Al Gore is changing the debate!

[johnaries]

An email I just sent Howard Dean:

Al Gore is changing the debate! As more and more people are exposed to Gore’s message either directly or indirectly, I have noticed in both personal conversations and in the press that more and more people are recognizing the reality of global warming and environmental issues in general are becoming more of a concern to the general public. The protests of global warming nay-sayers are becoming increasingly shrill and impotent and are largely being ignored. Personally, Gore’s comments comparing these protests to previous Tobacco Industries efforts is the most powerful argument - this is a comparison that Americans remember and understand.

If those of us seeking a return to Democracy build on the groundwork that Al Gore has laid, environmental issues can become one of the most important issues in both the 2006 mid-terms and the 2008 elections, if not THE most important issue. According to this Berkeley paper http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~es196/projects/2005fi... , all of the White Euro-American mainline pastors studied interpreted Genesis 1:28 as instructing Christians to be “stewards of the Earth”, and 40% of White Euro-American Fundamentalist pastors agreed (along with all African-American participants).

It’s obvious that Republicans are using anti-abortion and gay marriage rhetoric to court Fundamentalists, but their efforts have been purposely ineffectual because they don’t want to lose these as campaign issues - and blaming “activist judges“, even though the Supreme Court is stacked with a Conservative majority. Fundamentalists are beginning to realize this and are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the Republican Party. If we can continue to change the debate to environmental issues, we can SPLIT the Fundamentalist vote! We can turn a significant portion of the Republican base to vote Democratic!

Further, as Gore and Tom Brokaw have both stated in interviews on Dave Letterman, there are several major corporations that have already started to move in environmentally friendly directions. If Democrats support legislation and prosecution that severely fines the largest polluters (which could be a large revenue stream to help counter the deficit) and offers incentives to environmentally friendly corporations, think of the potential campaign contributions we could gain from these major corporations who are already acting!

We should also focus on other main issues such as the Iraq Quagmire and Homeland Security - especially since there are increasingly more reports that we are not safer here at home. Also the increasing deficit, Republican corruption, etc. However, by adding the environmental debate and building on Al Gore’s work Democrats can win a landslide in 2006 and 2008!

[johnaries]

1. Dam! I forgot to add Election Fraud as an issue!

Kicking myself for forgetting such a HUGE issue!


edit: I've changed the last paragraph:

div class="excerpt"]We should also focus on other main issues such as the Iraq Quagmire and Homeland Security - especially since there are increasingly more reports that we are not safer here at home. Also the increasing deficit, Republican corruption, etc. Also extremely important: Election Fraud. Without clean elections, we have no Democracy. However, by adding the environmental debate and building on Al Gore’s work Democrats can win a landslide in 2006 and 2008!

[glitch]

8. Send him another (so well written) because it does deserve it's own nt

[helderheid]

16. Send it to your paper!

[johnaries]

21. The Tennessean? It will never get printed.

The Nashville Tennessean USED to be a great newspaper - until John Siegenthaler left. Now it's a Reublican Rag. I cancelled my subscription a long time ago.

[WhiteTara]

2. I hope he gets his mail and he listens

we need to change and control the debate instead of always having to defend and manuever.

[butterfly77]

3. We have so many issues that...

we shouldn't have a problem.

[MissWaverly]

4. would be good to promote healing the country

Fix a broken planet, fix the Gulf Coast, fix our naton, America has been shattered by greedy,
divisive politicians who marched us off to war based on a lie, it's time for the country to
heal.

[Yoda Yada]

5. I like that idea....

...and emphasize the specifics. (Also, that George Bush is a divider...NOT a uniter).

[MissWaverly]

10. thanks and Al Gore is the man

he is just a force for good, he has promoted wise energy policies for most of his life, he
is an experienced politician who can talk with congress. He is the man who could do it.

[johnaries]

22. I would love to see him run in '08.

But even if he doesn't, he has already had a huge influence.

[Reckon]

7. Excellent strategy!

[MissWaverly]

11. I must admit I did not expect such enthusiasm

I was trying to think of a more saavy, Madison Avenue speak way of saying this but it's
what needs done.

[johnaries]

17. Miss Waverly you are more than welcome to use anything you

like from my letter and add your own points, as well. As a matter of fact, I recommend that EVERYONE reading this thread write you own letters using anything you like from mine and adding your own. The more letters, the better!

I hit "reply" to an email I received from Dean and came up with this address:

[e-mail]

Now that I look at it, that appears to be an automatic "mailer" address. I probably should have used the [e-mail] address.

Come to think of it, I will resend it to that address when I finish revising the letter thanks to everyone's fantastic ideas! Any more ideas for revisions? Who else should I send it to?

[MissWaverly]

20. Thanks, I have bookmarked this thread

[glitch]

9. excellent! nt

[MissWaverly]

13. thanks

love your conspiracy theory signature line but would like to add:

It's not conspiracy when we do it, GOP speak.

[glitch]

31. I know, it's just so rich. I think he's telling us not to believe the bush

explanation for 9/11.

[johnaries]

12. Excellent point!

I've changed the last paragraph again and added this line:

"Of course, we also cannot forget “healing and re-uniting the country” after Bush has proven he is a Divider, not a Uniter."

Why didn't I post this BEFORE I sent it? I should've known I'd get so many great ideas from DU'ers.

[MissWaverly]

15. Great, Glad you added that line

after all this is the "United" States not the United only for Republicans States

[johnaries]

19. Great line! Send a letter! Use it! n/t

[mhr]

6. Al Gore - My President!

eom

[Reckon]

14. I totally agree

Environmental issues are the most important issues of our life time. It was a key factor that helped bring the Neo-Cons to power so they could roll back Kyoto and stall the global warming movement. Money, profits and greed are behind the corporate take over of our Gov't.

EDIT: Global warming is a key issue in winning the next elections. We need to seize on the opportunity Al Gore has given us.

[MissWaverly]

18. it not just that "Neo" reminds me of "Neolithic" = Neocon

Neolithic* = designating or of an old World cultural period in the later part of the Stone Age.
Only instead of "stones" insert oil here. There must have been a lot of people fighting over
who had the biggest heaps of stones back then while the world was moving on to an alternative
energy source: fire. Instead of keeping focused on the past, we should be sending our energy
into the future and looking for ways to move forward not backwards. It's time.


*Webster's New World Dictionary

[Reckon]

23. johnaries, we should start a Global warming section

in the research area of DU so we can list resources like your letter, video, links, etc.

I'm sure plenty of DU'ers will join in and help.

I'll be there, K&R.

Edit: Ok, I've added a Global warming topic under Issues. Here's the link to the edit page:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Reckon]

24. I've added

the first two paragraphs of johnaries letter to the Global warming index.

DUers, come on over and give a hand formatting the page.

EDIT: Please feel free to edit anything or add a resource.

Thanks!

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

EDIT: fix link.

[MissWaverly]

25. Reckon, your link does not work

[johnaries]

26. Thank you! Great idea!

But Miss Waverly is right, your link isn't working....

[johnaries]

27. I have re-written the last part of my letter.

Special thanks to Miss Waverly and Yoda Yada (because I stole some of your ideas)!

I have bullet-pointed the other issues I think are important to winning the elections and added that because of election fraud we may NEED a land-slide win:

We should also focus on other main issues such as:

> The Iraq Quagmire and bringing our troops home. (a special Thank-you to John Murtha, John Kerry, and Russ Feingold)
> Torture - NEVER acceptable. The Geneva Convention applies whether you call the POW’s or “enemy combatants.”
> Homeland Security - especially since there are increasingly more reports that we are not safer here at home. For one thing, Port Security is STILL an issue!
> Illegal, ineffective NSA spying. Not only is it illegal, it is only creating “red herrings” that is wasting our intelligence man-power. As one expert said, this administration is not connecting the dots it is simply collecting more dots.
> The increasing deficit. Repeal tax cuts for the rich and stress better efficiency in government. Stop the huge Republican “earmark” giveaways!
> Increase the minimum wage and wages overall. This is not only good for the workers, by increasing consumer buying power it is also good for the economy.
> Stop or at least slow down out-sourcing. Get rid of corporate incentives to move off-shore.
Republican corruption. Abramoff, Delay, Valerie Plame’s outing, Sybil Edwards and other whistle-bower protections, etc.
> Health Care. Most Americans want Universal Health Care.
> Also extremely important: Election Fraud. Without clean elections, we have no Democracy. (A special Thank-you to John Conyers)
> Of course, we also cannot forget “healing and re-uniting the country” after Bush has proven he is a Divider, not a Uniter. The “United” States should be more than just a name.

However, by adding the environmental debate and building on Al Gore’s work Democrats can win a landslide in 2006 and 2008! And until Democrats can regain power and do something about Election Fraud, we may NEED a landslide.

Here are the addresses I'm planning on sending it to:

Howard Dean [e-mail]
DCCC [e-mail]
John Kerry http://kerry.senate.gov/text/contact/email.html
Russ Feingold http://feingold.senate.gov/contact_opinion.html
John Conyers [e-mail]
Harold Ford mailto:[e-mail]

Any other "send to" suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I think Reckon's idea is excellent. I encourage anyone so-minded to use any portion of my letter whether copy/paste or paraphrased along with your own ideas/suggestions and send your own letters, especially to any Dems running in your state.

We can make a difference. And we will NEED a landslide to overcome Republican Election Fraud!

edit:
Here is the link to the research topic Reckon started:

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

but for some reason it has been edit-locked by madmunchie without any explanation. I think I will pm madmunchie (being respectful, of course) to find out why.

[Reckon]

28. I don't know why

but the page is gone?

Do you think someone removed it?

edit: It's back, but I don't see any changes.

[johnaries]

29. Just read the posting instructions - there is an automatic edit-lock

to keep posters from over-writing each other. According to the instructions it lasts either for 15 minutes or until you post the message (not sure what triggers each). So, it should be available in a few minutes.

Thanks!

[Reckon]

30. Added a link to

Charlie Rose - Al Gore interview.

I'm taking a break so you can edit.

later!

Edit: you might need to re-edit for it to show up.

Thanks!

[MissWaverly]

32. I think your edits are good, it seems easier to read now

[dalloway]

33. Anyone know how the movie is doing lately?

I just saw it last night with my husband, and we were both blown away. I was wondering if audiences were dropping off or if it is still going strong. I live in a very progressive town, and we've had 4-6 showings per day for a few weeks now.

First thing this morning, I changed our electricity to 100% renewables (in NJ we have that option with PSE&G by paying a slight amount more. (for you NJ DU'ers, here is the url: http://www.njcleanpower.com/html/options.html for all the companies--I ended up going with Green Mountain for a variety of reasons)

Tomorrow, I'll email my friends and get them to do the same.

Step-by-step.

The next day, I write to the local paper....

[johnaries]

34. From Rotten Tomatoes

BOX OFFICE HISTORY
Week ... Rank ... Wkd. Gross .. Theaters .. Per Theater .. Cumulative
Week #1 ..22 .... $367,311 ........ 4 ...... $91,828 ...... $490,860
Week #2 ..9 ..... $1,356,387 ..... 77 ...... $17,615 ...... $1,937,361
Week #3 ..11 .... $1,504,701 ... 122 ...... $12,334 ...... $3,983,071
Week #4 ..12 .... $1,911,747 ... 403 ...... $4,744 ....... $6,567,780
Week #5 ..14 .... $2,016,408 ... 514 ...... $3,923 ....... $9,630,014
Box office cumulative figures also include daily grosses from Monday through Thursday (not shown).

Pretty impressive for a limited release documentary.

[autorank]

36. Pretty impressivei for hardly any advertising either. The DVD will

just blow the charts away. This is a natural for that market and the promotion via the internet will be intense.

It's important that Gore is giving 100% of any money made on this film to environmental organizations. He was totally clear on that on Jon Stewart (who blew the most important interview of his life by joking with Gore; regretfully since I love Stewart).

[johnaries]

39. And the book is #1 on Amazon!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-se...

At least it was when I posted this. It's updated every hour, and I hope it's still #1 in hours to come....

edit to add: #2 in paperback nonfiction on NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/bestseller/index.htm...

#8 OVERALL on Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/bestsellers/top100.asp

[autorank]

35. Great post and analysis...

Gore's message is that we face ONE SINGLE ISSUE OF OVER RIDING IMPORTANCE--SURVIVAL AS A SPECIES.

In a previous thread on this subject, some astute users pointed out that this is not about the survival
of the planet. The planet will survive. It's about our survival and continuation as a species.

Think about it -- the culture of greed, willing ignorance, willful neglect and stupidity might end the human race, in just decades.

Here's a chilling piece of what might happen. It's a minority view and the scientists suggesting it are clear on that. However, it shows the peril we face, truly chilling...

http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/26545 /

[johnaries]

37. Thanks, autorank! I've always respected your work

along with TIA's, so your post means a lot to me.

PS, read my sig line.

[autorank]

40. Sig line is the humbling truth;) "our place" should be welcoming not

toxic.

[Amonester]

38. Kick

Let's keep this thread kicked because: This is important. Very important.

In fact, of all platforms, it's one of the most important platforms for action.

Without enough food, this species, along with all species, is an endangered one.

[Amonester]

41. Good morning kick! n/t

[sweetheart]

42. Eco issues are the new conservatism

To be a recycling ego-green composter is a "conservative value", truth to the word,
and this is a repackaging of centrism, "green egosaving of the planet" as a new conservative
meme to disempower the more intelligent "champion the poor" message that is more critical to
reality and the grassroots.

Love saving the planet, but without serving the poor and disenfranchised, it looks like a
new way to sell big corporatism, just covered in green paint, not reformed, just repackaged.

I hope global warming moves voters. It might move some minds, but its gotta move hearts too.

[BrklynLiberal]

43. Afternoon kick