Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Well… After listening to the drone (Noun and Verb) of the above video. I’ll am still unclear of the validity of the “alive” status you claim!
The political posturing for the sake of posturing is annoying and does a dis-service to this Nation. Oh if only they could grow-up!
-JC
Ohhhh, and how Da Yooper loves the way back machine.
Amazing, simply amazing.
Ever see Animal House? Is it just me or does Gore remind anybody of that Sutherland guy in that movie? “I’m not kidding! This is my job!”
Or that Fred Stein fellow — Bueller? Bueller?
I left this video thinking mainly that it must be nice to be able to change your mind and have a willing media not dredge up the past. Wonder if there’s a pill I can get my wife to take for that?
– Max
Wow. It’s not so much “what” is being said, it’s more of “when” and “what color campaign button” that matters. Who ever knew that Gore’s greatest invention (the internet) would come back to bite him like this!
~Ens Tim
wow. permanent political amnesia AND a voice no one could stand to listen to for long.
Must be serious delusions, too, to think we could stand to listen to him as Pres.
Al, get a new job!
d
Wow, he was actually fairly normal looking back in the day. These days, he looks like he’s wearing blush and lipstick, and perhaps a little tastefully applied eyeliner. He gets more freakish looking every time I see him.
Sometimes, he reminds me of Michael Jackson — taking himself way past reality and deep into a parody of himself.
He’s getting pathetic and shouldn’t be exposing himself to real life anymore. His fantasy world suits him just fine.
Can’t imagine that the administration Gore was a member of did anything when they had a chance to dismantle the supporting infrastructure Gore spoke of. Nope. Conservatives called one action “Wag the Dog” if I’m not mistaken.
Iraq?
Can’t imagine that the administration Gore was a member of did anything when they had a chance to dismantle the supporting infrastructure Gore spoke of. Nope. Conservatives called one action “Wag the Dog” if I’m not mistaken.
Iraq’s weapons and facilities had been destroyed in three phases: by allied bombardment in the 1991 Gulf War; by U.N. inspectors in the half-decade after that war; and by President Clinton’s 1998 bombing campaign. David Kaye said they destroyed Iraq’s remaining infrastructure for building chemical weapons. Sure, Saddam tried to resuscitate some of these programs, but — due to sanctions, fear of inspections, and lack of resources — he was not able to do so.
http://www.slate.com/id/2089471/
So to act as though 1992 Iraq is the same as 2003 or 2007 is a bit of a stretch in my book. And to act as though Gore is being hypocritical then or now on this particular issue seems a bit of a stretch as well.
Brutally clear what happened to those weapons in retrospect, isn’t it? But not nearly so clear even as late as 1998 when then-President Clinton signed into public law the Iraq Liberation Act, committing the US to a policy whose realization was achieved 5 years later.
And the sanctions regime was crumbling even as late as 2002 – remember “smart sanctions”? Because the “dumb” ones 1) weren’t much deterring Saddam and were 2) causing untold death and misery among his people.
Anyway, I wasn’t really accusing Mr. Gore of being hypocritical – rather, he is being admirably consistent: Doesn’t matter what’s going on in Iraq, it’s all George Bush’s fault.
The Iraq Liberation Act passed in late October and in less than two months Clinton ordered the bombings to attack their military infrastructure.
“It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq and to promote the emergence of a democratic government to replace that regime.” Note the use of the word “support.” On December 16, 1998, President Bill Clinton mandated Operation Desert Fox, a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets.
So I’m not sure of your point other than that politicians generally , regularly, and consistently point out how their viewpoint is different from their opponent’s.
No, that’s precisely my point – or, put another way, that the underlying facts of any situation matter less to some politicians than the fact that they can be shaped to partisan gain. After all, that’s the important thing.
Well done.
By the way, I’m quite familiar with Desert Fox. I was there for it, and the aftermath.
So, to wrap up, in 1992 Gore said the GHW Bush administration was ignoring that there was much more to do in limiting Iraq’s ability to destabilize the region. During the Clinton/Gore administration they did more. In 2003, Gore said an invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and extremely dangerous to the region. George W. Bush disagreed.
You seem to think the administration has achieved its goal in 2003 (“…a policy whose realization was achieved 5 years later…) It is 2007 and I don’t see the policy having been achieved yet.
The policy, you’ll remember – it wasn’t so very long ago that it was brought up here – was that the US would support regime change in Iraq. That policy result has most certainly been achieved.
Or was there something else you’d wish I’d said, that you could more forcefully disagree with?
And do you really want to bring up the foreign policy successes of the Clinton/Gore era? Really?
Gore disagreed with a policy and was in an administration that implemented his policy view. Walk the talk.
Gore disagreed with a later administration and though he was not running for office, 2003, let his views be known. Walk the talk.
Right or wrong, the guy stood up and delivered what he said.
My mistake. Gore in Feb. 2002 (not 2003):
“As far as I am concerned, a final reckoning with that government should be on the table. To my way of thinking, the real question is not the principle of the thing, but of making sure that this time we will finish the matter on our terms. But finishing it on our terms means more than a change of regime in Iraq. It means thinking through the consequences of action there on our other vital interests, including the survival in office of Pakistan’s leader; avoiding a huge escalation of violence in the Middle East; provision for the security and interests of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the Gulf States; having a workable plan for preventing the disintegration of Iraq into chaos; and sustaining critically important support within the present coalition.
In 1991, I crossed party lines and supported the use of force against Saddam Hussein, but he was allowed to survive his defeat as the result of a calculation we all had reason to deeply regret for the ensuing decade. And we still do. So this time, if we resort to force, we must absolutely get it right. It must be an action set up carefully and on the basis of the most realistic concepts. Failure cannot be an option, which means that we must be prepared to go the limit. And wishful thinking based on best-case scenarios or excessively literal transfers of recent experience to different conditions would be a recipe for disaster.”
Sounds like he was right there too. Funny thing is, I’m not particularly a fan of Gore’s but the context you set up raised my cackles. I do appreciate that you served and are engaged in the process though.
typo – “…raised my HACKLES…” though I did cackle a bit too.
Hackles, cackles – the dividing line is so very thin these days.
Well met, and best luck to you, and to us all.
We’ll need it, all of us.