—hate being contrary to Chriti’s “word”—except when they, like Bushit and Cheney—claim to be Christians.  Then being a “draft dodger” and going AWOL—running away form one’s responsibility—is acceptable.

Can you yet say about they, and yourself, “Hypocrite!”?

“I speak out against compromisers”

Christ preached compromise.

“and workers of iniquity because that is what has ruined this once great country,”

And those who are working “iniquity” are whom?  Those who illegally invade and occupy a non-threatening country?  Yes—unless they at the same time claim to be Christian.

“. . . that is what is ruining this world…”

Unfortunately, you are unable to do math, and known nothinng about the world outside the US.  How many Buddhists are there in the world?  And what do you know about Buddhism that hasn’t been told to you by those who hate anyone not “Christian”?

How many Muslins are there in the world?  But that doesn’t matter, right?—all that matters is that you unquestioningly swallow the lies about them.

“You also have confused obsession with what is morally right...”

And you claim, on one hand, to be Christian, and on the other hate “draft dodgers” (unless they claim to be Christian) and approve war.

Can you yet say of yourself, “Hypocrite!”?

“By the way bigjimbo, I also have a child in Iraq, a child that did not run away from there responsibility...”

If he is a Christian, then he most certainly ran away from his responsibility.

Even if not a Christian, he ran away from his responsibility to not participate in, and help advance, the illegal invasion and occupation of a non-threatening country.

Can you say yet of yourself, “Hypocrite!”?

“I take my hat off to every man/woman in harms way today, they deserve to be treated with respect, and not just while they are over there, but even after they come home…”

I don’t respect anyone who violattes the law, especially when it results in killing.  I am a pacifist—as was Christ.  Even though not a Christian.  But it takes more courage to be a pacifist than to be a cowardly conformist.

“No doubt, if Christ were alive today, he would not be a Christian.”—Mark Twain.

Do you understand what Twain meant?  Look in the mirror, hypocrite.

I believe that Al Gore should run and run as himself. That is why Shrub came close enough to steal the election in 2000. Candidates who equivocate on important issues like Iraq (Hillary), ignore other issues because they are inflammatory, provide incremental solutions on Health Care rather than scrapping the current system—such candidates are not running a principled, intelligent campaign because they listen to their campaign managers and fear defeat. I believe the people would respond to the truth, to integrity, to candor. Gore listened to his campaign managers in 2000 and the Jerk got close enough to steal the election with Rove’s underhanded tricks.

jeeseuschrist!!

maybe mr. christ will comeback and save us all! oh crap, he was murdered more than 2000 years ago. i think it’s time to accept he’s not coming back and get to work fixing all the damage made by the religious zealots, who really think these are the end-times. they’ve been thinking this since the year 1000, will it take until the year 3000 for people got figure it out. if we last that long. wake up! al’s the man!

@truth bear: Believing something to be true is a far cry from it actually BEING true.  Here’s some real truth for you: you don’t actually know christ, you have absolutely no idea whether his word is true or not, and if merely believing something were enough to make it manifest, the world as we know it would be a far, far different place.  Speaking thusly, in absolutes, is a sure-fire way to make sure you’re not taken seriously by anyone with the intelligence to base their worldview on fact.

If Gore is so smart, why did he choose Joe Lieberman as his vice presidential running mate when Gore ran for president.

Even then, many people did not like Lieberman for several reasons.

If Gore would have chosen another running mate, he may have been elected president and we would have been spared the horrible results of the Bush-Cheney administration.

Americans may be ready to vote “outside the box,” but not for Gore. Americans seem to be ready for independent and third-party candidates.

Take a look at:

“A much-needed new path for 2008: Time for independent and third-party candidates to emerge, transcend and unite?”

PopulistAmerica.com
Populist Party of America
March 5, 2007

http://www.populistamerica.com/a_much_needed_new_path_ for_2008

Bigjimbo;

I know who Christ is because I have his word and His Word is true (And he wasn’t a queer)...You would know that if you read His word...It’s amazing how people confuse truth with hatred...You know, I also remember there being a lot of draft dodgers(cowards as you call them) in the VietNam era too, who was President then, it wasn’t Bush...I speak out against compromisers and workers of iniquity because that is what has ruined this once great country, that is what is ruining this world…

You also have confused obsession with what is morally right...By the way bigjimbo, I also have a child in Iraq, a child that did not run away from there responsibility...I take my hat off to every man/woman in harms way today, they deserve to be treated with respect, and not just while they are over there, but even after they come home…

Mr. Robinson should spend less time praising Mr. Gore for the books he reads and do a bit more reading for himself.  I recommend that he start with Isaiah Berlin’s THE SENSE OF REALITY and go straight to the “Political Judgement” essay.  Berlin tends to use big words and (far) longer sentences than Gore; but he makes some very challenging assertions and then leads his reader through the argumentative complexities necessary to substantiate them.  However, for those who prefer to “cut to the chase,” the bottom line in this essay is that neither rich experience in book-learning nor even the skill to engage with “expert consultants” who know even more than you do provides appropriate preparation for the kind of deciding and acting that takes place in matters of government (or, for that matter, the military).  The crux of the justification is that what Mr. Robinson calls “brainiacs” excel as generalists, while the day-to-day realities of a government or battlefield require dealing with the particular.

For a while I was trying to deal with the question of “presidential material” on my own blog; and there is a good point of departure at

http://therehearsalstudio.blogspot.com/2007/02/ahmadin ejads-discourse.html

That post includes a pointer to an earlier blog with a quote from the Berlin essay at

http://blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-Mff23hgidqmHGqbcv.lfska kEtS6qLVHUEMFUG4-?cq=1&p=40

Happy reading, Mr. Robinson!

to truthbear:  My family has been fighting and killing islamic fanatics longer than you know, starting with my grandfather who helped to liberate Khartoum in 1898 as a rifleman in Kitchener’s army. My army son is heading for a second tour in Iraq.  I am a vietnam vet.  So I know a little bit about the military and national defense.  You may notice that the bush administration is just about 100 percent draft dodging cowards.  We haven’t lost a lot of neocons in Iraq.  I don’t understand what your obsession is what other people do in privacy. Whatever it is, how does that affect you? You are obviously not a Christian, since hatred is not a part of Christ’s message, unlike the sideshow freak televangelists.  Do you know for certain that Christ was not gay or bi?  He loved everyonr.  Worry about your own lifestyle and you’ll be a happier person if you get rid of your hatred and don’t try to impose your beliefs on others.  That makes you the same as an islamic fanatic.

Bigjimbo;

Yeah, I am a Jesus Freak and I am not ashamed of it either...Sounds like your just another idiot Liberal that doesn’t know what he is talking about...It’s idiots like you that are contributing to the deterioration of this country...So, what your saying is, that you do support Queerness, and you do support killing unborn babies, and you do support Muslim religion...Will you be able to live under Muslim law bigjimbo? Oh, and by the way, Falwell is in hell today…

How can you think that poor Al is intelligent?  What a laugh.  I mean, he wanted us to believe he invented the internet.  Well, maybe he’s at least as smart as Jimmy Carter.

to lou ricks:  you obviously know nothing of evolution.Stick with your bronze age fairy tales.

How did a dumber-than-dirt jesus-freak like truthbear get on this thread?  So all our problems are due to gays and abortions?  Marks you as a redneck bigot. Go join your hero, jabba the falwell.

Eugene;

Al Gore is as dumb as a bag of rocks, not to mention that he is an idiot...Speaking big words doesn’t qualify a person to run for president…

We do not need a people pleaser, we need someone with some morals and a strong backbone...We need someone that is not going to fold under to special interest groups and do the right things while in office…

I wouldn’t waste my vote on a stupid liberal democrat...Oh Eugene, if your a democrat, Sorry-About-Your-Luck,(SAYL)....

Democrats support Homosexual lifestyles, killing unborn babies,and Muslim religion...Which will lead this country to it’s final destruction…

Brilliant article. We need a statesman, not a politician. We need Al Gore.  Gore’s book demonstrates that he is not afraid to say what he believes, rather than hiding behind some phony persona.  Gore is a man of wisdom and character.  Two elements that are essential to great leadership, and exactly the qualities distinctly lacking in president Bush.

Eugene and I seem to be on the same page (mostly). I believe Al Gore is having too much fun as an author/expert. He can also do much good in that manner- so why submit to being dragged through the mud again. Actually Al isn’t quite an expert, he makes minor mistakes in Inconvenient Truth, and his latest book. Errors true experts wouldn’t make -but he gets the big picture pretty close. His value is as a popularizer, and as someone who makes the material relevant to the average person.

I have two minor disagreements with Eugene. One: a really-really smart man often has problems not realizing what he doesn’t know. We want someone maybe 1% from the top -not .0001%. Two: unfortunately smart people aren’t trusted. Partly this is just a matter of anyone a couple of notches down being concerned that they might be hoodwinked, and not even know it.  Most politicians are actually pretty smart, but they have learned how to talk like ordinary people because they just know that otherwise they will need to get a new career.

Excellent article!  We have already experienced the power of dumb, of not being confused by the facts, and the value of loyalty over talent, of politics over policy.  In other words, we are living through the madness of King George. What I will never understand is why the Congress became lap dogs to this delusional, rotten, and incompetent administration.