No one should be running for president

[JackRiddler]

IT'S FEBRUARY TWO THOUSAND AND SEVEN!

Do you people understand how completely democracy has been mocked, twisted and torn? You're talking about front-runners and fundraisers. Can anyone overcome Hillary's warchest? Is it true that only kryptonite can affect Obama's invulnerable charisma? Did Joe Blow blow it by waiting a week too long? Is America really ready for Mary Doodle?

It's a year before the first primary, and the sick thing is - those of you already focused on the campaign circus are probably right. It's already too late to enter, unless your name happens to be Gore or Bruce Willis or Oprah. That's how low the farce of politics by corporate mercenary has gone. Why do you accept it without a peep?

What's funny here is how many of you can't see that - within this context - the smartest campaign by far is being run by Gore. He's packed in educated audiences of first adopters and multipliers at 1,000-plus campaign stops. All of them leave thinking the same thing: How come a moron is president instead of this guy?

He gets invaluable, neutral publicity thanks to his movie, the film academy, the Nobel rumors -- and like the Aqua Teen Hunger Force campaign, it's all for free. People actually think there's a reason to read his coming book -- as a book, and not as a collection of platitudes, maudlin childhood anecdotes and prescription soundbites that the candidate's team hope will appeal to Hockey Dad, Soccer Mom and Britney Baby.

Gore is framed in terms of causes, with no focus on his personality, his "chances" or any other bullshit. He can basically wait as long as he likes and watch his stock rise, then play the Clean Man and sweep aside all the compromised hairdo midgets. I disliked him once but very much admire how he's doing it.

And you folks who say he won't be running because he's found a "higher calling." I guess some of you sure hope so! Yeah, it's a "higher calling" to be a saint on the sidelines -- loved as universally as you are ignored.

If he means it about global warming, then the only morally defensible course is to run for president - and this time, we can hope that he won't be a trojan horse (as was the case with the Clinton administration). This guy's got enough depth and seems to have gone through a process of discovery that makes me willing to believe his rhetoric, despite my better judgement and despite the sorry record of 1993-2000.

At any rate, other than people who are preemptively dismissed because they speak a bit too much truth too plainly and are therefore labeled as untelegenic (Gravel and Kucinich), Gore is the only one talking about anything that remotely matters -- that isn't some war-affirming echo of Bush, or a narcissistic illusory flashy idolatrous phantom bullshit hairdo non-issue.

[Faygo Kid]

1. I agree. Media asks: How will the "surge" affect candidates? Wrong question.

Everything proposed or in place is judged by how it will affect the 2008 presidential race. It's no wonder so many are cynical. Frank Rich nails this week after week, but right wing bungholes like Novak and inside the beltway wastes of time like Broder can't see past their smug comfort zones. This is no game, but the media presents lives and futures like marks on a candidate's scorecard. You are right about Gore, too. Run, Al, dammit. Your country calls.

[Katherine Brengle]

2. K&R -- very well said.

I would love to see a candidate announce a month before the first primaries - instead of a year.

Of course, I understand why they do it like this - everyone else does, so they feel they have to in order to be competitive.

Doesn't make it right or smart though.

[JackRiddler]

3. kick

let's give this thread a chance, here...

[scarletwoman]

6. Sure, I'll give this thread a chance -- k & r (nt)

[Benhurst]

4. Recommended #3

[Lex]

5. I never read past "you people."

nt

[JackRiddler]

oops dupe

[JackRiddler]

7. Thank you for the wise observation

and the kick

[The Straight Story]

8. You called him clean :) don't you know you cannot call a white guy that?

Sheesh, people on here will never learn ;)
:rofl:

[JackRiddler]

10. hey

in my context, it's clean.

[JeffR]

9. Your first 2 paragraphs stand on their own

[B Calm]

22. It needed to be said and the OP did it great!

[Richard Steele]

29. Yup. I "recommended" for those 2 alone. nm

[smoogatz]

11. K&R

Nicely done.

[Adelante]

12. I agree with your initial point

With the mess the country and the world is in, it's almost a disgrace that candidates are running for president so early. It's not necessary and it diverts attention from what needs to be done right now.

[Greyhound]

23. It was this sentence in your reply

"It's not necessary and it diverts attention from what needs to be done right now" that is the real point to all this crap.

We often remark at how (stupid, naive, foolish, etc.) this or that candidate is for (appearing, saying, arguing, etc.), but I wonder how often it occurs to us that they might be doing these things precisely because as long as we're talking about that, we're not watching what is really happening.

ETA: make it an even 20. :kick: & R

[puebloknot]

13. I agree with every syllable in this post! And...

..."you people" used to be used to denote the members of a group, any group, and was often used with humor. Now, in this politically correct and often humorless day, we have to be careful that the importance of a message like this does not get sidelined because someone projects certain ideas onto that expression.

Given the whole of the message, I'll give the OP a pass on that one!

[omega minimo]

14. Agreed. Except it will be Feingold..... And the cruciality almost overlooked:

"despite the sorry record of 1993-2000."

That's huge. And as of yet unexplained. Will St. Gore distance himself from the corporatist legacy? He didn't in 2000, which is the reason that he lost the supposedly magical 5% Green vote.

PLUS the fact that "NO one should be running for president" while we need a focused and unified Democratic majority in Congress to end this war and impeach this administration.

:hi: great post. K&R

[HCE SuiGeneris]

15. Thank you for imparting some sanity!

Excellent OP! :applause:

[lligrd]

16. Great Post

So glad I didn't miss it. And I hope you are right. I feel that Gore has grown immensly during his time out of office.

[JackRiddler]

17. Thanks to all so far!

xoxo!

[MazeRat7]

18. K&R - Even if it wont stop the freak show from coming to town. *grin. -nt

[More Than A Feeling]

19. Call me when Al Gore announces. I will consider him then. n/t

[OneBlueSky]

20. when you have a perpetual campaign, nothing much gets accomplished . . .

instead of working 24/7 in Congress to end the war in Iraq, prevent a war against Iran, and deal the environmental and energy crises, the Hillary Clintons and Barack Obamas of the world are busy drumming up support for their presidential candidacies . . .

at least Al Gore is DOING something, and I respect his decision not to enter the race -- yet . . .

[B Calm]

21. I'm already sick of hearing about candidates. This is ridiculous! We

need to be talking about ending this war and impeaching this monster. But no, we have to talk about Hillary's pant suit she wore today, or Edwards house, or how much experience Obama has, etc etc. Way to early and boring. You're letting the corporate news dictate what is news!

[RestoreGore]

24. You mock this system?

Then dare to state as fact that Gore is still a part of it and only pulling the wool over our eyes? You mock that he may well have found a higher calling and is truly sincere about what he is doing? I hope he doesn't run just to spite all of the ARROGANT people who sit on their butts only BSing about how they think he has a "duty" to them and who think he is a deceptive man who is only doing all of this to appease a personal ambition, because you don't deserve him, but this planet does. I'm sure he would be very flattered to know that the majority of people who are fawning all over him all of a sudden are just doing it because they think that his Climate Project and his Alliance for Climate Protection are just fronts, and every appearance and slideshow he has done so passionately because this is something he truly cares about was just part of the slick maneuver.

[JackRiddler]

25. Oh please!!!

I mock this system. Bad, bad system. Tough.

You keep my butt out of this, you don't know where it sits so shut up.

I have no doubt Gore's climate project work is sincere and further, that he would be doing it regardless of whether he might run for president or not.Working for a cause he believes in because it is good, that is what makes him the giant among the midgets of potential Democratic candidates. At the same time, it has positioned him perfectly to run. I do not think therefore it is a front! Only an uncharitable reading of the OP would cause you to misunderstand my words in that way (not to mention a blind view of human nature in which ambition is criminal). In terms of his own statements on the problem of climate change, running for president is the logical ethical imperative--one sadly not open to me, or I wouldn't be sitting on my butt wasting time responding to your oily, righteous butkus. Your last sentence, by the way, might as well be straight out of a psychological warfare manual. It's worthy of a Charles Krauthammer, a David Brooks or a Dinesh D'Souza for its opportunistic and venomous use of obvious fallacy.

[RestoreGore]

26. Firstly, you don't tell me to shut up

And running is not the ethical imperative to what he is doing, he is already doing the ethical imperative. Too bad it isn't good enough for you. As for the rest of your diatribe... deleted.

[JackRiddler]

27. well then don't talk about my butt n/t

[RestoreGore]

36. Another intelligent response n/t

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

28. "Pity the country that needs heroes." - Bertolt Brecht

[Pacifist Patriot]

30. Too true.

[RestoreGore]

37. It only proves how lazy the people of this country are on the whole,,,

To do their duty as citizens.

[cui bono]

31. Interestingly, Feingold and Hagel have both said they're not in the race so

that they can say what they want without it being interpreted as calculating move. That by not running they can do more good since they can really work towards ending this war without all the bullshit that comes with being in a presidential race. Ironically, those are the types of people who should be president.

And I'm really sick of everybody focusing on the next candidate. We can do that later. How about we worry about ending the war and reclaiming the constitution for now?

[JackRiddler]

33. Fascinating isn't it?

Thus they acknowledge what we all already know: running for president means you can't say what you really think. (Already a problem with running for any office.) Deception is a necessity and you can't actually get anything worthwhile done. Can you imagine a more corrupted process?

[RestoreGore]

38. I agree.

All of this will Mr. Gore or won't he talk is only a diversion from taking action on the climate crisis and other issues now, and people who keep talking like that incessantly and asking him the same question about it over and over again only hurt his efforts in my view. But it is the same on many forums on the Internet, and not just about him. Bush will be there until January 2009 make no mistake about it, and this war will go on. The people are too diverted with 2008 BS and other diversions, and for all the talk don't appear to have the guts to do what we must do to really save this country or this planet. If the PEOPLE don't do it NO ONE ELSE can, but that seems to be a message falling on many deaf ears.

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

32. Very well said!

I think Gore should/will run, when the timing is right.

[RiverStone]

34. About as well said an endorsement for Gore...

as I've read. Great post. Of course JackRiddler, I understand you meant it not in a political sense so far out from November of 08. Though even by default, I believe your points on Gore do point to a political game plan that he has wired.

Let all the underlings fight it out, use up resources, and beat on each other - Al makes a late and grand entrace and literally raises millions of dollars in a weekend through net roots (I'd send him a donation in a heartbeat). The donkey cart would be upset - huge! he would be the immediate front runner.

Hillary may say she's in it to win. Al does not even need to say it. He simply WINS!

[RestoreGore]

35. This wasn't an endorsement for Mr. Gore

If it were it would have endorsed his work regardless of getting into any BS political race, and it would respect and believe his words. As Mr. Gore stated in June 2006 in the NJ Bergen Record: " I miss the ability to influence events, but I don't miss politics." He is NOT part of this toxic system and most certainly is influencing events. So for the life of me I cannot understand why so many people wish to push him back into it when he is happy doing what he is doing.

[JackRiddler]

39. kick