In discussing the failure of the various components of the American body politic --except for a fringe-- to respond to the rise of a lawless, tyrannical presidency in the way our Founders intended, I further lamented that in America today, the words of the Awakened Fringe tend to be heard only by those who are already outraged and mobilized. Meanwhile, the people at large and the mainstream press and the people in Congress who have been passive or complicit in this assault on our system tune us out. How do we get beyond "preaching to the choir"?
In the piece below --in the form of an open letter-- I propose one quite feasible and plausible way for the vital message about the truth of our historical moment in America to be delivered in a way that will command the attention, however begrudging and resistant, of those major components of America that need to stand up and fight for the soul of our country.
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NOW IS THE TIME TO COME TO THE AID OF YOUR COUNTRY
I understand, Al Gore, there could be plenty of reasons why you wouldn't want to run for president. But your country needs you. It needs for you to use your present stature and moral authority to save us from our present downward course.
You don't have to run for president to do it.
I understand that you've made climate change your number one priority. But that's a long-term mission, and in the short-term there's nothing that you could do to bolster our civilization's ability to respond appropriately to the challenge of climate change than to help repair our grievously injured constitutional democracy. It will do no good for the world if its leading nation --and dominant economy-- is still being dominated by the forces unleashed upon us by this Bush administration.
So if you are not going to run for the presidency, the alternative is for you to provide America --now, before that election-- with the kind of moral leadership that transcends partisan politics.
The first step toward doing that is to make that Shermanesque statement you've thus far refrained from doing: Go beyond "I have no plans to run" to "I will not run for president in 2008; if elected I will not serve."
This will take you a large step upwards out of partisan fray. So also will your willingness to note that the Democrats in Congress are among those components of the American body politic that have failed thus far to play the role our Founders intended in the face of a lawless presidency like the one now in power.
When these steps are combined with the moral authority you've gained through your recent work and recent honors, you will have elevated your voice to a level that will command America's attention.
We sorely need it. And as perhaps no one else in America is in a position to speak about these things with such authority, it might fairly be said that you have an obligation to provide it.
How can you not speak out, Al, with the nation so seriously imperiled? How can you hold yourself back, Al, with the people still insufficently awake to the danger, with the media not trumpeting this huge story of the assault not just on reason but on the cherished idea of "the rule of law," and with the political system acting as if these were normal times? How can you not don the mantle and speak the bold truth to the country when you are uniquely qualified to command the attention and respect the role requires?
If you're willing to do this --for your country, out of your sense of duty, as a patriot-- here are some thoughts about what it is that needs doing and how to go about it.
GUT CHECK AND PREPARATIONS
First, the essence of the job is to tell the country what it needs to hear about this regime, and what they and the forces behind them are doing to our country and its revered system of government. You've already said important things on this subject, for example in your book THE ASSAULT ON REASON.
Andrew Bard Schmookler's website www.nonesoblind.org is devoted to understanding the roots of America's present moral crisis and the means by which the urgent challenge of this dangerous moment can be met. Dr. Schmookler is also the author of such books as The Parable of the Tribes: The Problem of Power in Social Evolution (SUNY Press) and Debating the Good Society: A Quest to Bridge America's Moral Divide (M.I.T. Press). He also conducts regular talk-radio conversations in both red and blue states.
I really like this idea. There can be no denying that we desperately need a catalyst in the Democratic party who will provide a clear direction prior to the presidential election. I would definitely prefer that Al Gore run, but I fear that he would be taking on the Clintons (in a very personal way) as well as the entire Republican party. Fact is though, I really don't doubt that he would win. He's a powerful guy who knows what is important.
by
Crystal Purcell (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 47 comments)
on Monday, October 29, 2007 at 10:36:13 PM
What a well spoken letter and how fundamental it is. Al Gore has been the one and only true voice of reason during these dark times for the Anti-Bush supporters. It seems as though everywhere we turn there is more and more corruption and Mr. Gore has been our "beacon of light" if you will. We do need him and the fact that he will not run, I have to agree is I am sure due to the fact that Hillary is running. I hope she asks him to be part of her cabinet if she wins.
Also Mr. Schmookler, please contact Al Gore with your article if you have not already. He needs to know.
Sincerely,
Kristi Shepherd
by
Melinda Banks (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Monday, October 29, 2007 at 10:50:30 PM
Thank you, Melinda Banks, for your kind and encouraging word.
I will do what I can to get this into the right hands, but I also ask you --and anyone else who feels as you do-- to take on the job as well.
The world is surely a much bigger place than readily shows that anything we small people do influences its course. But as we saw in Florida in 2000, small things can --at certain junctures-- have huge consequences.
It is with such possibilities as persuading a potentially impactful person to truly lead that labors such as ours here on the Awakened Fringe has the greatest chance of nudging history in one direction, rather than another.
It is in that spirit that I welcome any efforts you --or anyone else here-- might make to get this letter into hands where it might actually lead to consequential action.
by
Andrew Bard Schmookler (314 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 146 comments)
on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 12:22:07 AM
Not just the lone voice in Sep 2002 against our Iraq Attack, but health care, overreaching powers and our Constitituional crisis.
Unlike in his 2000 Campaign when he was supporting a Universal Health Care, in 2002 Al Gore stated he has" come to the decision we now need a Single Payer Health Care".
And in Jan 2006 he gave that stiring speech on our Constitutional Crisis and the Overreaching Powers by the Executive Branch.
Here, I have a few videos for you.
His full speech at Constitution Hall in Jan 2006 A. And 3 videos clearly stating his position on three important policy issues. B. 1. health care 2. The War in Iraq 3. And restoring our Rights.
Constitution Hall Full speech, video Jan 16, 2006
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LindaSFNM (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 11 comments)
on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 2:58:29 PM
It is true that Gore has given some fine speeches, but the very examples that you gave --from MORE THAN A YEAR AGO-- give some indication of where things seem to be heading. Which is NOT to a run for the presidency.
Gore's book, THE ASSAULT ON REASON, is a powerful polemic against the BUshites. But when he appeared on TV interviews to discuss that book last spring, he seemed to go out of his way to AVOID representing his argument as a real confrontation against the Bushites.
In those interviews, too, his manner and tone had shifted from the strong talks of a year before. In those talks, he had shown a new power. He was coming from a place that he'd seemed unable to speak from in 2000. But in the interviews, he sounded like the old Gore.
It was that earlier presentation, and his deep and accessible communication in his film AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH that led me to write at least a half dozen pieces saying that Gore was quite possible a man who could and should become president, who could turn the crisis of this time into a time of positive transformation just the way FDR once turned the crisis of the early 1930s into a time for America to leap forward, in a way that is not possible except in times of crisis.
But his change in manner, and his failure to keep speaking up as he did almost two years ago, have led me to conclude that he doesn't want to run.
(In addition, with Hillary Clinton pulling away from the pack, and with Democratic voters apparently satisfied with their choices --according to what they tell the pollsters, unlike what Republican voters have been saying in their polls-- it would seem that Gore has missed his moment of opportunity, even if he thought of it as an opportunity, which, as I said, I doubt.)
But if his reticence has to do with not wanting to run for the presidency, and isn't about simply staying out of the ugly business of American politics, the course of action I'm proposing MIGHT allow him to reach back into that new personal power he showed back in those earlier talks, and once again step forward.
But the kind of stepping forward I have in mind isn't just more of the same. Even his earlier talks were not a sustained prophetic declaration of the criminal nature of this regime and of resolve to denounce this unAmerican regime until the American people and the Congress fully repudiate the regime and the dark forces behind it.
by
Andrew Bard Schmookler (314 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 146 comments)
on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 4:34:45 PM
I think you have missed some important information
that would point you in a different direction.
Those 3 policy videos were not filmed long ago, they were filmed only 2 weeks ago.
And, the voters are only leaning towards Hillary as a no other choice. When given a choice, even with Mr. Gore not being a declared candidate, he comes out ahead of Hillary in all the polls I've seen when asked "if Mr. Gore was running, who would you vote for". Iowa, Idaho, New Hampshire, Michigan. And, CBS just showed, in a NATIONAL POLL, Al Gore within 5 pts of Hillary...5 pts. 32/35...all others in the teens or single digits.
When the punditry give their talking points and claim a majority of Democrats are "satisfied", wha a push poll to begin with, the numbers show a different story and when 1/3 of your base is NOT satisfied, that's still a huge amount of voters. The pundits also aren't sharing with you the entire picture. When they give you their poll numbers in places like Iowa (mass released)..they don't share with you all the news, like 2/3 of the Iowa voters are undecided....that doesn't sound like things are locked up to me.
Sometimes people are in such a state of panic on the position we see ourselves, they look to a Leader, as Al Gore, and expect a bit too much. He is not a miracle worker. Let's just think about all that he has done and accomplished from this speech he gave last January that you complan was over a year ago. Mr. Gore finalized a movie after that. He toured promoting a movie An Inconvenient Truth and then continued his efforts to bring about awareness and how to solve the crisis, meeting with Leaders around the world. Then he has continued his work on our Democracy, turning a new television network, current tv into a wide received and GIVING shared informaiton network. Then he released a booked this Summer to disucss the attack on our rights and our democracy with his Assault on Reason. Then he held a world wide Concert, Live Earth, for our Climate in Crisis....in...the Save Our Selves campaign. Doing all this he managed to squeeze in a childrens version of his book, An Inconvenient Truth and has continued training and giving his slide show Presdentation. And this isn't enough, let alone being all done in private life, for you?
Be the change you wants. As Al Gore does clearly state in his book, he is asking to rebuild our democracy and for citizen activism to bring about the change we need. Please, add your voice and show we know we deserve the best to be in the Oval Office to make the agenda and policy to solve the many crisis we face.
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LindaSFNM (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 11 comments)
on Wednesday, October 31, 2007 at 8:40:41 AM
I already sent him a letter, so did my daughter and her boyfriend. We really need a change in the way our government is run. I think Gore is the only answer.
by
beccy (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 87 comments)
on Tuesday, October 30, 2007 at 7:39:08 PM
9 comments
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