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government--and I do, very much, think that Al Gore fills that bill--AND great citizen activism working together to save our planet and our democracy. I would be overjoyed, actually. I agree with James Hansen that we have a short window in which to save our planet's biosphere (and ourselves), and that U.S. leadership is critically needed. What I am saying is that I don't think we are going to have this combination--great leadership and great citizen activism--as the result of next year's election. I think we, the people, are on our own.
In my opinion, very retrograde leadership is going to be foisted upon us--both in the White House and Congress--leadership that is essentially no different than the leadership we have now. The President--likely Hillary--will have a phony "liberal" veneer, but policies of corporate resource war, gas gouging, credit card usury, job off-shoring, global corporate piracy ("free trade"--and its vast, highly polluting tanker traffic), health care profiteering, logging of ours and the world's last forests, more pollution, ineffective action on global warming (remember B. Clinton's position on Kyoto?), and ripping up the Constitution, will CONTINUE. And we may have a 'Democratic' Congress in name only, like we do now, but nothing is going to change.
I think that is the MOST realistic guess as to what is going to happen. Why do you think they put the rigged voting machine system in place? To let it lie fallow, while we elect a revolutionary environmental leader as president--someone who adamantly opposes their corporate resource war; someone who passionately opposes key policies of that war, such as torturing prisoners; someone who won't pander to oil corporations and other global corporate predators; someone who WILL convert this country to alternative energy as quickly as possible, as well as implementing other radical plans that are going to totally shake up "things as they are"?
Not likely. Our Corporate Rulers have things locked up, at the federal level. THEY now control election outcomes, not just with massive amounts of money, and with a total monopoly over our TV/radio PUBLIC airwaves, but ALSO with extremely riggable and non-transparent voting machines!
What reasons do you have that make you think that they will NOT use the capabilities they have to rig our elections? Do you understand what has been done to our vote counting system? It has been made totally non-transparent, and is now run on "TRADE SECRET," PROPRIETARY programming code, owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations. Three fascist corporations (Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia) now have DIRECT, SECRET control of election outcomes, all over the country. This highly non-transparent system was fast-tracked into place, during the 2002 to 2004 period, for the PURPOSE of preventing the American people from electing the leadership it wants and needs.
What have you to say to this? How do you expect Gore to BE elected? They kept him out of office the first time by SETTING UP the "hanging chad" fracas (deliberately, with malice aforethought--see Dan Rather's "The Trouble With Touchscreens," at www.HD.net), then buying the Supreme Court to stop the vote counting. They kept Bush/Cheney IN office, in 2004, by installing this direct, secret riggability. They WILL continue in this vein. There is no reason to think otherwise.
All I'm saying is that this is a REALISTIC assessment of the situation. It may be a factor in what appears to be Gore's decision not to run, although I think NOT further politicizing the global warming issue may be the critical factor for him. By politicizing, I mean, a) a knockdown dragout with Hillary and the Clinton corporate/DLC/money machine, that would further embitter an already bitter relationship (Gore, the Clintons), and b) a knockdown dragout with the rightwing/fascist Bushite machine, in the general election. If Gore were to lose--that is, if the election theft machines were to deny him the Presidency, once again--where would global warming stand, as an issue of critical importance? It would be tainted with bitterness and partisanship--and even with civil war.
Of course, global warming is politicized already--mostly because rightwing extremists in the Republican Party and the Corporate news monopolies are shilling for the Corporate Rulers, and are promoting irrational "denial." And, of course, the issue has a political aspect to it, since legislation will be needed, and since C02 pollution is inherent in our economy. It will be a struggle with big corporations and their bought and paid for politicians, and propaganda media, to get anything done. I think you are misunderstanding my use of the word "politicization." What I mean is its overly close identification with one person--a candidate--or one party, so that nothing can be done, if that person or party loses elections (whether truly, or by theft).
Several things can occur that can possibly change my prediction. One is that Gore runs and the American people outvote the machines. I DO think that is POSSIBLE--such an overwhelming vote that it simply blows the rigged voting machines out of the water. There is significant evidence that the machines have to be pre-programmed--it's not so easy for them to implement changes in percentages for switching or 'disappearing' votes on the day of the election. So a big blowout vote could throw their calculations off. And they have to be careful not to be too obvious, so as to preserve the riggable system for future uses.
Also, there is more vigilance over elections now than there was in 2004. But several things have happened in RESPONSE to that increased vigilance. One is that rigging of the elections occurs at an earlier stage of the elections, in the primaries, where true representatives of the people (for instance, antiwar candidates in 2006) are eliminated, and even before that, in the use of big money and corporate media to drive good candidates out of the race, before any voting occurs. One form of rigging in 2006 was the promotion of "Blue Dog" Democrats, whose positions differ very little from Bush's. Thus, people who voted for a Democrat to stop the war, for instance, often ended up with a congressional representative who is voting FOR the war. In short, they don't have to rig THOSE elections. These "Blue Dog" Democrats will keep the war and the corporate looting on track. They can then concentrate their electronic rigging capability on re-electing Bushite criminals and minimizing any leftist gains, and shape the OVERALL numbers in Congress, to prevent change and reform. We, the People, are more vigilant, but they, the Corporate Rulers, are not stupid--are, in fact, quite clever in their diabolical methods of control--and are very powerful, and adaptable.
Another thing that has occurred is that the corporate media exit pollster (Edison-Mitosky) got so burned by the controversy around their exit polls in 2004 that they have changed their policies and the exit polls will no longer be useful for verifying elections. In 2004, the real exit polls showed a Kerry win; they then DOCTORED their exit polls to force them to FIT the results of Diebold/ES&S's "trade secret" vote counting formulae (Bush won). But some alert statistical experts and bloggers took screen shots of the exit polls before they were changed, and established that the exit polls were doctored in impossible ways. Bush could not have won, and did not win, that election. Edison-Mitofsky vowed never to let their real exit polls get onscreen again. That information will be suppressed. So, unless the Democratic Party or independent entities conduct their OWN exit polls, there will be no way to verify the results of the 'TRADE SECRET' vote counting. They can steal it from Gore--and from good congressional candidates--and we will be unable to prove it.
I may be wrong about Gore's intention to run. I'm just trying to be REALISTIC about it. No, he hasn't said he won't run. But, yes, his window of opportunity to run for President is getting very short. In addition to the outright vote rigging, the system is rigged in many other ways. Once a candidate locks up sufficient first round votes at the convention--by running in (rigged) primaries--it is extremely difficult to deny that candidate the nomination. Unusual circumstances would have to arise (say, a very bitterly divided convention--with Gore coming in as a unity candidate). Then there's the money. Yes, an outside-the-system candidate COULD conceivably get the nomination--in rare circumstances--without raising zillions of dollars--say, with a massive citizen movement behind him. But we're talking very long odds. If Gore doesn't enter the primaries, and isn't raising funds, he has almost no chance to win the nomination. And it would be another unusual circumstance--and not very likely at all--for Gore to run as an Independent, outside the Democratic Party, and win. And if he DOESN'T win, what has he done to the global warming issue? He has steeped it in bitter reprisals.
If the primaries are NOT rigged for Hillary (and that is very unlikely, in my opinion--I think she's the global corporate predators' "made" candidate), and if unrigged primaries produce a mixed result, with no clear winner, or with Hillary in a very shaky position, THAT circumstance could prompt a party leadership request to Gore to be a unity candidate.
And if you and others want to work to create such circumstances, I don't see anything wrong with that at all, and certainly do not oppose it. But I think it's a highly vulnerable basis for one's hopes for our democracy, and for our desire to solve global warming. We MUST prepare for a hostile, or do-nothing, or do-as-little-as-possible atmosphere in Washington DC, that is little different from today's atmosphere. Washington DC is an acid bath of corruption. The people who ARE CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING control our government, our political system and our voting machines. That is NOT going to change quickly or easily. And if all your hopes are pinned on Gore becoming president, WHAT do you do if he does NOT become president?
Gore is a smart fellow. I think he knows all of this. And I'm guessing that he won't run--that is, won't announce, raise money and enter the primaries--if Hillary remains the frontrunner. If she stumbles badly, he might enter, say, half way through the primaries, as a unity candidate. And I think he's possibly open to being a unity candidate, if certain other exigencies arise.
But, again, WHAT are you going to do if that doesn't happen? Move to Canada? Or keep on keeping on--re-building our democracy from the bottom up, and simultaneously joining with others to solve global warming, without strong political leadership in Washington?
And what I was saying, above, is maybe that's for the best. Maybe what we need is not so much a "great leader" as great grass roots organization. A great and new and different democracy IN LIEU OF great leadership. A great, vast citizen movement that, by consensus, STARTS SOLVING global warming, and THEN forces WHOEVER is in power to do the right thing, or get out of our way. Isn't that the very definition of democracy?
If you put all your hopes in Gore, and that doesn't happen, do you then succumb to depression and demoralization? It is a very serious danger, in my opinion. The people of this country--and good leftist activists in particular--have suffered serious psychological blows over the last several years. The 2000 election theft. 9/11. The war on Iraq. The "Help America Vote Act." The shredding of our Constitution. One appalling fascist policy after another. The 2004 election theft. The more devious 2006 election theft. "Impeachment is off the table." 'Democrats' endorsing and funding the war (--with 70% of the American people against it). A 'Democratic' Congress with an 11% approval rating!
How many times have we put faith in our system, and been bitterly disappointed? You have to proceed WITHOUT FAITH. Because this political system is BROKEN. It is structurally, and inherently, and rigidly opposed to change. And expecting an Al Gore candidacy for president to magically move this system, and produce a revolution, and alter our course is a lot LESS realistic than what I have described. I'm not saying it can't happen. I'm just saying: THIS time, BE PREPARED. Don't expect miracles. Don't expect it to work. Chances are it will NOT work. THEN what?
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