Al Gore — The American Soul

[NYCGirl]

An amazingly moving post via Huffington Post. Now, if we could only find a transcript or recording of the speech in question:

Al Gore spoke tonight at the Human Rights Campaign dinner here in Los Angeles, after many stirring talks by Al Franken, Torie Osborn and the Mayor, among others. Al's was the last speech of a late night and yet, as with Rostropovich, the enormous ballroom was silent during his talk. I found myself leaning forward, perched on the edge of my chair as he moved easily on stage, rarely looking at even a note. He stirred souls tonight.

The former Vice President, the should-be president, spoke from his heart, his soul and his intellect about equality, about fear and about the future. The subject happened to be equality of gay people in this country. But it was really a call for America to stand as what we have been for more than 200 years, to be that porous bastion of hope and grace that has struggled at times with itself, but has always risen to greater heights.

He reminded me and I dare say the fifteen hundred or so present tonight, of the power of democracy, well led. Sadly, he reminded us also of the ineloquence of George Bush at which we laugh, but which in fact represents a simplicity of the mind, a unidemensional view of life that Mr. Bush carries forth into the world that sews fear and destruction in its path. Al Gore called us to action. He also vivified Plato's ideal in The Republic, Madison's President in the Federalist Papers, Jefferson's expectation in the founding documents of this country.

After he finished speaking, the standing ovation seemed almost an interruption of the soul. Just as Rostropovich played chords that defied description, Al Gore tonight hit commanding, courageous notes that are America. We'll make it through the current time of trouble, but only because we can rise above the small, insulated minds that would rather destroy our world than make it safely humane. How different our unstable world today would be had Mr. Gore been President. How hard we must work to assure that 2006 brings us the beginnings of balance, and 2008 the end of one of the most dangerous times in our history.



More at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rick-jacobs/al-gore-the-american-s_b_17901.html

[pstans]

1. I have a feeling that 2008 might be Gore's year

I know he has said that he isn't going to run, but people might just be begging him to run.

However, I support Feingold right now. A Gore/Feingld ticket would rock.

www.russforpresident.com

[ladjf]

9. His time has come. And with Feingold as his Vice President,

what a team!

[Warren DeMontague]

11. That's my dream ticket, right there.

:patriot:

[Raksha]

13. My dream ticket too! n/t

[fooj]

2. Re-elect Al Gore.

:patriot:

[WI_DEM]

3. If Al Gore got in the '08 race there would be no ? of who I would support

[Warpy]

4. Same here, but with reservations

I would sincerely hope he'd be sensible enough to reject the DLC's offer of "handlers" that screwed up his and Kerry's campaigns. I would sincerely hope he'd be his own man this time around, and not copy his platform off the DLC website. I would sincerely hope he hasn't bought into the conservative insanity that says doing the same thing over and over again will ultimately yield a different result if you do it long enough.

Let's hope he realizes part of the problem was his lackluster, DLC led campaign. If he does, then I'll have no trouble voting for him. If he doesn't, I'll need a shower afterwards.

[NYCGirl]

5. He realized all that four years ago:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002/06/29/gore-retreat.htm

[NYCGirl]

6. Kick, because I want to find a copy of this speech! NT

[Mabus]

7. Did you find a copy of this speech

or any more information on it?

[NYCGirl]

21. No, not yet. NT

[NYCGirl]

26. Here's all I could find so far:

HRC's L.A. gala brings out the stars and speeches

At its 2006 Los Angeles gala on Saturday, the LGBT lobbyist group Human Rights Campaign honored luminaries like Al Franken and Torie Osborn, raised thousands of dollars for its political causes, featured speeches and performances by Al Gore, Charo, Natasha Bedingfield, and L.A. mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and revealed the three Senate battles it intends to win this November.

Gay-friendly radio host and author Al Franken was handed the humanitarian award, lesbian political activist Torie Osborn was honored with the community service award for her work with Los Angeles's philanthropic organization Liberty Hill, gay MTV executive Brian Graden was given the corporate equality award for his gay-inclusive programming and his role as president of LGBT cable channel Logo, and former vice president Al Gore served as keynote speaker.

“For God's sake, asking for monogamy and military service, is that too much to ask for?” Gore said, commenting on how controversial the issues of same-sex marriage and gays in the military have become in the United States.

http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid28333.asp

[ThomWV]

29. I Was Hoping To Find An MP3 Of It Too

His speeches are moving to say the least.

My President.

[Mabus]

32. I'll look too

So far all I have found are references to the event.

[Mabus]

33. I've found his old HRC speeches

but still haven't found this year's. Hopefully it will show up either as a transcript or an audio/video file.

[ladjf]

8. We need to nominate and elect this man. His time has come.

[AlGore-08.com]

10. Kicking it up for President Gore

:kick: :patriot: :kick:

[Raksha]

12. The once and future president...

how I wish I had been there!

[oasis]

14. Great post. Thanks.

[theobscure]

15. I know I'm in for it here, but.....

Why didn't Gore stir souls, speak from the heart or stand on intellectual courage when he had the chance? How many reinventions of himself is it now? He is the epitome of the mainstream, functional part of the Democratic Party that has been in existence during my 38 years and beyond. They have enabled the country's trend toward fundamentalism and fascism by offering no vision of their own, they have conspired with the Republicans to jointly entrench themselves in a duopoly of power where they are content to play the role of devil's advocate and occasional spoiler, and those in positions of influence today stand by and watch an authoritarian consolidation of centralized power, murder of tens of thousands of people in the world at a permanent cost to our standing in the world community, and an unmitigated looting of the nation's wealth all to the end of political expediency, which is the only end they ever act toward.

Why? So every once in a while, they'll be the ones that get to sit in the most favored seats of power, if just for a term or two. So as the current incarnation of Republican ideals lead us down an insane, immoral, and illegal path; the Democrats ride shotgun. You'll have to pardon me if I don't get excited or hopeful about the Democrats getting a turn to drive. Recent history has shown they have no interest in boldly maneuvering us elsewhere, perhaps because they have no idea of where to go. So when their joy ride inevitably and quickly ends, the Republicans have no trouble regaining their momentum for a continuation down the path they so painstakingly map out.

Stand aside, Democrats! Give me classic Liberalism, Socialism, or Libertarianism. Just give me some means for which to challenge the Republican fundamentalist fascists before we plunge into the irretrievable abyss.

[IndyOp]

17. Dems must stop riding shotgun. They do it by reclaiming values -

and acting on those values. We must, and are already, challenging the Republican fundamentalist fascists.

We must be careful not to attack Dems who have had elections stolen from them -- it is counterproductive to attack Gore, Kerry, Clelland and so forth when whatever they did or did not do -- when they got the votes they needed to win, but had the election stolen from them.

Socialism or Libertarianism - no thanks. Classic Liberalism - okay. If we try to create a whole new system we will end up with what we already have. We have to change the one we've got. We must lead them in the direction we want them to go.

[theobscure]

27. what values?

There are some who are meekly challenging these abhorrent Republican values, but the vast majority seem to be content to sit back and wait for the Republicans to destroy themselves or the country, whichever comes first. You'll have to forgive me for not falling over myself in adoring adulation in regard to this partisan strategy.

You, like most every politically active person today, are looking at things from a purely partisan perspective. We need to take a few steps back and start looking at the larger picture that shows the Republicans and Democrats have more in common in terms of mutual back scratching power entrenchment than they have different in terms of public policy. This is exacerbated by the fact that the Democratic Party for the last 40 years has confined itself for whatever reason to simply opposing the public policy that Republicans propose. Again, you'll have to forgive me for not....

I would give anything to have a Classic Liberal party emerge from the ashes of one or both of the parties. Unfortunately, Republicans and Democrats alike have collaborated on rigging election laws to insulate themselves and each other from any political sea changes that would challenge the status quo and threaten the duopoly stranglehold on power.

By raising Socialism and Libertarianism, I am merely emphasizing how desperate the situation is. An emergence of a political movement driven by ideals would force Republicans to defend their own in a meaningful way. This will never happen as long as the Republicans only political "rivals" stand on political expediency and opposition alone. What this means is that Republicans will perpetually remain the dominant party, the party that drives the debate and steers the course of the country. Brief interludes of Democratic control will only serve as an opportunity for Republicans to recharge and retool before reemerging with a clean slate.

[Marnieworld]

20. Have you been paying attention to Gore over the past 5 years?

He has grown and evolved. He isn't what you described but part of the solution not part of the problem. He has articulated better than anyone so many of the crimes that the * have committed. If he does run again it would be a whole new Gore, a whole new campaign, I am sure of it.

[theobscure]

28. Have any democrats currently in positions of influence? n/t

[Toots]

34. How many reinventions of himself is it now?

What a line of crap..................

[NVMojo]

16. oh, I hate that pic but loved your post!

[NYCGirl]

22. If you want to see where that pic comes from (it's not photoshopped, BTW)

you can watch this. Gore explain it himself:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-29385328971143264&q=al+gore

[Justpat]

18. I practically fall on the floor sobbing after reading accounts

of his speeches. I am saddened that our country saw fit to have appointed and then actually elect a fool instead of someone
like this. I vote for him in '00 and would do so again if he decided to run.

[glitch]

19. If it was anything like this speech in Seattle last week, it was moving.

http://www.seattlechannel.org/media/programDetails.asp?title=1060630

(he speaks about 40 minutes into the stream)

edit to change minutes

[donkeyotay]

23. President Gore is their worst nightmare

He already has broad support, including winning the 2000 election. Combine that with his grasp of the problems this nation is facing. The country might even be ready to support a national program to address energy independence and global warming, which would also benefit us by being good for the economy and our morale.

I know he loves his country, but it's almost too much to ask for him to step in and be willing to clean up after the elephants,,,again. The stoopid half of this country will begin blaming him for bush's failures even before he's sworn in. I don't envy the next president.

[Ganja Ninja]

24. I would vote for Gore over any other Democrat. n/t

[Southsideirish]

25. Gore/Feingold in '08! The dream ticket. Go Al! nt

[NYCGirl]

30. Kick for tonight.

[Deja Q]

31. How did he vote in the Apple Board's decision to offshore 3000 jobs?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=apple+offshore+support+jobs&btnG=Google+Search

Haven't found anything on Gore's vote (either way) yet...

Even with this: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=apple+offshore+support+jobs+gore&btnG=Search

Anyone who offshores is not doing it to help America's economy, which depends on Americans spending. No jobs = no ability to buy things. Or so the rhetoric goes and that was why I was hoping for Kerry at the time...

Indeed, John Kery calls executives who offshore jobs "Benedict Arnolds" (the quote is halfway in). :rofl: very true.