Everybody needs to read this about Al Gore!!!

[kma3346]

The following is a first-hand account (by Greg Simon, President FasterCures) about a team of people led by Simon & Al Gore to airlift patients from Charity hospital during the first days following Katrina. They fought red tape, bureaucrats at all levels and from many different agencies, and overcame "no" after "no" after "no" in their effort to evacuate critically ill Hurricane Katrina patients. For the full story, see:

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

Gore went directly to where he thought he could help and he actually got in there and WORKED. He did not grant interviews, he did not hold press conferences, he did not talk to reporters, he did not use this as an opportunity for a photo op--in fact, the pictures that many have seen are not exactly flattering, but show someone who is working hard and not caring about what he looks like. Compare this to the visits of Bush and Cheney, who came on the scene well after the disaster struck, clean and unrumpled, and walked around the area amid a throng of reporters and photographers, but very few actual victims.

Al Gore has credibility as demonstrated here:

"None of the airlines involved required a contract or any written guarantee of payment before sending their planes and volunteer crews "the first time Steve Davison had ever witnessed that in 15 years of chartering planes for political campaigns and other events. One official said if Gore promised to pay, that was good enough for them."

What is amazing to me is the superhuman effort made by those trying to prevent this rescue from taking place--people from FEMA, military personnel, etc., etc. If they put as much effort into helping people who desperately needed it as they did in trying to prevent people from helping those who desperately needed it, many more lives could have been saved.

What Gore was up against:

According to Simon's account:

"Starting right after midnight I began receiving calls from FEMA, HHS, TRANSCOM and other groups whose acronyms I still cannot explain. LCDR Kennedy from FEMA called to understand what I was trying to do. I told him. Fifteen minutes later Mimi Riley, Deputy Director from NDMS called to beg me in a plaintive and exhausted voice not to carry out this mission. She had many reasons "you need doctors on the plane, Chicago is too far from their home, how will we track the patients, this is a military operation and we were not military."

"Over the next three hours (from 2a.m. to 5 a.m.) I was called by an array of Majors and Lieutenant Commanders telling me to stop. ("I don't mean to be rude, sir, but you must not do this. You must stop this now.") Major Webb from GPMRC (don't ask), Grant Meade from ESF. Major Lindquist from TRANSCOM (at last!) all telling me they would not cooperate and they did not know how we had gotten permission to land. I never mentioned Gore's name because no one ever asked me who was paying for the flights or how we had come so far.

Finally at 5 a.m. Major Lindquist said if we landed he would not put any patients on the plane and we should expect no cooperation and there was no place to store the plane so we would have to leave."

Gore wouldn't take "no" for an answer:

"At 7 a.m. on Saturday September 3, the American Airlines plane with Gore and the doctors and Gore's son Albert left Dallas for New Orleans. They landed at 8:30, got off the plane and Col LaFon immediately established contact with the Colonels running the operation on the ground, most of whom he had served with. He had trained many of the doctors on the scene. He explained why they were there and the doctors began a triage process to fill the plane. Two hours later the plane was loaded and headed to Knoxville.

After speaking with Gore, I called ahead to Donna Tidwell of TEMA who was running the operations there and told her what to expect "about 20 patients needing dialysis, many more needing insulin, a burn victim and many people needing to be back on their medications" and one boy with his dog. Forty of the people on the plane were evacuees mistakenly put on the plane by TSA but who might need medical attention nonetheless. Knoxville was prepared to provide shelters for them.

The plane's arrival in Knoxville was described by the local paper as the "Mercy Plane" and the mayor and many of the citizens turned out to help.

By now, it was too late to return to New Orleans, load up and leave before dark and American Airlines refused to have its personnel stay in New Orleans after dark. Gore and the team headed to Dallas for the night. Around midnight Saturday night, the FAA called American airlines and pulled their landing slots for Sunday saying only FEMA planes could fly in. Gore called Mineta again who promised to honor our initial agreement for two landing slots.

On Sunday morning Gore and the team landed in New Orleans to a much improved scene. Many more patients had been airlifted out after our flight and there were only ten ambulatory patients for our plane so we took 120 evacuees with us to Chattanooga. The welcoming reception in Chattanooga was so large that Gore said it looked like there was an ambulance for everybody on the plane.

We decided not to return to New Orleans because the medical patients we could take had been helped. (We could not take bedridden patients on stretchers on this plane.) Gore said that on the second trip to New Orleans, the doctors at the airport told him that the evacuation of the first 90 ambulatory patients had been the tipping point in their ability to adequately care for the other bedridden patients. They also noted that the military evacuations did not really pick up steam until after we "motivated" them with our private effort."

And yet this was barely covered in the mainstream media

But that's another story...

Many amazing people worked together to pull this off. I don't believe they could have done it without the involvement of Al Gore. This story highlights the tenacity, compassion, and ingenuity of Al Gore. His name has been coming up more and more (and very favorably, I might add) these days as a potential presidential candidate for 2008. It may sound corny, but when I think of Gore as our future president, it gives me hope for the future of America.

If he does decide to run, I will support him 100 percent. I will join his campaign and encourage my friends and family to do so as well. I've never been involved in any sort of campaign before, but if he gets in the race, I'll do it!

(P.S. This my first long post on DU. I hope it's not too long and that I didn't break any rules!)

[etherealtruth]

1. Thanks for the post

I love Al Gore. He had my support in 2000 and he would have it again ...

[Richard D]

2. I don't know . . .

. . . if it breaks the rules, but it's a great post. Gives me some hope for the future.
Thank you and welcome!

[Selteri]

3. We not only know who should have been president, but ...

What a president would have done.

[Minstrel Boy]

4. thanks, this is a great read n/t

[Call me Deacon Blues]

5. You know I know a lot of DUers don't like Gore

because they feel like he "gave up" too soon. And maybe they're right; maybe he was right in not wanting to cause the nation any more turmoil. In hindsight, he should have kept fighting, and I don't think there's any doubt Bush would have fought like the slimeball he is. But having said all that, Gore's actions since have been commendable, and his actions during Katrina have been that of a leader. Can anyone doubt that if Gore had been president, that so many lives would NOT have been lost? I tell you, I am leaning more and more to Gore in 2008.

OK, flame away.

[countingbluecars]

10. Gore in 2008

sounds very good to my ears.

[Loge23]

13. Gore in '08

sounds like a winner to me!

[Toasted_Halo]

45. Thanks! Me too!

He's got my vote!

[wryter2000]

48. Welcome to DU

[Tesla]

90. Gore/Clinton ticket???

I don't think she will go for second best.

[MADem]

12. No flames from me--I like Al

He is smart as a whip, a hard worker, has a spouse who adores him, has well-adjusted kids, and he is a KIND MAN. We need someone who is KIND in the White House--this macho shit has gotten us nothing but thousands of Americans dead, natural disasters mismanaged, the poor getting poorer, and an ever-growing sense of malaise and despair...to say nothing of deficits up to our eyeballs...

[AlGore-08.com]

33. Not flaming, but I'm curious just what else you think Gore could have done

He began his campaign 20 points behind. He was outspent by Team Smirk 2 to 1, had little support from the party establishment, and had the most hostile press coverage in modern history. He still went on to win the popular vote by over half a million votes (a larger margin of victory than Kennedy in 1960 or Nixon in 1968), and got more votes than any other Presidential candidate before him, including Reagan and Clinton.

I have seen a lot of folks post that Gore should have demanded a statewide recount immediately, but most of them don't realize that Gore did ask Bush to agree to a statewide recount (twice) in exchange for a pledge not to contest the results of that recount in court. Bush refused both times. Gore's legal team felt that they were not going to be able to successfully sue for a statewide recount in lower court, that they would have to wait until the case got to the Florida State Supreme Court for that. And when they got to the Florida State Supreme Court, they were able to get a an order for a statewide recount.

Very early in the recount, Gore asked for an FBI investigation of the vote suppression (an investigation which was not complete before the recount was over). He spent the recount explaining over and over that there were thousands of votes which had never been counted, and used his press conferences to highlight some of the offenses that came to light during that time (like the absentee ballot fraud in Seminole and Martin counties and the bogus "Brooks Brothers riot").

During the recount what everybody (the media, the Gore camp, legal experts) expected to happen is that either the Florida State Supreme Court or possibly the SCOTUS would issue a ruling which decided the election, and that that ruling would be based on Florida law. There was no reason to think that five Justices of the Supreme Court would issue a political, rather than legal ruling. Bush v. Gore was shocking for many other reasons, one being that ruling as based on an argument that the SCOTUS had dismissed only a few days earlier as being without legal merit. Another reason was that the SCOTUS wrote into the ruling that it could not be used as a precedent for any other case - - I believe that is a first in the history of the court.

Once the SCOTUS ruled that Recount Dracula Harris' certified vote total had to be accepted (giving the Florida electors to Bush), Gore had no legal options left to win the White House. Others had, but Gore personally did not. Gore did not have the legal authority to challenge the Florida electors - - only Representatives and Senators can, and the challenge must be made by at least one member of the House and at least one Senator together. Only 14 Representatives wanted to challenge them, there was not a single Senator who agreed to join the challenge.

To be fair to them, that decision may have been an acknowledgment that challenging the electors would not change anything. It was not clear who would decide the Presidency if the electors were successfully challenged, but it would have been one of the following three groups:

1.) The Congress, who were predominantly Republican and who would have voted to install Smirk
2.) The Florida State legislature, who were overwhelmingly Republican, and had already threatened to send a second set of electors pledged to Smirk
3.) The Governor of Florida, who was, of course, Smirk's baby brother.

Once the SCOTUS ruled, Gore did not have any options left to secure the White House other starting a civil war. And anybody who thinks even for a millisecond that Gore should have started a civil war to try to keep Smirk out of the White House should take a short vacation in Iraq, to see what civil war is like first hand. As bad as things are right now, we are still better off than we would be if we were in the middle of a civil war.

No matter how many times I revisit it, I can't find a scenario where Gore's actions would have significantly altered the outcome of the recount. He was given one of the worst hands possible for a Presidential candidate, and he still won. Would it have been possible for him to win Florida by a large enough margin that the vote fraud would not have mattered? I don't think so, given that there were about 46,000 more votes cast for Gore than for Smirk, and that doesn't include the tens of thousands of people who wanted to vote for Gore, but found they had been removed from the Florida voters rolls, or had their votes diverted by butterfly ballots and outdated equipment. I think there were no other votes to pick up - - that the folks left where not going to vote for Gore even if doing so was a cure for cancer and they had it.

And F.Y.I. Gore has never changed his position that he "couldn't possibly disagree more strongly" with the ruling in Bush v. Gore.

[mzmolly]

36. Love your blog, I'm totally on board. I hope Al runs in 2008.

Very few people are qualified to get us out of this mess, Gore is the best person for the job.



Thanks for your thoughtful recounting of the 2000 debacle.

[Peace Patriot]

39. Thanks for this rundown on Gore 2000. I've actually never blamed Gore

for not fighting on, because I think that, when the Supreme Court issued its wrongful and unprecedented ruling, he was had. There really wasn't anything else he could do. As for the Senators, not one of whom came forward to join the House (and largely black delegation) challenge of Florida, I still think it was shameful, despite the odds. That abandonment of black citizens' voting rights emboldened the dirty rotten Republicans in Ohio and other places in 2004.

My only beef with Gore is NAFTA, and I wonder what he thinks about it today. I think Clinton/Gore hoodwinked us with a promise to include labor and environmental protections, which they immediately reneged on, when in office. I suspect he has a better understanding of these global corporate predator trade agreements today. I would like to hear him speak on it.

I would also like to know what he thinks of Diebold and ES&S tabulating our votes with SECRET, PROPRIETARY programming code. Seems like a no-brainer to me, re: the 2004 election. And a lot of bipartisan corruption occurred around that $4 billion electronic voting boondoggle, in Congress, and at the state/local election official level. I think it is a FIRST PRIORITY problem. We now have NON-TRANSPARENT, UNVERIFIABLE elections--elections that CANNOT BE contested, because no audit or recount is possible--and I think that, AT THE VERY LEAST, the 2004 presidential election, the 2004 NC Senate election, and several of the 2002 Senate elections were fiddled. (--one hacker, a couple of minutes, leaving no trace--in the central electronic tabulators; that's all it takes).

Aside from that, in the speeches I've seen on video or read, the man is right on. He is brilliant. He is passionate. He is committed to our Constitutional democracy, and to peace and justice. And he comes across as not lying, not putting anybody on, and not caring what anybody (DLC, DNC, RNC, corporate funders, war profiteers, freepers, Christian wingnuts....etc.) thinks. Courage; strength of mind; great intellect; and, as this story reveals, heart, compassion and character of a most extraordinary kind. I would certainly vote for him--but I have to say that I have no confidence whatsoever that my vote will be counted.

[Call me Deacon Blues]

62. Oh, I don't disagree with you

But I know a lot of folks here think he should have "fought on", which is the reason I added that proviso to my remarks.

[dalaigh lllama]

81. Thanks for the lucid explanation

I'm another one hoping that Al Gore runs for president in 2008. I did vote for him in 2000, but without much excitement -- I just couldn't bring myself to vote for that bumbling idiot we still have. In recent months I've wondered what Dem I could support in '08 and none of the current crop have impressed me too much -- we're going to need someone pretty smart and capable to turn things around. I hadn't really thought about Gore running again, but after hearing about his quiet heroics in Katrina and reading his speech for the Sierra Club a few days later, Gore's the one for me. Do you think there's any chance he'd consider running?

[Senator]

87. To satisfy your curiosity (civil war and all)

The bottom line about what "Gore could have done" is simply to have spoken and acted based on his beliefs.

It doesn't really matter that Gore "couldn't possibly disagree more strongly" with the ruling in Bush v. Gore, if he was not prepared to do anything about it. Justice Breyer knew what was to be done about it and wrote in out in his dissent.

As for the presumption of "civil war" (or the Euphemedia version -- "tanks in the streets, oh my!"). I could never figure out just which Americans would be expected to start shooting at other Americans, nor in what context. You'll have to be more specific on the mechanism of that.

But even if that were the inevitable result, it would still be no reason to compromise the only principle on which the nation was founded -- that gov't power can only be derived from the consent of the governed. And while we might not have been "better off" to head down that road, I would imagine a great many Iraqi and Afghani civilians might take issue with your choice of lesser evils.

Now, as to less hyperbolic matters, you've done a fairly good job at recounting the GOP/Euphemedia talking points about why doing the right thing would have been futile. But I think you'll agree that your points 2 and 3 above were no longer relevant after BushvGore. In fact, the reason they chose to defile the (formerly) supreme court was that those other options tested badly in focus groups run by Frank Luntz.

So to point number one. Yes, the Congress in where the power resides. And yes, it was majority Republican (though not the Senate - but that's mainly irrelevant). The question is do we just fight the battles we can win -- or do we fight the battles that need fighting? Even this time around the response regarding Ohio was nearly universal: "You'll Never Get a Senator!" Well, you know what? We got one. (If you have any interest in why/how we kept fighting you can look here: www.jan6points.org )

So let me offer my own "would have," "could have" scenario.

Had Gore walked down the courthouse steps and said something to the effect of "this is just wrong, the people of Florida and therefore the nation elected me to lead them, I will not concede and ask that each member of congress do what they know to be right and disallow the tainted, unlawful electors from Florida," one thing definitely would have happened. We would have engaged in the necessary national debate about who really had the "consent of the governed."

Now, it's one thing to sit idly by when events seem out of your control. But when each Republican member of congress would have been asked to materially participate in what the knew to be election theft, there could well have been some defections. All they would have been asked to do is say that Florida was "too close to call" and therefore a "tie," not find fault with anyone.

FWIW, I think the chances of success were about 50/50. (Yes, really.)

[AlGore-08.com]

95. I disagree that it was his conceding that kept Senators from challenging

the electors, and that if he had not conceded, Senate Republicans would have defected from Smirk, and as a nation we would have had a national debate about who really won the election, for two main reasons.

1.) Your scenario assumes that Al Gore is/was the only person in America who has free will. Whether or not Gore did any of the things you think he should have done, all the folks in the Congress and the media and even us regular folks made up their own minds about how to respond to the Florida election and Bush v. Gore. If Barbara Boxer or John McCain had felt so morally outraged at the voter suppression in Florida that they joined the Florida 14's challenge, there was not thing one Gore could have done about it (except maybe ask them not to do it). If Dan Rather had felt so morally outraged that he spent time every newscast editorializing that Bush was not elected, there is not thing one Al Gore could have done about that either (except, again, ask him not to do it). If the people who voted for Gore had gone on strike (or something) until Bush was thrown out of office, there is not thing one Gore could have done to stop them (except, again, ask them not to do it).

Which leads me directly to point 2

2.) You claim that if Gore had not conceded, there was a 50/50 chance that Bush would not have been installed. Based on what? The fact that none of the Senators joined the challenge and none of the Florida 14 were Republicans? The fact that only 14 members of Congress stood up and said "I want to voice my outrage over the so-called election in Florida"? This is so basic I can't figure out another way to say it: if any of them were outraged, they would have protested the Florida election.

There were thousands (at least) individuals who wrote, faxed, emailed and called the members of the Senate begging them to join the challenge of the Florida electors. (I say at least because Democrats.com organized thousands of them.) Joe Biden said to the media a few days before the challenge that all the Senators had gotten more calls, emails and letters on this issue than any other, and Biden couldn't figure out why. The day after the electors were not challenged, Kerry and Biden were interviewed on TV, and Kerry was asked why he didn't challenge the electors. Kerry said "nobody asked me to." (I was one of the thousands of regular people who asked him. But... again and again and again... why should John Kerry or any other Senator need to be asked?)

Can you honestly look at the voting records of the individuals in Congress on that day in January, and say "when it's a question of moral principle, these guys can be trusted to do the right thing"?

3.) The "civil war" thing... my point is that after Bush v. Gore, Gore had no legal options left to become President. There was nothing he could personally do that would change Bush v. Gore. There was no higher court he could appeal to. There was no way to successfully dump the Florida electors. A challenge is simply a challenge, as we saw in 2004: if a challenge is made, each House of Congress then votes separately about whether to accept or dump the electors. Both Houses have to agree to dump the electors in order to dump them - - and the GOP controlled House was not going to vote to dump them.

Since there was no legal way to become President, logically, that leaves only illegal ways. The only illegal way that Gore could have become President at that point would have been to launch a civil war. It may sound hyperbolic, but it's fact.

[Senator]

103. I didn't say Gore "kept Senators from challenging"

We are not in disagreement on that point.

That claim has been made by others, but even if he tried, they had no right to follow his wishes. Each Senator had an affirmative duty to judge the electors up or down on any information available. They all failed in that duty (if interested more detail here -- SC Brief).

All I've said is that had Gore stood up on Dec 12th, he would have ignited the debate. This seems to me to be inarguable. His refusal to accept the travesty would have to be dealt with. At that point, his obligation would have been met. The chip would fall where they may. He simply had to open a mouth.

(BTW, I got a smile out of having the Kerry/Biden/MTP story told back to me, as I've told it to literally hundreds of people over the past 4 years. Shame that Michael Moore didn't get that into Fahrenheit 9-11, because when we were leafletting the theaters no one came out complaining about the Iraq carnage, or the Saudi/Bush alliance. Most came out stunned about the CBC on January 6th, 2001 with comments like "why didn't we know" and "I hate my Senator.")

Your "civil war" point is just reiteration. It's not about "the result" or any legal process. In fact, an election is not a legal process -- it is a political one -- hence the electors and the necessary approval by congress. So I'll reiterate. You fight because it is the right thing to do. If you fail to stand up and object, you become complicit with the crime. Both Gore and Kerry have chosen that route.

On a possibly more productive note, one crucial aspect of Senator Boxer's joining the objection in January was that she publicly recognized her own failure to stand up in 2001. This is all we can ask of any of them at this point. Now, should Al Gore finally come clean, stop making jokes about "that little-known third category" and, like President Carter has recently done, correct the record on the bush regime's illegitimacy; he would certainly improve his chance to be renominated.

But beyond that, he would help this nation come to terms with reality. The stolen election was a watershed event and continues to eat through our society like an acid, regardless of the refusal of the Euphemedia to acknowledge it. Everything that followed (even 9/11) flowed directly from that event.

I'm afraid that if we don't get the American People "off the hook" for the crimes of this regime -- by demanding accountability (including accusation and punishment) for both stolen elections -- we may never return to being the most powerful force for good on the planet, as American public opinion was for most of the past century.

I don't see any other way to get there. We can't continue in this national self-delusion.

--

[ronnykmarshall]

99. Yeah!

What he said!

[mzmolly]

34. Most do like Gore and realize that he always has the best intentions for

our Country.

Gore did all he could in 2000. He could have encouraged a worthless protest vote in the congress, but that would have gotten us as far as it did in 2004.

GORE IN 2008! I have NO qualms about that.

[DaytonOHDem]

94. I voted for A l Gore in 2000 and he has done nothing

to make me regret that vote. I think he believed he was doing the right thing in 2000 when he stopped fighting. He thought he was doing the right thing for the country, George Bush only does the right thing for George Bush. I would have no problem voting for Al Gore in 2008, I respect him even more today than I did in 2000.

[knitter4democracy]

101. I didn't trust him at the time, and I regret that now.

Hindsight is 20/20, and I wish I'd known then what I know now. Gore really should run again, and the party should unite strongly behind him and Tipper, pulling out all the stops. It's different this time, and I really think someone as good as Gore could win strongly enough for even the vote-stealing crap wouldn't be effective.

He's a good man, and he'll be a great president.

[AzDar]

107. Gore fought...until the Supreme Court stepped in. Now, John Kerry,

on the other hand, bent over and grabbed his ankles like a five-dollar 'ho.

[JNelson6563]

6. Ah President Gore

gets it done. How wonderful he is!! I sure hope I get a chance to vote for this man again.

Julie

[mzmolly]

37. Me too Julie.

[JNelson6563]

78. Hey mzmolly!!

Good to see you!

[NotGivingUp]

7. I have not seen ANY coverage of this.

Just like there is little or no coverage of the war protests, AND the little coverage there is has a definite spin.

[NYCGirl]

11. Gore made sure there was no coverage, because he didn't want it to be

about him. A Fox reporter went to interview him, but he turned them away.

[MADem]

8. Wonderful post about a wonderful man, who was robbed of his rightful title

Well done, and thanks for sharing that.

[renate]

82. WE were robbed of his rightful title!

What a different country, what a different world it would be if not for that damn butterfly ballot and that damn Supreme Court.

[Im with Rosey]

9. Great Read

If anyone from Al's camp is a reader here, You have my support and lots of other's as well! SEE AL RUN!

[jwirr]

14. That is OUR PRESIDENT in action. Thanks to him

but also to the airlines that agreed to help, the people of Tennessee that took part in this and everyone else involved. The FEMA and military people who tried to stop him should be held accountable. But then no one is being held accountable for anything these days.

[The Traveler]

15. Clearly, I must re-evaluate my estimation of Mr. Gore

It would appear that his "time in the wilderness" after the 2000 coup has done something for the man. Why have we heard so little of this? Interesting. A man of action, rather than "one who leads from behind", when he bothers to lead at all. The contrast between Gore and Bush could not be more striking.

[autorank]

16. Brian Williams and the rest of the CM folks should apologize to Gore

They treated him dreadfully in the campaign, Williams in particular. As Williams surveys the the tragedy of NOLA disaster response brought to us by the Bush administration, he needs to remind himself that he and other prominent network news reporters were responsible for creating the conditions of public opinion that brought us that negligent, obscenity of a response.

Thanks for nothing CM (corporate media).

[lakeguy]

18. they don't care, they got the boy king they wanted

[autorank]

75. Right, their masters were pleased. Gave them an extra bone or two, some

table scraps. My favorite offense was their crap about Gore saying he invented the internet. He didn't say that but without Gore, the internet would certainly have been delayed. I know that for a fact because I was in the biz at that time and we were worried shitless about 'free networking' and then Sen. Gore was behind it. Great judgment on his part, brilliant guy, they trashed him. Fuck them, forever.

[confludemocrat]

20. Alot of people need to rethink their Al Gore position even without this

Also, I have watched his channel. A lot of subtle messages there for liberal values.

[drummo]

52. And some no so subtle.

Watch Battle for America and Grace at Camp Casey. Both are now on air.

[autorank]

76. Journalists were jealous of Gore's intelligence, being the intellectually

limited nit wits that they are. I'm sure his channel will be a huge success.

[drummo]

79. One thing is sure

They have the best graphics and visuals of all channels.
I hope it not a result of outsourcing.

[bobbieinok]

102. I believe some media person admitted this post 2000

[drummo]

106. Really? Who?

[Democrat 4 Ever]

31. The difference between Dems and Repugs that have left office

could not be more transparent. Carter, Clinton, Gore all work their tails off to make this country a better place.

The Repugs, well, what the hell do they do except rake in "hugh" fees for talking to conservative groups? Ford? Played golf. Raygun? Nope, too senile for further service. Bush 41? He was a board member for the Carlyle Group, hanging out with the Saudis, speechifying for the dildoheads and taking pot shots at Dems until Sonny Boy needed his ass saved. Then 41 needed Clinton to give it some weight and credibility - twice! Meanwhile, Chimpy is flying from one photo op after another once he comes out of hiding. After he leaves office I'm betting he will be scoping out all of the rebuilt places in the French Quarter where he had such great times before PNAC tagged him for his cardboard cut out presidency.

An out of office Dem on their worst day is ten times greater than a repug (in or out of office) on their best.

[autorank]

77. Nailed it, right on the money!

[Historic NY]

17. Thanks.......I knew there was more to the story.....

after seeing Al's picture he was clearly very tired and pissed off. He clearly deserves the right to run again, its up to him. I'd be proud to call him "my President".

[WA98296]

19. Yes, but isn't he making sure the Media knows now?

Wonderful deeds I still see this is an after-the-fact photo op. It certainly puts to shame what Hillary Clinton did. I received an email "from her" sending her meager platitudes of "thoughts and prayers" to the victims, then going to say she was heading, the next day, to the New York State Fair...and to drop in and say "Hi".....How stupid...


Gore's chance came and went -- we were there working our asses off for him however when the time came....Not ONE Senator would stand up for the disinfranchised black voters in Florida...Al Gore was there... Throughout the campaign he was so terrified of being compared to that sex-crazed Clinton that he did all he could to distance himself.

Time for something new.... but kudos to Al.

[Dr Fate]

23. I think the media should know about this part:

"...the doctors at the airport told him that the evacuation of the first 90 ambulatory patients had been the tipping point in their ability to adequately care for the other bedridden patients. They also noted that the military evacuations did not really pick up steam until after we "motivated" them with our private effort."

[AlGore-08.com]

61. No, Gore is NOT talking about this event on or off the record AT ALL.

Because he doesn't want to turn a private act of charity into a photo op. It's been because of grassroots supporters that this story has gotten out at all.

I've been following and promoting the story since it broke, the day before Gore made the flights. It was first mentioned in passing on the 9/2/05 edition of Washington Week In Review. They were discussing the ridiculous amount of red tape that volunteers had to go through to help out Katrina victims, and Alexis Simendinger mentioned as a total aside even Al Gore was having trouble getting through the red tape. Nobody cared enough to follow up and ask what was Gore doing or did he ever get clearance?

The next day, Sat. 9/3/05, a Fox News cameraman saw Gore inside the New Orleans airport, and photographed him. Fox News asked for an interview and Gore refused them. CNN put it on their crawler that Gore was in NOLA to fly victims to Tennessee, but neither news org reported any details (such as the fact that the flight would land in Knoxville).

I and other bloggers started talking about this story that day, Sat. 9/3/05, even though there were very few details available.

There was no coverage in the national media the following day (Sunday 9/4/5) when Gore returned to NOLA and airlifted the second group of Katrina victims to Chattanooga.

There were a very few local stories about Gore's efforts in the Tennessee papers between Saturday 9/3/05 and Friday, Sept. 9/9/05. None of them had much information, other than the fact that Gore was involved somehow in these flights and that he refused to be interviewed about them.

Roger Simon's piece appeared on the TPM Cafe site Wednesday, 9/7/05. There was no reaction by the media, but bloggers like me posted the story around the left side of the web.

Gore gave two speeches about Global Warming in Portland on Tuesday, 9/6/05. There was some coverage of Gore's speech by the local media and more by bloggers. None of it mentioned Gore's airlifts to NOLA (which they would have done, if Gore spoke about them, because they do get people talking).

On Friday, 9/9/05, - - a week after the story broke - - Gore gave a speech on global warming to the first annual Sierra Club conference. Gore was added to the roster at the last minute. The MSM included coverage of Gore's flights to NOLA in their coverage of his speech, but Gore and Simon both refused to be interviewed about it.

My guess about why it took the MSM a week to cover Gore's effort is because Gore's late addition to the Sierra Club speakers' list looked "political" to them. They suspected that Gore might be upping his public profile to start positioning himself for a 2008 run. Only when Gore changed from a private citizen to a politician in their eyes was Gore's private act of charity seen as newsworthy.

Gore is still not discussing this publicly. I was at a taping of his global warming presentation this weekend, and he spoke about Katrina, and did not even hint that he had done anything at all in response. He came back after the taping to chat with the audience and let his hair down a little, but still said nothing about these flights.

Gore doesn't take credit for a lot of the things that he has done to help individual citizens. Gore took a personal interest in the brain damaged son of my best friend, who needed round the clock nursing care to stay alive. When the insurance company tried to dump their coverage, they had nowhere to turn, and in desperation, they wrote every major public official they could think of. Gore was the only one who responded. He didn't know my friend from a hole in the ground, but Gore called in the media and got them to embarrass the insurance company into maintaining the coverage.

Gore never took credit for his role in keeping the coverage intact, even when he was in office, even when he was on the campaign trail. Gore has continued to take an interest in the family and visits every time he is in their area. My best friend's entire family will tell you that Al Gore saved their son's life, but Al Gore won't tell you. Ever.

[mzmolly]

80. What a wonderful story.

Gore doesn't take credit for a lot of the things that he has done to help individual citizens. Gore took a personal interest in the brain damaged son of my best friend, who needed round the clock nursing care to stay alive. When the insurance company tried to dump their coverage, they had nowhere to turn, and in desperation, they wrote every major public official they could think of. Gore was the only one who responded. He didn't know my friend from a hole in the ground, but Gore called in the media and got them to embarrass the insurance company into maintaining the coverage.

Gore never took credit for his role in keeping the coverage intact, even when he was in office, even when he was on the campaign trail. Gore has continued to take an interest in the family and visits every time he is in their area. My best friend's entire family will tell you that Al Gore saved their son's life, but Al Gore won't tell you. Ever.

[drummo]

73. Based on Clinton's insane behavior

I would have done all I could to distance myself from him, too.
Gore is not like Clinton. And it was his campaign not Clinton's. Clinton had his two terms. What more did he want? It was Gore's turn. He had every right to run on his own merits, and by the way, he won on his merits.

Who did Clinton use in 1992? Who did Bush use in 2000? Who did Reagan use in 1980? If they had the right to run their own campaign why do you think Gore didn't have the same? Especially considering the fact that Gore was far more qualified for the job than either Clinton in 1992 or Reagan in 1980 or Bush in 2000.

If at least 1000 Palm Beach county voters had not missed the right puchhole you wouldn't have the opportunity to criticize Gore for distacing himself from Clinton.
In fact he would be praised that he could distance himself from an impeached, morally-challenged president -- which was not an easy task since the media kept focusing on Clinton throughout the campaign.

[txindy]

86. Gore was absolutely right to distance himself from Clinton

I know many people around the country who voted for Junior simply because of Clinton. Yes, Clinton. Not against Gore, but against Clinton. They could not, or would not, distinguish between the two. They saw the VP as being so closely tied to Clinton that they could not separate them. I must've burned up miles of phone lines trying to talk sense into all of these people. Not a chance. Time and distance, though, have done the trick. They don't mistake Gore for Clinton, anymore, and most of them (not all) see Junior for the dangerous butthead that I told them he was back in 2000.

Al Gore did the right thing by distancing himself from Bill Clinton and, I believe, he did the right thing by stepping out of the spotlight after the 2000 election. Junior is destructive and self-destructing, and the public finally sees it.

[Dr Fate]

21. I dont know who I am supporting- but I hope Gore runs in the primaries.

He is an interesting guy- I'd like to see what he can do without those Donna Brazille type strategists...

Kerry, Gore & Clark are my faves right now...

[NNadir]

22. Welcome to DU. A very fine post.

You did better than many of us who have been here a long time.

It does seem to me that we need President-elected Gore ultimately to assume office.

[John Q. Citizen]

24. Nice post and very informative. I like Gore better than I did when

he was a candidate, and have for a long time. I think he was too influenced by the DLC during his campaign, and at the time the DNC was DLC also. I don't blame him at all for conceding after the Supreme Court shut down the recount. Even if he had proved the election fraud we all know existed in Fl, and shown that he won the popular vote in FL, the FL state legislature would have intervened and given FL to bush anyway.


kma3346, I don't believe you broke any rules but suggest you go to the home page and read the rules so that you know what's up. It's always good to know the rules.

[OneBlueSky]

25. I've never been a big Al Gore fan, but . . .

in light of his actions during Katrina, I'm absolutely prepared to revise my opinion of him . . . the fact that he organized this airlift and did NOT seek publicity for himself speaks volumes about the man, and favorably contrasts him with virtually every other US politician of national import . . . if Gore decides to run in 2008 -- and I now hope that he does -- I will support him enthusiastically . . .

[La Coliniere]

26. Thanks for posting this!

I've heard only snatches of this story since it occured; now I can fill in the blanks. All of the MSM treated Gore like crap in 2000. No secret why. I'd support him in 2008. In fact, I can't think of a better person at this early stage in the game. Yes, Nixon did it (though THAT made me ill), so Gore can come back triumphantly too.

[lildreamer316]

27. Good to see this and kick! n/t

[kma3346]

28. Thanks!

For the many kind words and welcomes. I've been a little timid about posting, but this other DU post really inspired me (especially #14, which lead me to the article about Gore's mercy mission):

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[converted_democrat]

29. I love Al Gore!!!!!!!!

I too will volunteer and donate to his campaign should he decide to run. He is such a good person on so many different levels. I so hope he runs again. He should have been our president all along.


edit to add- nominated

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

30. That's my President for you being truly Presidential. Note!

His son joined him! Just like the Bushbot twins...right???

"At 7 a.m. on Saturday September 3, the American Airlines plane with Gore and the doctors and Gore's son Albert left Dallas for New Orleans.

I love Al!

[suziedemocrat]

32. Al Gore is AMAZING!!!!!!!

[pitohui]

35. gore has done an impressive job

it is appreciated

[Olney Blue]

38. I have been thinking more and more.....

that Gore is the only one with the intellectual clout and integrity to pull us out of this f***ing mess.


This time, Clinton will not be political baggage. After years of death, war, and deficit, Americans will be longing for the leadership that a brilliant Dem like Gore can deliver.


GORE in 2008.

[wryter2000]

49. Intellectual clout

I also think he's the best qualified to deal with the environmental mess * and his robber barns have created.

[crispini]

40. What a big heart!

Al Gore.

[leanin_green]

41. You know, Al works better after he get's pissed.

After the '00 fiasco, I never stopped keeping track of Al. I would scan C-span in hopes of catching one of his speeches. Since '00 his fire has been rekindled. He speaks from his gut and says what he feels needs to be said. One of the first ones to call *'s cronies "brown shirts." I feel like this is coming around to Al just like it did for Nixon when he felt cheated in '60. Maybe Al can kick ass in '08 like Nixon did in '68.
GO AL GO!!!

[Raksha]

42. INTEGRITY...what a concept! Al Gore is my President...

I already decided that yesterday, but reading this story confirms it. We needed him in 2000...we need him that much more in 2008!

[rosesaylavee]

43. duplicate

self deleted

[rosesaylavee]

44. Acting like a leader, go figure. Just grateful for his example as we

don't get to see that much nowadays. Just think how many from NO would have lived without the * "appointment" in 2000.

I will never stop being angry about it.

Kicked & Nominated!!

[glitch]

46. Wonderful post! It's already got a bunch of noms but I must nom too

and belated welcome to DU!

[kma3346]

50. Thank you!

I've decided that instead of being depressed and feeling helpless, I'm going to channel some of my energy into action. I've been writing the media, my senators/congresswoman, John Conyers (of course!) and others. It actually made me feel better and less demoralized. I highly recommend it to all!!

[wryter2000]

47. Thanks

I'll support Gore any way I can if he decides to run.

[patdem]

51. Not meaning to be condesending, cause when I say Honey, I usually

am..but Honey, If that were my first post I would be as happy as a pig in slop. You are a TRUE patriot...and for a first post it is AMAZING...I look forward to your 2nd to 100,000th....

[kma3346]

104. Thank you!

Only 99,865 more to go!!!

[mom cat]

53. Excelent post. Thanks! kicked and nominated

[wakemewhenitsover]

54. RE-ELECT PRESIDENT GORE!

[wakemewhenitsover]

55. I'll say it again...

[wakemewhenitsover]

56. RE-ELECT PRESIDENT GORE!

[SammyWinstonJack]

57. Thank you. If he does decide to run, he has my support, all of it.

Here's hoping he does.

[slay]

58. Al Gore - What a REAL President looks like

and acts like, and does, etc. Al Gore 2008!

[Autonomy]

59. Gore is my president.

What would the world be like had all the votes been counted? At one time in my life I dreamed of utopia, but now I dream of democracy.

[political_invader]

60. Great post thx nt

[krkaufman]

63. Excellent post -- both in content *and* formatting. Impressive!

And thanks!

[Cha]

64. Thank you, for this, kma3346!

It reaffirms what I've always thought about Gore!

[Disturbed]

66. I voted for him and will again if he decides to go for it again

GW Bush is an illigit Prez. Al Gore is the person that should have been Prez.

[Cha]

69. And Prez Jimmy Carter

said so, too!

[Window]

65. My President!!!!!

What a beautiful soul.

Peace

[tinrobot]

67. Al Gore deserves to be president

I saw him speak a few nights ago. He went for two hours about global warming with notes or cue cards. Contrast that to a "president" who can't even hold a press conference without wearing a wire.

Al Gore is brilliant, caring, honest, modest. He's everything we need right now and he would be one of the best presidents this country has ever had. I would move mountains to see him in the White House where he rightfully belongs.

[Pepperbelly]

68. A decent person doing what he can to allieviate suffering.

Would but our current Prez were known that way.

[Pooka Fey]

70. Using my 999th post to say Thank you, President Gore!!

[spuddonna]

71. Thanks so much for this excellent post!

I have not heard anything about this in the MSM... It's quite amazing, because I thought people would be all over it...

[electron_blue]

72. Thanks!! Surely a zine with national coverage could cover this?

Anyone for suggestions?

[drummo]

74. BTW the mayor of Knoxville,Bill Haslam, is a Republican

Gore and Haslam. Odd couple, huh?

[Digit]

83. I always liked Al and a prez w/a brain again would be nice...

Thanks for your post. I am very impressed with his quick, hands on response and would be proud to vote for him once again.

[Quixote1818]

84. Al Gore is the definition of what a gentalman and a hero is

Extremely impressive and inspiring!

[Kazak]

85. NBG!!!

...and another nom.

[kma3346]

96. Thank you!

What does "NBG" mean? I'm still kind of new to all of the acronyms.

[Kazak]

97. Nobody. But. GORE!!!

[kma3346]

98. AHA!

NBG! I'll drink to that!

[Douglas Carpenter]

88. dispassionately - I just think Gore is probably the best candidate

I try to avoid loving or being in awe of any politician - On the issues, Al Gore is probably well to the right of my own personal political convictions. I was completely ho-hum about him and his candidacy in 2000. I had no interest in seeing him run in 2004.

But, he seems to have picked up a lot of umph since 2000. He now has appeal that crosses the whole breadth and depth of the Democratic Party. Americans love a come-back kid story. He's no Dennis Kucinich on the issues. But, he is certainly no Joe Lieberman either. I suspect there would be a favorable psychology in appealing to a growing widespread realization that things would have been handled better if Gore had been inaugurated President in January 2001. He has an international standing and presence and experience that his hard to beat. And he is a southerner.

I feel absolutely no hero worship for the man. I just think that given the real live choices of likely nominees down here on planet earth--Al Gore is almost certainly the strongest possible candidate in 2008.

[Dover]

89. A look into Al Gore's career potentials

I thought this was insightful about Al, and seems to support the view of the man we see at work in the posted article, above.

If you are not 'into' astrology, please skip this and spare us your sniping. Thanks.

This is an analysis of Gore's career potentials based on his birth chart, done by one of the most highly regarded astrologers working today, Liz Greene:

http://www.astro.com/samples/sp_gore_e.htm

[second edition]

91. I think it is commendable for Mr. Gore to have done this. However,

things might have turned out differently,and not for the better either. He could be facing a lot of backlash now for acting without the full backing of the government. Our country has rules and regulations for good reasons-even though they sometime seem to work against us.
I am also wondering why this one episode of heroics keeps on being posted over and over again. And why the constant questioning of there being no mention of this in the press? This wasn't suppose to be a photo-op exercise. It was suppose to be one US citizen doing what he could to help out the sick and dying in NO.

Al Gore is a good man I'm sure, but the constant postings bringing up his good deeds in NO are being diminished by what appears to be a 2008 Presidential push by some posters.

[eShirl]

93. sorry, it's a natural reaction.

Besides, a few posts on a message board can neither diminish nor enhance what Gore does.

[kma3346]

100. Actually

The main thing that prompted me to post this was more about the lengths that were gone to in order to prevent Gore (and others) from helping people in dire need. In fact, I created a new thread specifically about that because I didn't want that aspect of the situation to be overlooked--especially in the light of what we're now seeing about militarizing disaster relief, not allowing for an independent investigation on what went wrong, and so forth. The new thread is here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

I should have given it a better subject title, but now it's too late to edit it. Oh well!

I do think that Gore deserves to be commended and was disappointed that it wasn't in the press, despite him obviously not doing it for that reason. I admit I'd love to see him run and win in 2008, but that remains to be seen....

[eShirl]

92. Gore - once and future president. Bush Junior - the pretender.

.

[JaneQPublic]

105. Gore would be a truly great president.