Al Gore Speaks

[BFrank]

NY Times
May 26, 2004
Gore Calls for Rumsfeld and Rice to Resign
By TERENCE NEILAN

In a scathing attack on what he termed the White House's failed policies in Iraq, Al Gore called today for the resignation of six members of the Bush administration. "We cannot afford to further increase the risk to our country with more blunders by this team," he said.

President Bush, Mr. Gore said, has brought the United States humiliation in the eyes of the world, not the "humility" he had promised. In the process, Mr. Bush "has built a durable reputation as the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon," the former vice president said.

Two days after Mr. Bush sought to reassure Americans, Iraqis and other nations that his policies are bringing self-rule to Iraq, Mr. Gore delivered the first of what could be a one-two Democratic rebuttal. Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, the presumptive Democratic nominee, is scheduled to deliver an address on terrorism, the military and Iraq at 10 a.m. Pacific time Thursday in Seattle.

Mr. Gore, who was edged out in the 2000 presidential election against Mr. Bush, took the occasion in his address today at New York University to praise Mr. Kerry.

"Our nation's best interest lies in having a new president who can turn a new page, sweep clean with a new broom," Mr. Gore said, "and take office on January 20 of next year with the ability to make a fresh assessment of exactly what our nation's strategic position is as of the time the reins of power are finally wrested from the group of incompetents that created this catastrophe."

In a wide-ranging speech, Mr. Gore also spoke of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, which he said was not the work "of a few bad apples," as the nation had been assured by Mr. Bush. The incidents, he said, had caused damage not only to America's strategic interests but "also to America's spirit."

The first official that Mr. Gore demanded should step down was Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

"The nation is especially at risk every single day that Rumsfeld remains as secretary of defense," Mr. Gore declared.

The president's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, should also quit immediately for badly mishandling the coordination of national security policy, Mr. Gore said.

Others on his list were George J. Tenet, the director of national intelligence, and Mr. Rumsfeld's deputies, Paul Wolfowitz and Douglas J. Feith, and his intelligence chief, Stephen Cambone.

The Bush national security team is "endangering the lives of our soldiers, and sharply increasing the danger faced by American citizens everywhere in the world, including here at home," Mr. Gore insisted.

"They are enraging hundreds of millions of people and embittering an entire generation of anti-Americans whose rage is already near the boiling point."

Using words like betrayal, arrogance and abhorrent throughout his address, Mr. Gore said the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners flowed directly from the policies of the Bush White House, and that the fears of the country after 9/11 had been "exploited and fanned" by the president.

From the moment Mr. Bush took over at the White House he sought to destroy the foreign policy consensus that had guided the United States since the end of World War II, Mr. Gore said. This meant that America could ignore international law and take military action against any nation, "even in circumstances where there was no imminent threat," he said, an obvious reference to Iraq.

On Abu Ghraib, he said, "The abhorrent acts in the prison were a direct consequence of the culture of impunity encouraged, authorized and instituted by Bush and Rumsfeld in their statements that the Geneva Conventions did not apply.

"The apparent war crimes that took place were the logical, inevitable outcome of policies and statements from the administration."

President Bush offered a brief and half-hearted apology to the Arab world for the abuse, Mr. Gore said, but he should apologize to the American people for abandoning the Geneva Conventions.

"He also owes an apology to the U.S. Army for cavalierly sending them into harm's way while ignoring the best advice of their commanders."

He added: "Perhaps most importantly of all, he should apologize to all those men and women throughout our world who have held the ideal of the United States of America as a shining goal, to inspire their hopeful efforts to bring about justice under a rule of law in their own lands."

[jesus marion joseph]

Originally Posted by BFrank

President Bush, Mr. Gore said, has brought the United States humiliation in the eyes of the world, not the "humility" he had promised. In the process, Mr. Bush "has built a durable reputation as the most dishonest president since Richard Nixon," the former vice president said.

That really hurts, coming from a guy who described Bill Clinton as "the greatest president fo the 2oth century". Haw.

[GoodSpeak]

Originally Posted by jesus marion joseph

That really hurts, coming from a guy who described Bill Clinton as "the greatest president fo the 2oth century". Haw.

And your evidence to the contrary would be...a blow job?


Time to move on, my friend.

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by GoodSpeak

Time to move on, my friend.

Moveon.org-asm, Gore style.

Yech!

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

Moveon.org-asm, Gore style.

Yech!

Gore should vanish, for the sake of the Democratic Party. I trace Howard Dean's downfall to Gore's support for him.

[Monte Smith]

Originally Posted by crawjo

Gore should vanish, for the sake of the Democratic Party. I trace Howard Dean's downfall to Gore's support for him.

No way. Dean did hisself in with his own brand of cah-ray-zee. That Iowa concession speech was one for the books.

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

No way. Dean did hisself in with his own brand of cah-ray-zee. That Iowa concession speech was one for the books.

Awww, c'mon Monte, how could you not love our beloved lipless wonder?

[crawjo]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

No way. Dean did hisself in with his own brand of cah-ray-zee. That Iowa concession speech was one for the books.

But it was a concession speech. He was already falling by then.

Actually, readin this tirade of Gore's is absolutely worthless without hearing it. His evil growl kicked into overdrive many times during this one.

This man was born to be a Southern Baptist minister.

[chuckyd4]

Originally Posted by Monte Smith

Moveon.org-asm, Gore style.

When I used to canvass for this political organization, we would refer to attractive women that answered the doorbell as "doorgasms"... hey, we were all poor and usually drunk, so don't blame me if it's not that funny.

And has anybody ever wanted to see Gore get excited by something since the infamous face-smashing with Tipper?

[patricia]

I kept thinking that if Gore had shown a little of that spunk when he was running against Dubbya, he might have had more people pissed that his election was hijacked in 2000. Too soon older, too late smarter.

[jesus marion joseph]

Al Gore has always struck me as a real nice guy who is just stiffer than a triple-starched collar. Truthfully, he's probably exactly the kind of guy you'd want as a neighbor, but there's just no charisma whatsoever. Even less than W., and that's saying something.

[patricia]

Originally Posted by jesus marion joseph

Al Gore has always struck me as a real nice guy who is just stiffer than a triple-starched collar. Truthfully, he's probably exactly the kind of guy you'd want as a neighbor, but there's just no charisma whatsoever. Even less than W., and that's saying something.

Exactly what I always thought. I was always struck by his niceness, coupled with a kind of natural reserve which seemed to preclude any kind of spontaneous expression. That shouldn't matter, since you and I are not likely to have him and his lovely wife, Tipper over for a barbeque. But, for some reason, people want to "like" their President. The elections seem to be more popularity contests than choosing a leader after conducting actual examination of his/her abilities as a potential leader.
Whether Bush is likeable or not, he has, I think, borne out my assessment that he was world-culturally unsophistocated and didn't care that he was, and is. That, I think, has been his undoing, along with delegating almost all the fact-finding to associates and underlings.
Of course, the upside is that Mr Bush can truthfully say that he had nothing to do with the mistakes which were made, but that can't possibly be reassuring to the electorate.
I think that Al Gore was much more in tune with the differences and difficulties of trying to assess other countries' political situation, using the American model. He seemed to realize, where Bush doesn't seem to, that there is no One Size Fits All Democracy model, particularly when applied to the Middle East.

[Rob C]

Originally Posted by BFrank

Using words like betrayal, arrogance and abhorrent throughout his address, Mr. Gore said the abuses of the Iraqi prisoners flowed directly from the policies of the Bush White House, and that the fears of the country after 9/11 had been "exploited and fanned" by the president.

Don't forget the word "incompetent"--that showed up more than a couple of times.

I didn't hear this speech, but I read the whole thing and I thought it was pretty remarkable. Strong stuff for a guy I had previously dismissed as a "typical politician". I think losing has freed up Gore to abandon compromise and follow his conscience--scoff if you will, usual suspects--and in the past year or so he's become kind of heroic, I think. No one else of his political stature is saying these things, and I'm glad he is.

You guys have made some persuasive rebuttals in this thread, though, I have to admit.

[Al in NYC]

Gore, who was certainly not a favorite of mine as a politician, is absolutely right here. These people need to be held accountable for the horrifying mess they've created, and the least they can do is leave office. I only wish Kerry himself (or anyone else of consequence in the Democratic Party) would have the guts to say the same things.

Incidentally, I found the response of Jim Dyke, the Communications Director of the Republican National Committee, quite interesting:

“Al Gore served as Vice President of this country for eight years. During that time, Osama Bin Laden declared war on the United States five times and terrorists killed US citizens on at least four different occasions including the first bombing of the World Trade Center, the attacks on Khobar Towers, our embassies in East Africa, and the USS Cole.

Al Gore’s attacks on the President today demonstrate that he either does not understand the threat of global terror, or he has amnesia."

It is amazing the degree to which they are still trying to conflate the threat from Al Qaeda and like terrorists (which Gore did not address) with Saddam Hussein and our invasion of Iraq (which is what Gore was talking about). Of course their heedless, unprovoked, ill-conceived, and ridiculously under-planned invasion has diverted resouces from the fight against these terrorists, and has actually created more fertile ground for the growth of terrorism and the recruitment of terrorists, but never mind all that -- by calling them out on Iraq Al Gore is soft on terrorism!!

The big lie marches on...

[BFrank]

It constantly amazes me that the main criticism of Al Gore is that he's "stiff" and not "likeable". We might as well elect Kelsey Grammar president, then. What's the difference? He's likeable, right?

[patricia]

Originally Posted by BFrank

It constantly amazes me that the main criticism of Al Gore is that he's "stiff" and not "likeable". We might as well elect Kelsey Grammar president, then. What's the difference? He's likeable, right?

As I keep saying, this isn't your future son-in-law, or your next-door-neighbour you're electing. You are electing your representative to the rest of the world. Holy Doodle!!!! How many of you have tipped back a few beers with George W, in the last few years??? How many of you expect to do so??
So, what does it matter if you like the President?? He's the President, not a potential neighbour or beer-drinkin' buddy!!!

[Rob C]

Originally Posted by BFrank

It constantly amazes me that the main criticism of Al Gore is that he's "stiff" and not "likeable". We might as well elect Kelsey Grammar president, then. What's the difference? He's likeable, right?

This morning, it seems the new meme is that he's crazy. Well, I'm glad he's speaking for all us crazies out here....

[Darryl G. Thomas]

I've always said if I wanted to party I would've loved to hang with the pre-born again Bush. Imagine having a homeboy who was rich and liked to get high and drunk? I'd never would have gotten out of my 30s.

What kills me about Bush is that his lack of intellectual curiosity was considered a plus. He wasn't a "pointy-headed" policy wonk. We wanted an "average joe" in the White House. Of course not too many average joes have an ex-President for a father and a degree from Yale and is a millionaire.

As some one else said, I wish Gore had shown this much passion back in 2000. Maybe he's finally getting pissed about being ripped off.

[Uli]

Originally Posted by Al in NYC

It is amazing the degree to which they are still trying to conflate the threat from Al Qaeda and like terrorists (which Gore did not address) with Saddam Hussein and our invasion of Iraq (which is what Gore was talking about). Of course their heedless, unprovoked, ill-conceived, and ridiculously under-planned invasion has diverted resouces from the fight against these terrorists, and has actually created more fertile ground for the growth of terrorism and the recruitment of terrorists, but never mind all that -- by calling them out on Iraq Al Gore is soft on terrorism!!

Even the argument that it's better to fight them there than here completely underestimates the global capacity of these guys. granted the little money spent on improving homeland security and airplane security, some personal losses in their organisation etc etc may have slowed them down. Now that we have given them the opportunity to bug us down in Irak for a couple of years, time is working on their side. Eventually they will find a way to blow something up in the US.

[graypencil]

Say what you will, but I feel the more the Democrats bring up the "competancy " issue ( Now that thankfully Nancy Pelosi had the stones to say it out loud ) and the complete lack ( or capacity for )intellectual curiousity shown by DUBBya, the more it might begin to fianlly stick ..

Who the hell wants a guy as their commander in chief who brags about not reading anything?

one of the silliest responses to the Gore attack I heard yesterday was some GOP wonk stating that " Bush has so much more foreign policy experience than Kerry "...

well,maybe so .

.if alienating practically the entire civilized world with his cocky "with us or agin us " bullshit, crapping on the Kyoto treaty as "bad science" ( like HE'D know ) qualifies as the above"experience" ...

[lynn]

Nobody says a word when the Bush attack dogs are let loose, but the minute Gore stands up, of course he is insane and unpatriotic.

It's time to bite back.

[BFrank]

Actually, Gore has given a few passionate speaches over the past year or so. Mostly associated with MoveOn.org.

[Darryl G. Thomas]

g.p.,

What kills me when I hear statements about Bush's experience (compared to Kerry) is that Kerry's been in Congress along time. I believe he was in Congress when Bush was going through his series a failed businesses and getting sober.

The people around Bush have more experience. But what good does it do when you don't have enough knowledge to properly use that experience? How do you know when you're being manipulated?

Here is a guy who's the President of the United States who admits he doesn't read a newspaper, conervative, moderate, or liberal. All his speeches are given before friendly crowds of supporters. When he visits foreign countries protestors are kept well out of sight and hearing.

Basically he's isolated himself from all dissenting opinion. Doesn't that adversely affect decision making?

[clinthopson]

At first I thought I was watching a Howie Dean imitation and then thought why Al Bore didn't show as much cojones in '00.

[jesus marion joseph]

Originally Posted by patricia

As I keep saying, this isn't your future son-in-law, or your next-door-neighbour you're electing. You are electing your representative to the rest of the world. Holy Doodle!!!! How many of you have tipped back a few beers with George W, in the last few years??? How many of you expect to do so??
So, what does it matter if you like the President?? He's the President, not a potential neighbour or beer-drinkin' buddy!!!

Precisely why I have scoffed at those who refer to Clinton's follies as being "just about a blowjob". If I wanted a skirt-chasing, lying asshole with a midlife crisis as my president (or his former boot-licking lackey), there's a whole slew of lawyers I know whom I could vote for.

That said, I don't think it hurts any to have a guy who is competent *and* whom people seem to *like*, even if they're being superficial in doing so. People *like* to do business with a guy (or gal) who has charisma.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by jesus marion joseph

That said, I don't think it hurts any to have a guy who is competent *and* whom people seem to *like*, even if they're being superficial in doing so. People *like* to do business with a guy (or gal) who has charisma.

Who in the hell are you talking about, jmj? Competent and likeable with charisma? Let's get him/her to run for office ... pronto!

I'm not a shrink, nor do I play one on TV or anywhere, but you really need to let those Clinton demons go, dude.

[jesus marion joseph]

Originally Posted by Ron Thorne

I'm not a shrink, nor do I play one on TV or anywhere, but you really need to let those Clinton demons go, dude.

It's not as though he was president twenty years ago. Have you seen the threads regarding Nixon? Who the fuck cares if he was drunk? He's *dead*. At least being drunk might explain deviant behavior. Clinton doesn't even have that for an excuse.

[Ron Thorne]

Originally Posted by jesus marion joseph

It's not as though he was president twenty years ago. Have you seen the threads regarding Nixon? Who the fuck cares if he was drunk? He's *dead*. At least being drunk might explain deviant behavior. Clinton doesn't even have that for an excuse.

NEWSFLASH : Clinton's not president now, jmj.

Let it go, already. You're still talking about him in present tense, as if he's still in office.

We have huge problems with the current administration, whose behavior is beyond explanation.

Of course, we could continue to discuss Al Gore's recent remarks, in view of the thread subject. I can't find fault with Al's remarks. I'd be interested in your take on them, point-by-point.

[jesus marion joseph]

Ron, you seem a little overly-sensitive about the C-man. I speak about him in the present tense because, unlike Nixon (or arguably Gore), he's still alive. When he's dead (if it's not too politically-uncorrect to speak about the lying bastard) I'll refer to him in the past tense.

As far as Gore's speech; I heard a clip on the readio today. I'm not sure if I agree with him that everyone in the administration should resign (look at his administration-the C-man lied to his own cabinet in order to induce them to go support him on camera). More to the point, I have to wonder why he was making the speech. It's not as though he was introducing some new train of thought. Chris A., Sisco and others have made the same statements here on the Alley for months now, if not years. Moreover, it's not as though he's likely to emerge from the political grave, either.

I also find it interesting that he assails the current administration as fundamentalist theologians, then resorts to a "bible-thumping" style delivery. It reminded me of the juxtaposition of the speech to a tobacco group in which he expressed his solidarity with them, having grown and picked tobacco himself, and the contrast with the tear-jerker paean to his late sister at the democrat convention in 2000. It's as though he's trying so hard to have some form of charisma that he goes to ridiculous lengths. It's liek watching a really uncoordinated white guy try to dance.