The Nation: Al Gore Makes Surprise Visit to Netroots Nation

[marmar]

Al Gore Makes Surprise Visit to Netroots Nation
posted by Ari Melber on 07/19/2008 @ 11:25am



Al Gore made a surprise appearance at the Netroots Nation conference in Texas on Saturday morning, joining Speaker Nancy Pelosi on stage to address progressive activists. "I feel right at home here!" he said as he took the stage, while Pelosi and conference director Gina Cooper looked on. Organizers kept the visit secret all weekend, guarding details as if it were Obama's Middle Eastern CODEL. Rumors only leaked hours before Gore's speech -- and the New York Times Caucus blog picked up chatter on the visit from Twitter updates sent by the tech-savvy crowd.

Gore thanked the several thousand attendees for creating a "movement" that can "reclaim the integrity of American democracy" by fostering a "well-informed citizenry that is involved and engaged." Drawing on the critique of the media and democratic discourse from his book, The Assault on Reason, Gore contrasted the netroots' fact-driven writing and activism with the "malignant manifestation of hunger for power" among corrupt leaders on the Right.

Gore devoted the bulk of his remarks to his crusade against global warming, casting it as a moral, economic and security imperative for the United States. He drew several standing ovations from the energetic crowd. Gore urged activists to join his bipartisan campaign at WeCanSolveIt.org. The effort has drawn 1.3 million supporters, he said, with a goal of ten million. "You speak to and influence and connect with so many millions of people," he said to the gathered bloggers, asking for their help in recruiting more bipartisan support for the climate movement.

Gore took open questions from the floor, which focused on climate change, alternative fuels, and the prospect of serving in an Obama administration. He respectfully demurred on the hypothetical of returning to government service, saying "I want to convey my respect for the idea...I really feel the highest and best use of whatever talents and experiences I've gained in my life is to focus on trying to enlarge the political space within which elected officials and cabinet members address this climate crisis." On the other hand, it's hard to imagine a more influential platform to advance those goals than serving as Secretary of State in an Obama administration, where Gore could prioritize climate change in the international portfolio and apply his NSC and VP experience to help end the war responsibly. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters/337684

[ensho]

1. kick

nt

[Uncle Joe]

2. And check out this N.Y.T. article on the event.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/al-gore-is-special-guest-star-at-netroots-nation/

"AUSTIN — After 40 minutes of questions with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Al Gore’s voice came over the public address system, and he suddenly appeared on stage, as the audience gasped, shrieked and gave him a standing ovation.

As he began speaking, to rounds of applause, Mrs. Pelosi was overheard saying as an aside to the moderator, “Isn’t it exciting that he’s here?”

He is speaking this morning to more than 2,000 bloggers and others meeting at the Netroots Nation convention. His appearance here has been kept hush hush, with word only that a mystery guest would be coming on stage after a question-and-answer session with Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the House.

The Caucus learned that the guest was Mr. Gore from a person with knowledge of the plan and now others who have confirmed it are sending it out on Twitter. This is obviously a tech-savvy audience with whom Mr. Gore should feel right at home and who will no doubt appreciate his earlier work in making the Internet possible. (No, he never said he “invented” the Internet; he was instrumental in Congress in helping to promote the technology that is now the Internet.)"

I love that, but it's too bad the corporate media couldn't report this inconvenient truth prior to the selection of 2000.

Thanks for the the thread, marmar

Kicked and recommended.

[tbyg52]

3. Yeah, but....

Apparently that kinda let Pelosi off the hook. I knew that "Ask the Speaker" stuff was too good to be true.

http://www.counterpunch.org/cummins07192008.html