Tread lightly on the things of earth

2003-08-07: I am hugely impressed by the MoveOn.org speech Former Vice President Al Gore gave today at New York University about the current state of U.S. national and international affairs, and how we got here (transcript, RealPlayer video).

It’s articulate, insightful, diplomatic (as in forcibly direct and truthful, but not mean), and simultaneously gently self-deprecating. Highly recommended.

BTW, if you’re inclined to diss Gore, remember that a majority of us voted for him. Respecting Gore’s ideas does not make you a “leftist loony”; rather, it identifies you as a reasonable, fair, open-minded human being, of whom there are many.

The Bush Administration routinely shows disrespect for that whole basic [truth-finding] process, and I think it’s partly because they feel as if they already know the truth and aren’t very curious to learn about any facts that might contradict it. They and the members of groups that belong to their ideological coalition are true believers in each other’s agendas. …

Here is the pattern that I see: the President’s mishandling of and selective use of the best evidence available on the threat posed by Iraq is pretty much the same as the way he intentionally distorted the best available evidence on climate change, and rejected the best available evidence on the threat posed to America’s economy by his tax and budget proposals.

In each case, the President seems to have been pursuing policies chosen in advance of the facts — policies designed to benefit friends and supporters — and has used tactics that deprived the American people of any opportunity to effectively subject his arguments to the kind of informed scrutiny that is essential in our system of checks and balances. …

In reality, to be compassionate [as in “compassionate conservatism”] is meaningless, if compassion is limited to the mere awareness of the suffering of others. The test of compassion is action. What the administration offers with one hand is the rhetoric of compassion; what it takes away with the other hand are the financial resources necessary to make compassion something more than an empty and fading impression.

(Italics mine.)

And in a tour de force wrapup, Gore reminds me exactly what I want for this country:

I believe that we must stand for a future in which the United States will again be feared only by its enemies; in which our country will again lead the effort to create an international order based on the rule of law; a nation which upholds fundamental rights even for those it believes to be its captured enemies; a nation whose financial house is in order; a nation where the market place is kept healthy by effective government scrutiny; a country which does what is necessary to provide for the health, education, and welfare of our people; a society in which citizens of all faiths enjoy equal standing; a republic once again comfortable that its chief executive knows the limits as well as the powers of the presidency; a nation that places the highest value on facts, not ideology, as the basis for all its great debates and decisions.

I think Will Radford, writing in the MemphisForDean2004 mailing list, makes a smart observation —

I know some of the people on this board aren’t huge Gore fans, but he is a guy who really knows his stuff. Gore is in a position now where [he’s motivated by] no personal ambition; he is simply speaking out because he cares about this nation. When he speaks, we all better listen: here is an objective voice who has been there, done that, and knows what it takes to get out of this.

I’m not sure anyone knows exactly how to get us out of this, but I wager that Gore’s kind of thinking is far more likely to succeed than the tried-and-failed road we’re on. Gore’s contributions, past and future, benefit all of us. Meanwhile, of the current presidential candidates, Dean comes closest to this more effective line of seeing and thinking IMO.

Reflection: Those who would permanently sideline Clinton and Gore remind me of the Fremen in Dune who demand that Paul Muad’Dib challenge (“call out”) Naib Stilgar to fight to the death for leadership of the tribe. To them Muad’Dib says (paraphrasing), “No — we need all the experience, wisdom, leadership, and fighting skill we can get; we must not waste it.”

2003-11-09 update: Brother Al, the person a majority of voters in the United States chose to be the President of the United States, makes another great MoveOn speech, available in audio, video, text, and photos here.

2004-05-27 update: Al makes another fiery speech, “linking the Abu Ghraib prison abuses to deep flaws in President Bush’s Iraq policy and calling for the resignation of 6 members of the Bush Administration team responsible for the failed policy and abuse of prisoners in Iraq” (transcript, C-SPAN video, more).

2004-06-24 update: Yet another, this one delivered at the Georgetown University Law Center, text here.