AL GORE -- speaks out --- transcript....

[TexanDem]

at AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/katrina/25349/

(quote)
Hurricane Katrina

Coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath.

A Moral Moment

By Al Gore, AlterNet. Posted September 13, 2005.


When the corpses of American citizens are floating in toxic floodwaters five days after a hurricane strikes, it is time to hold the leaders of our nation accountable for the failures that have taken place.
(end quote)


There's a place for comments following the article. Let's make Al Gore feel very welcome back into the limelight!

Maybe we should all try to get a grassroots effort to CONVINCE him to run again! The media really did him in in 2000 making fun of his personality and all, boosting Bush. It was so much propaganda then, and not to mention the final vote count fiasco. But maybe now the "other" 50% who were so gullible will be the wiser, not fall for all the lies and misrepresentations, see through the obvious wool pulled over their eyes, and we can get a real leader for this country. Even if he won't run for pres, we need him to step up as a party leader! Our leadership is pretty much pathetic, with the exception of a precious few.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Wow check this closing comment out:

"We brought down Communism, we brought down apartheid, we have even solved a global environmental crisis before -- the hole in the stratospheric ozone layer -- because we had leadership and because we had vision and because people who exercise moral authority in their local communities empowered our nation's government "of the people by the people and for the people" to take ethical actions even thought they were difficult."

[jojog]

2. check this link

http://www.algore.org/

[bee]

6. they mention the DU Gore poll from the other day...

here: http://www.algore.org/?option=com_smf&Itemid=110&?topic=2694.msg13176;topicseen#msg13176

Al Gore gets my vote over anyone. :loveya:

[Carolab]

27. I've already donated to his campaign! I LOVE AL!!!

And he is our RIGHTFUL PRESIDENT!!!

[newyawker99]

35. Hi jojog!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[lvx35]

3. Gore amazes me....he's like a fine wine.

He just keeps getting better with age, even though it seems at one point he was just like old grapejuice. I would totally support a Gore run in 2008. Coupled with one of the new players, like Clark or maybe Dean, it would be a great combo the older Clinton dems and new new breed would both like.

[FreedomAngel82]

21. So true

I just love Gore. He's always a wonderful person. :loveya: I really hope and prays he runs again but if not then that's okay. Even though I'm a die-hard Kerry fan I would vote for Gore over him personally. No offense to Kerry or anything but I've been a Gore fan long before and think he would be great to run again.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

44. Clinton, Kerry and Gore

I got to meet Gore and he was very gracious. The thing
I prefer about him as a person over Bill Clinton is that he doesn't seem to want anything from me. In other words it is about public service rather than loving Al Gore. He doesn't care about that. I don't agree with all his policies but he is a visionary and a progressive leader on most of the important things.

I believe Kerry is also in it for the public service and I like a lot of his policies. But Gore is the only pol of our times who has been a leader on global warming and was right about Iraq from the git-go.

If he can keep his voice and yet assume the electability he has enjoyed throughout his career, he will become the most charismatic figure in the party since Bobby Kennedy and the greatest president since FDR. The silver lining in the tragedy that has befallen our nation since Bush took office is that the press and the public have been driven to the left. Wanting to help people and wanting the government to help people is becoming fashionable again. It is the right environment for Gore pragmatically to keep his voice. Also this time, Gore will have DailyKos and other bloggers looking out for him, in a way they could not in 2000. Finally, we can really put the media on the defensive because Gore 2000 is a more damning press scandal than Jayson Blair. We have proof positive that there is no liberal political bias in the press and that the reverse is more true. His name is Al Gore.

[drummo]

45. Great points.

The thing I prefer about him as a person over Bill Clinton is that he doesn't seem to want anything from me. In other words it is about public service rather than loving Al Gore. He doesn't care about that.

That's a very good observation and I agree. I always appreciate when a pol doesn't enter a room full of strangers and pretend all of a sudden that everyone is his best friend. It's fake and shallow.
Gore wants people to understand the issues instead of making them fall in love with him.
Clinton wants everyone to like him. Even his enemies. How ridicuolus is that?

[Greyhound]

4. And that worthless cow donna brazile has a job. n/t

[billbuckhead]

8. We might not all like Donna Brazile or what she does but it's wrong to

call her a "worthless cow" and it would start a fight in a bar if she was there. I would help. This hyperbole against a liberal warrior like Donna Brazile is an illuminating example of whites (white Democrats) not taking black people serious. Not getting it.

We hear alot about how dems have to kiss southern redneck ass but we as a group piss on southern blacks without even thinking. Donna is no Clarence, Colon, Condi or Zell for that matter and we should give her the benefit of the doubt. Now LIEberman thats another matter.

[Greyhound]

11. OK I'll withdraw the cow part, but she is worthless and more responsible

for the tragedy that this country will go through for the next generation, than any other single person I know of. Her utter incompetence has nothing to do with the melanin content of her skin, nor her State of origin. As you know she was the campaign manager for Gore that made exactly the wrong decision at every opportunity in one of the worst run campaigns I've ever seen.
If I ever see her in person I'll have to bite my cheek to avoid spitting on her. BTW I'm an old bar fighter myself and have no problem with getting physical if it comes to that. :grr:

[ObaMania]

17. No Liberal warrior..

.. she lost my support when she said on Crossfire once that KKKarl is a good friend.

That's even worse than Big Dawg hanging out with Poppy.

[blossomstar]

5. Forwarded this intelligent and dignified speech to everyone

that I knew especially those with children who are interested in the kind of world we leave behind for them. This is without a doubt one of the most brilliant speeches of our time. Heartfelt, presidential. Oh how our country is suffering for someone presidential to lead us.

[Lisa]

7. and to think that most American voters picked him, in 2000

You chose the right person, after all. Somehow you knew.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

9. And this.....................

Four years ago in August of 2001, President Bush received a dire warning: "Al Qaeda determined to attack inside the US." No meetings were called, no alarms were sounded, no one was brought together to say, "What else do we know about this imminent threat? What can we do to prepare our nation for what we have been warned is about to take place?"

If there had been preparations, they would have found a lot of information collected by the FBI, and CIA and NSA -- including the names of most of the terrorists who flew those planes into the WTC and the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania; the warnings of FBI field offices that there were suspicious characters getting flight training without expressing any curiosity about the part of the training that has to do with landing. They would have found directors of FBI field offices in a state of agitation about the fact that there was no plan in place and no effective response. Instead, it was vacation time, not a time for preparation. Or protecting the American people.

Four years later, there were dire warnings, three days before Hurricane Katrina hit NOLA, that if it followed the path it was then on, the levees would break, and the city of New Orleans would drown, and thousands of people would be at risk. It was once again vacation time. And the preparations were not made, the plans were not laid, the response then was not forthcoming.

In the early days of the unfolding catastrophe, the President compared our ongoing efforts in Iraq to World War II and victory over Japan. Let me cite one difference between those two historical events: When imperial Japan attacked us at Pearl Harbor, Franklin Roosevelt did not invade Indonesia .

[fearnobush]

29. Four yrs later and on vacation, Bush fails to read NOAA's dire warning

And Why? For Fuck's sake, I read it right from NOAA a few minutes after it was posted. URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

..DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

HURRICANE KATRINA A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH...RIVALING THE INTENSITY OF HURRICANE CAMILLE OF 1969. MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS...PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL...LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED.

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE...INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY...A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT. AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD...AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS...PETS...AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS...AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS. THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING...BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

AN INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS NEAR HURRICANE FORCE...OR FREQUENT GUSTS AT OR ABOVE HURRICANE FORCE...ARE CERTAIN WITHIN THE NEXT 12 TO 24 HOURS. ONCE TROPICAL STORM AND HURRICANE FORCE WINDS ONSET...DO NOT VENTURE OUTSIDE!

MSZ080>082-282100- HANCOCK-HARRISON-JACKSON- 1011 AM CDT SUN AUG 28 2005

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

33. As with 9/11, hair was on fire. This was also on tv before Katrina hit. nt

[wiggs]

10. He gave some EXCELLENT speeches before 04 elections. nt

[Z_I_Peevey]

14. Yes, he did.

And he was the one of the only ones with the courage to tell the truth.

[FreedomAngel82]

22. Oh yes

I've seen some of them and you can view them on cspan.

[GreenPartyVoter]

12. I was extremely impressed with that speech when I read it earlier

Where was this man in 2000?

Then again, knowing what we know about DIEBOLD, Choicepoint, and Katherine Harris even then they would have ripped the election away from him. :mad:

------------------------------------------------------
URGENT yet easy! Hold the government accountable for Katrina's aftermath
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4736062

Save the gulf, then save the nation! http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm

[FreedomAngel82]

23. I'm sure Gore has changed some

He's the same person but I think he's better at public speaking now days. He was a professor for a while at MTSU and has done a lot of speeches. He's such a brilliant guy and always ahead of his time. *sigh*

[drummo]

30. RE: Where was this man in 2000?

The man was there.

But there was no 9/11, no Patriot Act, no Iraq invasion, no Abu Ghraib, no Katrina, no deficit, no record oil prices etc etc.
There was nothing in 2000 which made people angry. That's just the way it was.
If Gore had said in 2000 "don't put this idiot to the White House if you don't want to be attacked by al Qaeda" he would have been sent to the nearest loony bid.

[Uncle Joe]

39. He was hidden by the corpwhorate owned MSM,

they did not want the American People to see the real Al Gore. They did not want an adult in charge. They were furious with Al because he took some of their power and gave it to us when he championed the internet in effect democratizing information.They wanted to remain the sole gatekeepers to the truth. They slandered, belittled, ignored or obfuscated anything to do with him. They created a bubble or matrix for the American People to live in. They enabled Bush to power and continued to cheer him on as we went to war in Iraq. As long as Bush did not drool on the podium during the debates he was given a standing ovation. They did a 180 overnight after the debates over ruling them selves and their focus groups as to who won the debates. If Al had walked on water they would have ridiculed him for getting his feet wet. The corpwhorate owned MSM brainwashed a sizable segment of the nation in to thinking that the vital qualifications for the Presidency was who would you rather have in your home for a beer. The real losers of the 2000 coup were the American People as they were betrayed by what passes for American Journalism.

[dalaigh lllama]

13. Al Gore for president

I voted for Gore in 2000, and I have to admit it was more of a tepid support coupled with loathing for that other idiot running. The contrast these past few weeks has been amazing: hero vs zero. I was DEEPLY impressed by his NOLA rescue -- not a photo op like the *. Now, that's a leader!
Reading his speech was like a breath of fresh air. God, a man with a brain, a vision, and a heart. Some of the comments afterwards p*ssed me off. I am SO tired of people whining, "Oh, Al, you talk too long" and "You use words that are too big." To them I say, "Go buy a dictionary and take something for your Attention Deficit." We've had an idiot in charge who can't put two words together, much less a plan, and folks liked him because they wanted to have a beer with him. The presidency is not American Idol, for gosh sake. We need a leader, and by golly I see one in Al Gore.

[cynatnite]

20. I think 2008 would be his year...he should run

Gore would stand out among the rest and I really think he could win in 2008.

[slay]

28. I agree!

People are pissed off at Bush now more than ever. What better way to make up for the wrongs of the last eight years than to elect the guy who tried to do it right back in 2000. Al Gore 2008! :)

[Vox_Reason]

42. Keep speaking the truth, DVJNU!

You're absolutely right. Thanks for taking the time to spell it out.

:applause:

[Sperk]

15. I'll put it so even Chimpy can understand....

Run, Al, run.

See Al run.

See Al win.

Win, Al, win.

Something for Idiot Boy to read during our next disaster.

[lonestarnot]

16. I don't know .... think he can read that do ya?

[DarkTirade]

32. He taught himself to read My Pet Goat

and by golly, I'm sure one day he'll be able to read that too.

[DemonFighterLives]

18. Gore has the makings of a real President

Kicked and nominated.
:dem:

[mopinko]

19. my president

sigh

[lildreamer316]

24. EVERYONE: There's a DU group for this you know.

....and I think we need to infuse it with some new energy. Join me.

[TexanDem]

25. ?? Where ??

:shrug:

[TexanDem]

26. TPMCAFE has full story of mercy flight to NOLA

http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/7/164747/4155

[FredStembottom]

31. I don't make comments like this ever, but....

When I listen to Gore's speeches, I feel that I am hearing the voice of what would be one of the Great Presidents.

I still have great reservations about him because of his part in passing NAFTA.

Still.......

It makes me feel school-girlishly silly but I just think I hear one of the Big Ones when he is speaking. That the terrible times we are in - and will continue even after the Pirate Administration is gone - would just spur him on to FDR levels of greatness.

This just isn't how I usually decide things........ :blush:

[mcscajun]

34. An outstanding speech! Now think about tomorrow night...

...and the drivel, obfuscation, denial, downright bullshit and bible-code that will issue from the blivet**'s mouth tomorrow night.

It's enough to make you violently ill. :puke:

The two speeches (and we still don't know precisely what * will say, but we can imagine) should be posted side by side for all to compare.

[TexanDem]

36. Don't forget - Al can write his own speeches

Bush has them written for him, probably phonetically spelled out, and then rehearsed ad nauseum.

[mcscajun]

37. "...then rehearsed ad nauseum."

And we listen to them the same way...only our experience is much faster...and more intense!

:puke:
:puke:
:puke:
:puke:
:puke:

[johnaries]

38. Re-Elect President Gore! n/t

[osaMABUSh]

40. Gore / Clark '08

probably the best team to try to undo all the messes Dick and W caused.

[TexanDem]

41. how do we convince Gore to run??? We need to amass a campaign!

[Vox_Reason]

43. We need a book of Al Gore's speeches since 2000.

So many great speeches. They need to be compiled into a book so all of the world can read them and see how screwed the American people were by the theft of the 2000 election.

[Uncle Joe]

46. Brilliant Idea!! n/t

[mnhtnbb]

47. Oh, what might have been.

An intelligent President. Now there's a dream.