Al Gore & Inconvenient Republicans

"Having served in the White House with the Gingrich Congress, and having watched the best of intentions so often turned into small changes ballyhooed as revolutionary, sometimes having no lasting mark, I really do believe that fixing the dynamic of democracy is an urgent task." Al Gore

Just home from Atlanta and still applauding Al Gore for receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

Gore has proven to be exactly what many of us already knew -- a man of intelligence, dedication and far-reaching vision. A man of substance, gravitas and character far superior to George W. Bush in every way.

The majority of voters chose Gore in 2000. But due to our antiquated Electoral College and outrageously partisan politics, that majority wasn't heard.

A confluence of politics, media, money and Right Wingnut agendas allowed a Pretender, not a "Decider," to steal the White House. Al Gore was robbed of the presidency. By his opponent's brother. By the United States Supreme Court. By the nation's media.

Think about it. When the 2000 election came down to Florida, Governor Jeb Bush and his entire administration should have been removed immediately from the process. Everything they'd touched considered tainted.

In fact, with Jeb Bush in the Governor's mansion, impartial federal election commissioners should have overseen the Florida election in the first place.

Instead, the Bush family and their powerful conservative friends on the US Supreme Court turned this country into a despotic state by helping a candidate's brother stage manage the preferred outcome.

Television, newspapers, pundits, wags and wonks aren't off the hook either. They were so focused on each man's image, they didn't bother to investigate and report on their genuine credentials. Or credibility.

They presented Dubya as the Cool Kid and Gore as the Geek. Every media outlet and individual reporter who created and fed public ridicule of Al Gore as a helpless Geek is equally complicit. And dead wrong.

Apparently the media hadn't noticed that geeks run the world. Geeks know how to evaluate issues, set priorities and get things done.

Cool kids are too selfish, egocentric, unsympathetic and lazy to review and prioritize anything beyond their own needs, much less focus on the greater good. So anyone not in their crowd is ignored, left behind, screwed.

Which is exactly what happened under the "cool" Bush administration. The neediest among us have been ignored. The poor got poorer and the rich got obscenely richer. At any cost. Our country has been raped, pillaged and dangerously undermined by greedy, despicable, self-righteous thieves.

Freedoms, ethics, precious resources and even more precious lives have been trampled and destroyed by the "Decider" and his evil cohorts. When they took Al Gore's rightful place in the White House, they robbed America of a truly decisive leader and his potential to guide us on a very different path.

You don't have to ask what Al Gore would have done the past seven years. As a private citizen, he's already done it. He's reaping the rewards now, as well he should.

Without benefit of elected office Al Gore is giving America the benefit of his knowledge and commitment. And he's helping protect the future for our children.

While George W. Bush is killing them.

Which sums up the difference between substance and smoke.