The Truth Can Be Boring

One thing I - and many others - have never understood is why Al Gore did not stand and fight after being robbed of the 2000 election. Did he think it unwise to take on the Supreme Court? Did his own party desert him? Was he afraid of riots in the streets and a schism that could irreparably damage the USA's political, economical and even social status quo? It has never been explained. I hope one day it will.

Yesterday Gore gave a long speech (it would have made Fidel Castro proud) in which he very lucidly set out the problems with the Bush administration. The speech also makes it clear that Gore, who let us remember won the majority of votes in 2000, would have made an excellent President. As Gore says, "the challenges America faces are often quite complex and require rigorous sustained disciplined analysis" - this speech is all that and more.

Gore disagrees with those who dismiss Bush as an idiot or a religious fanatic:

Most of the problems President Bush has caused for this country stemmed not from his belief in God but his belief in the infallibility of the right-wing Republican ideology that exalts the interest of the wealthy, and of large corporations over and above the interests of the American people. It is love of power for its own sake that is the original sin of this presidency.

The surprising current dominance of American politics by right- wing politicians whose core beliefs are usually wildly at odds with the opinions of the majority of Americans is a dominance that has resulted from the careful building of a coalition of interest groups that have little in common with each other besides a desire for power that can be devoted to the achievement of a narrow agenda.

Gore comes very close to calling the Bush administration Fascists, but presumably holds off because there is still one final impediment to full-fledged Fascism - the November 2 election.

Bush's ideology involves ducking accountability for his mistakes. He has neutralized accountability by the Congress by intimidating the Republican leadership and transforming the Republican majority into a true rubber stamp, unlike any that has ever existed in American history. He has appointed right-wing judges who have helped to insulate him from accountability in the courts. And if he wins again, he will likely get to appoint up to four Supreme Court justices. He has ducked accountability from the press with his obsessive secrecy and refusal to conduct the public's business openly. So there is now only one center of power left in our Constitution and in our country capable of at long last holding George W. Bush accountable, and it is you, the voters.

The Smirking Chimp has the full text of Gore's speech.

Will this insightful speech recieve the attention it deserves at this crucial stage of the 2004 elections? In a word, NO.

Long before Howard Dean was effectively branded A Dangerous Hot-head, Al Gore was branded Boring. It's a tag he may be able to shake off if he continues resisting the political conventions of polite party politics.