What a Way to Begin a Morning!

Gore and Big Dog Clinton saving 2 young women reporters sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in North Korea. What a fairy tale ending to what I'm sure was a nightmare for the women. And it was brought together by Al Gore!

AL GORE!!!

He just came out on stage at the Netroots Conference! I immediately teared up. I wanted to be there but decided on other travel plans this summer. He is so wonderful. I want his vision to prevail. I was so happy to see Pelosi supporting his iniative.

I Found a Soul Sister!

Melissa over at Shakespear Sister has a great post titled "Sometimes...":

I just close my eyes and pretend that the media still plays a useful role in the republic, the Democrats are a genuine and effective opposite party, our government isn't being sold piecemeal to corporations, our elections are fair, we've got universal healthcare, and Al Gore is really our president.

And sometimes I just close my eyes and pretend I'm making out with Al Gore.

But mostly the president thing.

Has she been peeking in my diary??

Al Gore Again

Al Gore will be interviewed by Lesley Stahl on CBS's 60 minutes this
Sunday, March, 30th, at 7 pm Eastern time. The subject is global
warming, but Stahl apparently does ask Gore some questions regarding his
thoughts about what happened in 2000 and his role as a superdelegate in the
2008 race.

Be still my beating heart!

. . . sigh . . .

Wednesday, Mar. 26, 2008
Is Al Gore the Answer?
By Joe Klein

Unlike Barack Obama, Bill Clinton does not believe in "the fierce urgency of now." The former President has an exquisitely languid sense of how political time unfurls. He understands that those moments the political community, especially the media, considers urgent usually aren't. He has seen his own election and re-election—and completing his second term—pronounced "impossible" and lived to tell the tale. He remembers that in spring 1992 he had pretty much won the Democratic nomination but was considered a dead man walking, running third behind Bush the Elder and Ross Perot. He knows that April is the silly season in presidential politics, the moment when candidates involved in a bruising primary battle seem weakest and bloodied, as both Hillary Clinton and Obama do now. It's the moment when pundits demand action—"Drop out, Hillary!"—and propound foolish theories. And so I'm rather embarrassed to admit that I'm slouching toward, well, a theory: if this race continues to slide downhill, the answer to the Democratic Party's dilemma may turn out to be Al Gore.

This April promises to be crueler than most. The two campaigns have started attacking each other with chainsaws, while the Republican John McCain is moving ahead in some national polls. At this point, Clinton can only win the nomination ugly: by superdelegates abandoning Obama and turning to her, in droves—not impossible, but not very likely either. Even if Clinton did overtake Obama, it would be very difficult for her to win the presidency: African Americans would never forgive her for "stealing" the nomination. They would simply stay home in November, as would the Obamista youth. (Although the former President is probably thinking: Yeah, but John McCain is a flagrantly flawed candidate too—I'd accept even a corrupted nomination and take my chances.)

Which is not to say that Clinton's candidacy is entirely without purpose now that she is pursuing a Republican-style race gambit, questioning Obama's 20-year relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah "God damn America" Wright. Democrats will soon learn how damaging that relationship might be in a general election. They'll also see if Obama has the gumption to bounce back, work hard—not just arena rallies for college kids but roundtables for the grizzled and unemployed in American Legion halls—and change the minds that have turned against him. The main reason superdelegates have not yet rallied round Obama is that the party is collectively holding its breath, waiting to see how he performs in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Indiana.

He will probably do well enough to secure the nomination. But what if he tanks? What if he can't buy a white working-class vote? What if he loses all three states badly and continues to lose after that? I'd guess that the Democratic Party would still give him the nomination rather than turn to Clinton. But no one would be very happy—and a year that should have been an easy Democratic victory, given the state of the economy and the unpopularity of the incumbent, might slip away.

Which brings us back to Al Gore. Pish-tosh, you say, and you're probably right. But let's play a little. Let's say the elders of the Democratic Party decide, when the primaries end, that neither Obama nor Clinton is viable. Let's also assume—and this may be a real stretch—that such elders are strong and smart enough to act. All they'd have to do would be to convince a significant fraction of their superdelegate friends, maybe fewer than 100, to announce that they were taking a pass on the first ballot at the Denver convention, which would deny the 2,025 votes necessary to Obama or Clinton. What if they then approached Gore and asked him to be the nominee, for the good of the party—and suggested that he take Obama as his running mate? Of course, Obama would have to be a party to the deal and bring his 1,900 or so delegates along.

I played out that scenario with about a dozen prominent Democrats recently, from various sectors of the party, including both Obama and Clinton partisans. Most said it was extremely unlikely ... and a pretty interesting idea. A prominent fund raiser told me, "Gore-Obama is the ticket a lot of people wanted in the first place." A congressional Democrat told me, "This could be our way out of a mess." Others suggested Gore was painfully aware of his limitations as a candidate. "I don't know that he'd be interested, even if you handed it to him," said a Gore friend. Chances are, no one will hand it to him. The Democratic Party would have to be monumentally desperate come June. And yet ... is this scenario any more preposterous than the one that gave John McCain the Republican nomination? Yes, it's silly season. But this has been an exceptionally "silly" year.

My heart is a flutter with hope!

Gore to the Rescue??

Now they're just playing with me!

Al Gore to the Rescue?
Friday, February 15, 2008 3:38 PM
By Andrew Romano
Stumper's Take: He foresaw global warming. He "took the initiative" on the Internet. And he knew exactly how Iraq would turn out. Who's to say that Al Gore hasn't known all along that the Democratic race would descend into some weird state of gridlock--and that only he, the Goracle, could rescue the party from civil war? Read on for the what if's...


By Eleanor Clift

Al Gore on the second ballot: A scenario that a few weeks ago seemed preposterous is beginning to look plausible to some nervous Democrats looking for a way out of the deadlock between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It goes like this: We love them both, but neither is a sure bet when it comes to electability. It's not about gender and race, each has more mundane vulnerabilities. Hillary's negatives will drive white men to John McCain; Obama's inexperience will require a gut check on the part of voters. What if the super delegates decide not to decide, denying either candidate the requisite number of delegates to secure the party's nomination. Democrats want to win. The new rallying cry: Gore on the second ballot.

Advertisement
The last time a political convention went to a second ballot was 1952, but this is a year with so many twists and turns that nothing is impossible. Gore would be tempted on so many levels. He would only have to endure two months of campaigning, not long enough for voters to remember what they didn't like about him eight years ago. Gore has sat out the primary process, refusing to offer even so much as a hint of where his sentiments lie. Years of playing second-fiddle to Hillary in the White House no doubt precluded his endorsement for her. Surely he would happily take Obama as his running mate, ending the Clinton dynasty and positioning the Democrats for a potential 16-year reign at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. A Gore-Obama ticket would be unstoppable, the thinking goes, matching the presumptive Republican nominee, McCain, on national security and experience, while embodying a powerful message of change.

The Gore second-ballot scenario isn't being seriously considered by Democratic Party leaders (as far as we know). But a number of individual high-profile Democrats are talking about it, along with any number of other ideas to end the seemingly intractable stalemate.

How could this unfold? Superdelegates are not bound to any candidate. They can do what they want, including changing their mind or withholding an endorsement until the balloting begins. Delegates won in the primaries go to the party's convention with a signed pledge of support for a particular candidate, but one of the biggest myths of the delegate selection process, according to a Democratic National Committee document, is that delegates are bound to follow that pledge on the first ballot. A delegate is asked to "in good conscience reflect the sentiments of those who elected them," a provision designed in part to make the convention a deliberative body. If Hillary's attempts to secure the nomination are seen as illegitimate, and they fail, yet Obama is not seen as a clear victor, Gore's name could be introduced. All it would take is a delegate perhaps from Tennessee, his home state, to raise a point of order, and with backing from five other state delegations, Gore's name could be put in play as a prospective nominee.

More Great Cartoons

I guess I'm officially hooked on "A Town Called Dobson"

Town Called Dobson Does It Again!

Al Gore Has Campaign Ads

Al Gore just posted 3 videos on Current.com that smell-like-a. . . , taste-like-a . . . , walk-like-a . . . , and sound like campaign commercials. All we have to add is the "this message is approved by . . ." line and we're there!

See Health Care is a Right, Americans Deserve More Protection, and Get the Troops Home.

GAWD I Love this man! Please, please run for president!!

Left Toon Lane Does It Again!

Reuters says Gore Likely to Win Nobel

Per Reuters:

Gore, who has raised awareness with his book and Oscar-winning documentary "An Inconvenient Truth," and Canadian Inuit activist Sheila Watt-Cloutier, who has shed light on how global warming affects Arctic peoples, were nominated to share the prize by two Norwegian parliamentarians.

"I think they are likely winners this year," said Stein Toennesson, director of Oslo's International Peace Research Institute (PRIO) and a long-time Nobel Peace Prize watcher.

"It will certainly be tempting to the (Nobel) committee to have two North Americans -- one the activist that personifies the struggle against climate change, raising awareness, and the other who represents some of the victims of climate change."

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, agreed the award committee could establish the link between peace and the environment.

"I think the whole issue of climate change and the environment will come at some point and reflect in the prize," Egeland told reporters last week.

Yeah!!

What Will Hillary's $5,000 Buy?

Hillary wants to give every new baby $5,000 -- She calls it a "Baby Bond" awww isn't that cute?!! -- Why you ask? She says:

"I like the idea of giving every baby born in America a $5,000 account that will grow over time," said Clinton, "so when that young person turns 18 if they have finished high school they will be able to access it to go to college or maybe they will be able to put that down payment on their first home, or go into business."

$5,000 earning 7% annually for 18 years through the magic of compound interest will equal $17,563 when the kid is ready for college -- not enough for even a year in college at today's rates (assumes no inflation). Or assuming a 20% down payment -- they'll be able to afford a $87,800 home. Good luck finding that!

So the question is: What will $5,000 buy? I guess Hillary is hoping it buys a vote. Will the suckers line up for it?

(PLEEEEZE Al! Please run for President!)

Check Out A Town Called Dobson

There's a guy that has a cartoon blog and occassionally he does one in support of our guy Al Gore. Here's a sample:








Check him out at http://www.towncalleddobson.com/

Vanity Fair is Fair to Gore

Vanity Fair has the story of the media's shameful role in knocking Al Gore down in the 2000 election.

They do a great re-cap of the co-conspirators that gave pushed the lies and myth George Bush while minimizing Al Gore -- Frank Rich, Lou Dobbs, Elaine Povich, Ceci Connolly, Chris Matthews, Margaret Carlson, Brian Williams, Howard Fineman, Katie Couric, Frank Bruni, Katharine Seelye, and Maureen Dowd all have blood on their hands.

Read it here: Vanity Fair

My Review of Yearly Kos

I had a great time at Yearly Kos this year. Here are some of my personal favorite hits and misses.

Hits (not necessarily in priority order)

1. John Soltz’s introduction of Wesley Clark. He spoke of how we should try to always be generous and gracious to everyone because we never know what burdens they are carrying and how everyone is carrying burdens. He shared is story how people had been kind to him and helped him with his burdens – one person who helped him was General Wesley Clark.
2. Howard Dean. He’s so inspirational and really demonstrates leadership. It made me sad that he didn’t win in 2004 but we’re so lucky to have leading the DNC.
3. The Pacific Northwest Caucus. It was great to meet my neighboring bloggers and two great Congressional candidates from our area: Darcy Burner and George Fearing.
4. The unofficial “Smokers Caucus”. We met all day, every day outside while we smoked and had great conversations.
5. The unofficial “Draft Gore Breakout”: We met at the hotel bar Friday and quite a crowd gathered. The support for Gore was incredible throughout the conference.
6. The “Left Behind by the Right” panel. Each speaker had inspiring stories and each reminded us in their own way that we are not the lunatic fringe but instead what used to be called mainstream – the Right went fanatical. It also reminded me that compromise should never be a tactic for us. They’ll just keep moving the goal posts.
7. John Edwards. He really connected with us in his breakout. He was relaxed, candid, wasn’t afraid to defend the couple of unpopular positions he had, and we really responded!
8. The Teamsters’ Bar-B-Q. Yummy! And I loved chatting with the union folks.
9. Andy Stern. Another great forward thinking leader.
10. The employees of the Convention Center. They were so helpful and nice.
11. The “Live Blogging the Libby Trial” panel. They gave us real behind the scenes glimpses.

Misses

1. The women comedians. Why do women comics have to go so crude? The men were funny and entertaining but the women were offensive.
2. The reason the Congressional guests didn’t show. I was disappointed that Pelosi, Emanuel, Reid, and Schumer didn’t show but I was angry about the reason. FISA amendments should never be rushed -- they should be deliberated and carefully considered. We supported them during the last election with a mandate of change, not capitulation.
3. There was too much to do! I wanted to see all the Brave New Films and do all the DFA Workshops. I wish I could have attended more events. Maybe we need more days.

It was inpirational and I had a great time!

Good Gore Cartoon

By Bob Englehart, The Hartford Courant

Great Article By A Draft Gore Supporter

Marta Jorgensen, co-regional director of AlGore.org (AGO), has an opinion piece published in the Santa Barbara Independent today:

The People’s President
Support the Draft Al Gore For President Movement
By Marta Jorgensen, co-regional director of AlGore.org (AGO), Southwest chapter.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

“In my heart, I do believe that democracy was harmed by my network and others on November 7, 2000.”

— Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News Network, February 14, 2001. (How to Steal an Election, David W. Moore)

Most of us remember painfully well the 2000 election. But some of us aren’t content to let it be simply a painful memory.

In 2002, a dedicated group of individuals who had been involved with Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign set up a Web site called gore04.org and organized a rally in Nashville, Tennessee. Gore told them to stop. He wasn’t into it. In the middle of 2006, the group got it rolling again, teaming up with AlGore.org (AGO) and working with other sites such as draftgore.com, meetup.com, and algoresupportcenter.com. To date, the combined Draft Gore Movement has collected 120,000-plus signatures urging Gore to run. And this time Gore hasn’t told us to cut it out.

The Draft Gore Movement is a labor of love on the part of its rapidly growing membership. Members and organizers do not have deep pockets, but use their own resources and intelligence to try to accomplish what mainstream political parties accomplish with their special-interest money and media spin doctors. They intend to place his name on the primary state ballots and put in place a voting base. Just in case …

Why all this effort? Why not support one of the Democratic candidates who has officially thrown his or her hat in the ring? To put it bluntly, none of them come close to Gore. He has established relationships with numerous world leaders, is well-liked internationally, and is not in anyone’s pocket.

Given the Bush administration’s unprecedented expansion of the unitary executive and sweeping constitutional changes, our next presidency may mean the difference between preserving our constitution and the principles upon which this country was founded, and losing them forever. Gore put it best himself in his 2006 speech, “Restoring the Rule of Law”: “If the pattern of practice begun by this administration is not challenged, it may well become a permanent part of the American system. Many conservatives have pointed out that granting unchecked power to this president means that the next president will have unchecked power as well. And the next president may be someone whose values and belief you do not trust.” The Clintons were involved in various breaches of constitutional law while in office, including allegations that Hillary’s brothers received large sums of money in exchange for requesting (and obtaining) presidential pardons. Both John Edwards and Barack Obama are too inexperienced to adeptly lead America out of its current constitutional and diplomatic crisis.

Gore would make the climate crisis the number one issue for 2008, a necessary agenda no candidate from either party has adopted. By unifying world powers in pursuit of the goal to save our planet, Gore would restore America’s standing in the world, thereby changing the global dialogue on other geopolitical crises as well. If elected president, Gore would: eliminate all payroll taxes and replace that revenue with pollution taxes, principally on CO2; help negotiate a stronger second-generation Kyoto Treaty; create an “Electranet,” a smart electricity grid that would allow individuals and businesses to buy and sell electricity, forcing them to monitor their own consumption; and promote profitable alternative energy business models. Gore is also committed to ending the war in Iraq, which goes hand in hand with reducing our dependence on oil.

In The Assault on Reason, Gore stated, “Many Americans now feel that our government is unresponsive and that no one in a position of power listens to or cares what they think. They feel disconnected from democracy. They feel that one vote makes no difference, and that they, as individuals, now have no practical means of participating in America’s self-government.” Gore is well connected with the citizenry, even engaging in citizens’ Web blog discussions from time to time. As president, he would restore public participation in politics.

Gore has stated that he can accomplish his goals as a private citizen, without getting caught up in the political game. But that can only go so far. Real change in governance must come from the executive. The goal of the Draft Gore Movement is to show him that the people want him to run, and that he has enough popular support to win. According to a recent 7NEWS / Suffolk University poll, 32 percent of Democratic voters would support Gore over the candidate toward which they are currently leaning.

That’s why the Draft Gore effort is becoming so insistent and vocal. Members have shown up at all of The Assault on Reason book-signings. In Los Angeles recently, the “Gore People” were in full force, handing out Gore ’08 buttons, signs, and gear to the 2,000 attendees. Gore said he was “flabbergasted” by the level of organization.

Supporting the Draft Gore Movement is the most logical and moral path to take. It’s real democracy in action. Since 2000, a sizable part of the nation has grown from its pain, is less naïve, and more politically active and vocal, thanks to the Internet. Gore has also grown from his pain, as a man and as a leader. He would be the People’s President. It’s high time the nation and the leader shook hands.

4•1•1Visit AlGore.org to get involved.

Al Gore Has Article in NY Times

The opinion piece in on global warming and he states:

But individual action will also have to shape and drive government action. Here Americans have a special responsibility. Throughout most of our short history, the United States and the American people have provided moral leadership for the world. Establishing the Bill of Rights, framing democracy in the Constitution, defeating fascism in World War II, toppling Communism and landing on the moon — all were the result of American leadership.

Once again, Americans must come together and direct our government to take on a global challenge. American leadership is a precondition for success.

To this end, we should demand that the United States join an international treaty within the next two years that cuts global warming pollution by 90 percent in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy Earth.

If we ONLY had a president that would lead us!

Yee-Haaa!!

The Taipei Times is reporting this today:

ENVIRONMENT
Al Gore visit postponed
Former US vice president Al Gore will not be able to make it to Taiwan this September to address the issue of global warming, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said yesterday. Tien, who invited Gore to visit Taiwan to promote awareness on global warming, told reporters yesterday that she received an e-mail from the Harry Walker Agency, which has the exclusive right to arrange Gore's speeches, saying that Gore had canceled all his scheduled events in the next six months. The visit to Taiwan had been postponed to next year, she added. Tien said the reason for the cancelation was that Gore was considering a presidential bid.

First Round is on me!!!

Sweet Home Gore-Obama

This is so good! It cames from Air America's Young Turks and the Take Back America Conference (yes, the same one that boo'ed Hillary)