Great LTTE in Washington Post : If Al Gore Had Won

[sinkingfeeling]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/28/AR2007022801878.html

The key line in the Feb. 25 front-page article "Al Gore, Rock Star" was the one by Democratic Party consultant Matt Bennett: "Look, this guy was a visionary. He was right about everything, even the stuff he was ridiculed for." The Internet, a Social Security lockbox, tax incentives for solar photovoltaic systems, using the surplus (remember when we had federal budget surpluses?) to reduce debt instead of giving it to millionaires, staying focused on al-Qaeda, building relations with the world, continuing good-faith engagement in Israel. The list goes on and on.

Republicans used to say, "Can you imagine what it would be like if Gore had become president?" The answer is yes. None of the colossal mistakes of the past six years would have occurred under Mr. Gore. Most would not have happened under any Democratic leader.


BRANDON BITTNER

Royersford, Pa.

[yardwork]

1. That is true

The Rethuglicans knew it was true then, which is why they smeared Gore and then, when he won anyway, stole the election.

[wakeme2008]

2. Would there have been a 9-11

Gore was part of the study what was wrong with airport security. Also he would have listened to Richard Clark.

So 9-11 may have never happened in the first place.

[blm]

9. Gore would have READ the HartRudman Report on Global Terror given him on Jan 30, 2001

and worked to it implement its urgent proposals for homeland security measures.

Most certainly a 9-11 wouldn't have happened.

[Norquist Nemesis]

23. We'll never know for sure, but it's certainly LESS likely

given that the Clinton administration put its focus on AQ and OBL. Bushetals threw anything that had a whiff of Bill Clinton on it to the trash heap and set it on fire. Big mistake.

[mzmolly]

3. I've always considered Gore a visionary.

"Tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum" my backside.

[glitch]

8. Indeed. Really opened my eyes about that guy. nt

[mzmolly]

11. You'd think he'd want to hide under a rock or something?

But noooooooooo, he's considering another "run." :eyes:

[glitch]

14. I don't think he even gets how wrong he was even now. Very arrogant. nt

[Tuesday_Morning]

4. If Al Gore were President

video from Saturday Night Live:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/posts/2006/05/14/snl-if-al-gore-were-president/

President Al Gore: "Good evening, my fellow Americans. In 2000 when you overwhelmingly made the decision to elect me as your 43rd president, I knew the road ahead would be difficult. We have accomplished so much yet challenges lie ahead.

In the last 6 years we have been able to stop global warming. No one could have predicted the negative results of this. Glaciers that once were melting are now on the attack. As you know, these renegade glaciers have already captured parts of upper Michigan and northern Maine, but I assure you: we will not let the glaciers win.

Right now, in the 2nd week of May 2006, we are facing perhaps the worst gas crisis in history. We have way too much gasoline. Gas is down to $0.19 a gallon and the oil companies are hurting. I know that I am partly to blame by insisting that cars run on trash.

<snip> more

[Uncle Joe]

7. That was my favorite all time Saturday Night Live Skit

It left me :rofl: and :cry: at the same time over what might have been, and thanks to the O.P. for the thread.

[Tuesday_Morning]

13. I agree

bittersweet and brilliant.

[Martin Eden]

18. Thanks for that video!!!

That sketch and the one where Jesse Jackson reads Green Eggs and Ham are two of my all-time favorites.:bounce:

[grasswire]

5. Is the subject of this thread yours, or the actual headline?

Because Al Gore DID win, you know.

[sinkingfeeling]

10. It's the Washington Post's.

[Straight Shooter]

6. I think Democratic leaders tend to be more prescient than Repubs anyway.

I think Dems tend to be forward thinking, which allows them to consider possibilities, both positive and negative, of all actions, and how the consequences of actions affect everyone, not just themselves.

I believe it is this ability which is the foundation of visionary thinking.

Dems are very good at imagining and promoting actions linked with hope and protection; Repubs are very good at imagining and promoting actions linked with fear and retaliation.

This is why Gore would have had one-on-one meetings with all heads of intelligence agencies, ferreting out the information which would have stopped the terrorists before they ever got this far. bush has such a "bring 'em on" attitude that he thinks the chip on his shoulder was enough to stop al Qaeda.

[unpossibles]

12. it's hard for them to be prescient when they are always lamenting over a bygone era

that never really existed.

I actually had a freeper-type tell me that things were better back in 1906 (I think was the date) because we had no taxes and no debt, neither of which is really true anyway, but what else do you expect?

I replied that things were better if you did not have cholera. Or if you were not black. Or a woman. Or Italian. or poor. or a child. or a laborer.

well, you get the point - he flamed me for "playing the race card"...

[zbdent]

15. Hope he liked the survival rate

wasn't the common cold commonly fatal back then?

Hope he doesn't have to have life-saving surgery ... I don't recall too many doctors making house calls now for what they paid then ...

[zbdent]

16. 12/12/2000 - Supreme Court awards Presidency to Al Gore

12/13/2000 - Civil War declared by Republicrites who demand that the illegally installed President-Elect be run from the country, and Sandra Day O'Conner be hung from the nearest tree ...

9/11/2001 ... millions of people sit mesmerized at the images on the cable news networks ... the crawl at the bottom of the screen say "Day 272 of the American second civil war" ... images of a barricaded White House with soldiers around it ... somewhere, little-known terrorist Osama bin Laden chuckles as he sees the carnage laid waste to the US by the religious right teaming up with the NRA and their "2nd Amendment guaranteed" shoulder-filed rocket launchers ...

[donkeyotay]

22. That's probably about the truth of it, too. There's never been a group of people

so fiercely loyal to being wrong, but they get big style points for their dedication. They took cultural war on the left very seriously, and did it with treasonous gusto.

[July]

17. Al warned us about upcoming Supreme Court appointments, too.

I wonder who would have been Attorney General in a Gore administration, too.

[Blue State Blues]

19. WaPost needs to fix that headline

Al Gore DID win ... everything but the 5 to 4 Supreme vote.

[malaise]

20. Great letter indeed

Run Al run!

[Kerrytravelers]

21. Woo-Hoo!

:woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause: :woohoo: :applause:

[KharmaTrain]

24. Being a Progressive Is Being A Visionary...

It's not an easy life. In my field, I've worked to be an innovator...going against the "establishment" and have predicted with accuracy of what was going to happen for the past 25 years. For many years, I tried to get "peer approval" and work within the system...constantly being ignored and ridiculed. I stopped listening and just started doing...went on my own and, while it required dumpster dives and living in rags for several years, I was no longer dependent on an industry that was hellbent on destryoing itself under its own hubris and greed (which I saw coming and is happening now), and began working on the future...now with the creative and financial independence. A decade ago, I got involved with the development of Internet Radio and today, I'm working on some very exciting things that we hope will result in returning radio to local voices and empowering more voices and artists to work with and help in the development of this medium. While conventional radio is sucking under massive debt, satellite radio drifts over the economic abyss and "HD Radio" was dead on arrival, the future of Internet radio looks very bright. Many who laughed at me 10 years ago are either sitting on the outs or are sending me resumes.

Thus I can fully relate to President Gore and really admire his vision and focus. It's one thing to make a prediction, it's another to follow through. He's almost too good to be President (I said ALMOST) as so much of what he sees and thinks requires others to share the same vision...and there's no way that can happen in the Beltway.

I look back to those dark days following during the 2000 "recount" and someone sent me this:



It's been sitting on my office wall..framed right next to this DU classic:



We have come a long way in the past couple years, but the road ahead will be tougher, longer and require more focus. Many here are impatient for results (and I can't blame you), but just think of the hole many of us Liberals and Progressives have had to dig out of and thanks to the blogosphere, we have found our voices and common cause. While the 80s may have spawned the "Conservative Movement", the 00's will be remembered for the rise of the Liberal and Progressive movements...and thanks to the boooosh regime, we stand on the dawn of a new and brighter era. The only ones stopping that from happening are ourselves...looking at our own divisions rather than keeping focused on our common interests and the enemies who have destroyed this country and still continue to pollute its national identity.

We were right in 2000, we were right in 2002, we were right in 2004, we were right in 2006...and we're still batting 1.0000.

Cheers to all who have kept the faith...and to DU for giving us a haven in the darkest of times...now let's move forward and never look back.

:toast: