!AL GORE Congratulates OWS "A Primal Scream Of Democracy"-Calls Wall St "Insane"-Congress "Owned"!

[kpete]

Gore began with a critique of the financial markets that was stunning – calling Wall Street and many company’s “short-termism” “functionally insane.” And he pointed out that “short term” now is not even quarterly earnings targets but automated trading at a millisecond pace which controls over 70% of trades. This was one reason he pushed hard for support for the Transaction Tax.

In contrast to his take down of Wall Street, Vice President Gore praised OWS for “already succeeding in giving visibility to the inequality” we face – and called them a “primal scream of democracy.” In fact, Gore reminded us that the nuclear freeze movement was seen as crazy when launched but led in just two years to 75% of Americans agreeing in the need for a nuclear freeze and Reagan being forced to act. Noting that the majority of Americans already say they agree with Occupy, “we will see possibilities of genuine change.”

While Gore seemed careful to not directly critique Obama or speak in partisan terms, he was very clear in advising us that “the world of policy and politics has been degraded so much in recent years, I would caution you about being caught up in that world.” Describing what he called “sclerotic democracies”, Gore went on to call Congress “a wholly owned subsidiary of the financial services industry” and said that Congress is “on a leash” and noted that was not just true of “one party.”

..............................

“We have a choice to make now,” he told the audience in closing his speech. “You are a key part of the solution. I congratulate you on what you are doing. We have everything we need to succeed, with the possible exception of political will and the will of the executive suite of some businesses, but always remember that the will to act is itself a renewable resource.”

MORE:
http://my.firedoglake.com/siun/2011/11/06/gore-says-ows-already-a-success/

[Luminous Animal]

1. Those are some powerful words he's tossing around. Good for Gore.

[russspeakeasy]

28. I would like to see him primary Obama.

Won't happen, but I can dream.

[davidwparker]

29. +1

... oh, yes.

[mwrguy]

41. Yes!

I would love that.

[bluethruandthru]

47. + 1000000 n/t

[Mister Ed]

55. I would have liked to see him primary Gore.

Where was this passionate truth-teller in the 2000 campaign? Shackled, I fear, by the same chains that now constrain our president.

Still...I think the idea has merit. What if there were a voice like Gore's in the primary season? What if there were a prominent Democratic candidate who fiercely challenged the status quo, and fanned the flames ignited by the OWS movement? It could help shift the whole political landscape toward populism and away from corporatism.

Done right, it could strengthen Obama, and weaken the Republicans and the corporatist Democrats.

As you say: one can dream...

[russspeakeasy]

70. That was my point...you said it better.

[JDPriestly]

62. Great idea!

[cui bono]

2. He should run so he can get elected POTUS.

Again.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

9. I couldn't believe it when he didn't run in 08. It was his for the taking.

[kpete]

16. if only.......

peace,
kpete

[valerief]

26. And have the corrupt SCOTUS take it away from him. Again.

I wonder when anthrax will rear its ugly head again.

[stlsaxman]

59. reminds me of a limerick i penned in '08...

There once was a man named Al Gore
Who chose not to run in '04
It's still not too late
For a run in '08
But he probably won't so we're fucked"


Mind you, this was before Obama was even noticed. Looking back i think i was right! ;)

[DonCoquixote]

3. Normally, I would say to primary O is foolish

But there is ONE democrat who might get a shot at my vote, the same one who got it back in 2000.

[FirstLight]

5. +1000!!!

I hate to say that I was wishing the same... thinking if we would tolerate 'leadership' at all...it would be someone like him...

[RufusTFirefly]

10. Gore is liberated precisely because he is no longer part of the system

Keep in mind that this is the same candidate that while running chose Joe Lieberman as his running mate.

The best thing that President Gore can do for our country is to continue to agitate from the outside, where he still has the freedom to speak the truth.

[rjj621]

18. I agree

I'm not convinced he would (could) be so open and brutally honest if he were still part of the internal system. He himself would also be owned and owe a bunch of 'favors' to special interest.

[Enthusiast]

33. Obviously we must put an end to that "owned" thing.

One way or the other.

[Hydra]

22. This was my first thought also

While his loss to SCOTUS was devastating for us, it liberated him to do things his way, in his own voice...a voice he started to lose when he was considering running in 2008.

He does his best work outside the system. I think that can be said of most of us, except Elizabeth Warren. She manages to rock the boat from inside the beltway- a rare gift.

[BlancheSplanchnik]

43. you're so right

Wonder what was going on to make him pair up with Lieberman?

.....hadn't thought about this till you made it clear. :thumbsup:

[russspeakeasy]

44. He probably wouldn't get the nomination, but I sure would

like to see Mr. O defend his positions on banks, DOJ, cuts in education and welfare programs...and the damn wars...

[Jackpine Radical]

54. Yes. Gore was too hamstrung by his advisers.

He's at his best where he is right now, free to follow his own light.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

72. You are precisely wrong.

When Gore was in office, he did some things I didn't agree with. But on the biggest things he was a lion for the people. I commend for your reading a book by Bill Turqe: "Inventing Al Gore." The book is largely a War-on-Gore screed from the very biased 2000 era. But in that book, Turque did tell a profound truth (at about p. 286) about how Gore in 1997 personally engineered the Kyoto Accord, against his own political interest, the wishes of his own advisers and despite the apathy of the American public.

On other occasions as well, Gore has demonstrated his willingness to do the right thing when it was hard to do so. He has been a profile in courage more than once. This is in stark contrast to the current Democratic "leaders" who continue to sell us out on a daily basis. There are good people like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, but they are the exceptions who prove the rule.

[kestrel91316]

11. I am in 100% agreement.

[peace frog]

45. Damn straight!

I was so disappointed that he hasn't run since 2000. Unsurprised, but greatly dissapointed. Run Al Run!

[xchrom]

4. Recommend

[WillyT]

6. HUGE K & R !!!

:kick:

[FirstLight]

7. god i love this man

he never ceases to amaze me in being so damn heartbreakingly honest. He may have started out as trying to fit into the beltway types, but it was like he became a new man after 2000, he saw behind the curtain and realized life and our choice to improve the world are more important than title or wealth...and he speaks for so many of us, so well... :loveya:

thanks for letting me gush :blush:

[RoccoR5955]

8. Thank You President Gore!

If only the Supremes Court would have not appointed that moron.

[ClassWarrior]

17. My reaction exactly.

NGU.

[Enthusiast]

36. Plus one!

Just imagine where the nation could have been.

[Poll_Blind]

12. I'd be willing to give Gore two more terms.... Just sayin'

:evilgrin:

PB

[woo me with science]

13. Huge K&R

Thank you, Al Gore!

We desperately need a primary. The country cannot endure four more years of this.

[pacalo]

14. I'm really inspired by Gore's comments about OWS.

“the world of policy and politics has been degraded so much in recent years, I would caution you about being caught up in that world.”


"the will to act is itself a renewable resource"


This is bigger than any movement I've seen in my life. I was in my teens during the Vietnam war protests & those were very passionate & clearly spoke to one's sense of decency & morality. The OWS movement is all that & more. The young & the elders, many ethnicities, & the homeless are all unified, determined, peaceful, respectful -- just so impressive. And Gore seems to be encouraged by what he sees, too, but wants them to stay away from political factions &, as a winner would advise them, tells them to always remember that even seemingly closed minds can be swayed.

[tcaudilllg]

23. But to what end?

Granted, it seems that factions stand to benefit from OWS by proxy, vis a vis the additional attention to their causes. Any cause promoted in the face of the police looks all the stronger because people are willing to risk their lives and freedom for it.

Maybe OWS shouldn't be drawn into politics... but maybe not everyone should be a part of OWS, either.

[malaise]

15. K & EffingR

Love you Al Gore

[Zorra]

19. I guess this pretty much puts to rest forever the RW meme that OWS

is ineffective, non?

It was laughable from the start anyway.

[Kaleko]

39. Assholes will blow hot air.

It's in their nature.
But more and more people
just won't care.

;)

[AngryAmish]

20. Nevermind the hypocrisy of running a hedge fund and complaining about Wall St.

Think about the gall. He hangs out with these "banksters" then gets in front of a crowd denouncing them.

[Uncle Joe]

31. Common sense and logic should tell you that the short term, micro second insanity; of which Gore

is criticizing doesn't pertain to the long term, sustainability strategy used by Generation Investment Management, if it did he wouldn't have proposed a Transaction Tax.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_Investment_Management

Generation Investment Management LLP (GIM) is a London-based investment management firm with an investment style that blends traditional equity research with a focus on sustainability factors, including social and environmental responsibility and corporate governance.

[Admiral Loinpresser]

48. Did you believe "invented the Internet?" n/t

[hifiguy]

21. Al Gore is a great American

who was cheated out of the Presidency that he won.

I hope he keeps speaking out forcefully about the issues this country faces. We need him to continue telling inconvenient truths.

[LiberalLovinLug]

25. I'll always remember the uncomfortably sad scene in the senate after that theft

Not one senator would sign on. I always wondered why Al Gore didn't just sign on himself. He didn't win so he would have been considered still a part of the Senate no? Or is his role as President only to vote in case of a tie? Excerpt from Fahrenheit 9/11:

Michael Moore: On the day the joint session of both the House of Representatives and the Senate was to certify the election results, Al Gore, in his dual role as outgoing vice president and president of the Senate, presided over the event that would officially anoint George W. Bush as the new president. If any congressman wanted to raise an objection, the rules insisted that he or she had to have the signed support of just one senator.

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings: Mr. President — and I take great pride in calling you that — I must object because of the overwhelming evidence of official misconduct, deliberate fraud and an attempt to suppress voter turnout.

Al Gore: The chair must remind members that under Section 18 of Title 3, United States Code, no debate is allowed in the joint session.

Congressman Alcee L. Hastings: Thank you, Mr. President. To answer your question, Mr. President, the objection is in writing, signed by a number of members of the House of Representatives, but not by a member of the Senate.

Congresswoman Corinne Brown: Mr. President, it is in writing and signed by several House colleagues on behalf, and myself, of the 27,000 voters of Duval County in which 16,000 of them are African-Americans that was disenfranchised in this last election.

Al Gore: Is the objection signed by a member of the Senate?

Congresswoman Corinne Brown: Not signed by a member of the Senate. The Senate is missing.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee: Mr. President, it is in writing and signed by myself on behalf of many of the diverse constituents in our country, especially those in the 9th Congressional District, and all American voters who recognize that the Supreme Court, not the people of the United States, decided this election.

Al Gore: Is the objection signed by a senator?

Congresswoman Barbara Lee: Unfortunately, Mr. President, it is not signed by one single senator.

Congresswoman Patsy Mink: Unfortunately, I have no authority over the United States Senate, and no senator has signed.

Congresswoman Carrie P. Meek: Mr. President, it is in writing and signed by myself and several of my constituents from Florida. A senator is needed, but missing.

Al Gore: Is the objection in writing and signed by a member of the House and a senator?

Congresswoman Maxine Waters: The objection is in writing, and I don’t care that it is not signed by a member of the Senate.

Al Gore: The chair will advise that the rules do care, and the signature of a senator…

Michael Moore: Not a single senator came to the aid of the African-Americans in Congress. One after another, they were told to sit down and shut up.

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.: It’s a sad day in America, Mr. President, when we can’t find a senator to sign the objections.

Al Gore: The gentleman will suspend.

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr.: I object.

Al Gore: The gentleman will suspend.

[Orsino]

24. Not a primal scream. Not yet, thank goodness. n/t

[Uncle Joe]

27. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[swilton]

30. Run Gore Run!

We need leadership!

[Admiral Loinpresser]

49. I plan to write him in.

whether he runs or not.

[swilton]

69. Great idea!

Was thinking of who would be worth my time as a write-in. Certainly can't see wasting a vote on either of the presumed major party candidates....Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee.

[tiddlywinks]

56. Go Al!

My family and I saw Gore in Carthage, Tennessee, give the speech making it official that he was running for president. I have never been so inspired by a speech or a speech giver! We all cheered and waved our flags.

I wish he would run again. I just watched his An Inconvenient Truth yesterday.

[Enthusiast]

32. Kicked and recommended!

Well said, Mr. Gore!

[marmar]

34. Al Gore seems to have only gotten better, post-administration.....

..... whereas Bill Clinton seems to have become an even bigger corporate putz.

[AtomicKitten]

35. Al Gore is da man.

:loveya:

[Xtraneous]

37. Functionally insane is running for POTUS, winning, and then failing to fight to prove

that you got more votes and were the actual winner. So much for caring about the voter, the constituents and the country- let alone the party. No one's perfect but supporting anything this guy says after shafting the country is being an apologist. We are soooo screwed because of the allowance of that crisis to blow away as if nothing happened.

[Uncle Joe]

38. Functionally insane was Custer's battle strategy at the Little Big Horn.

The Republicans held all the cards, the Florida State Legislature; which was prepared to send its' own slate of electors even if the recount showed Gore getting more votes, the Republicans held both houses of Congress; which was prepared to seat those electors, the Republicans controlled the U.S. Supreme Court and they controlled the corporate media, the Internet was a shadow of its' current self.

As it was Gore contested that "election" longer than any other Presidential Election in U.S. History, if you believe Gore didn't fight, you weren't paying attention.

[stevenleser]

52. I wonder if people bother to research and read the Constitution.

Once Florida's state legislature voted to give Florida's electors to Bush midway through the recount process, it became impossible for Gore to become President.

Even if a recount had shown Gore won, what would have happened is that two slates of Florida electors would have gone to vote in the electoral college immediately triggering the election being thrown into the House of Representatives which was GOP controlled. Bush ends up President under that scenario. The only difference is that with the Senate being 50-50 and Gore the VP casting the tie vote, we would have ended up with Vice President Lieberman instead of Cheney.

Even that doesnt do much as essentially Bush then appoints Cheney SecState and Lieberman gets a reduced role

[YvonneCa]

66. He did fight in...

...2000. Were you too young to remember that?

[99th_Monkey]

40. It must be weird to be Al Gore these daze.

I wonder how many times he has wished he'd gone 110% flat-out to the mat over the presidency being stolen.

But that was then, and now is now. I applaud Mr. Gore for staying with it, and with us, and fighting as
best he/we can.

[rurallib]

42. he will only be 68 in 2016

[mother earth]

46. Love me some Gore with my OWS & Firedoglake! :) K & R

[DinahMoeHum]

50. K, R, and B.

n/t

[Romulox]

51. Al Gore's NAFTA was for the 1%. nt

[DefenseLawyer]

53. Does he still stand by that?

There were a lot of things that "pre-beard" Al Gore said as a politician that he seems to have thought better of. I have to admit I've not heard him discuss NAFTA specifically (an issue which he and Mr. Clinton were utterly wrong about). "The Assault on Reason" laid waste to a lot of crap that the young, opportunistic politician Al Gore would never have had the courage to take on, so I have some hope that he could get on the right side of this issue as well.

[Romulox]

57. Yup. He's big into outsourcing, even today. His involvement in Fisker's likely got

US government funds, which are being used to produce a car in Finland. :shrug:

[DeSwiss]

58. That's my Al....

- K&R

[stlsaxman]

60. kpete- is there video? youtube? c-span?

[Dutchmaster]

61. Former bought and paid for Senator Gore calls congress bought and paid for

Awesome. Hows your multimillion dollar homes and estates treating you these days Al? Good? What's that? You prefer to languish in luxury instead of crossing paths with the Bush crime family and wind up like the Kennedy's? Don't blame ya sir. Don't blame ya.

[fascisthunter]

63. awwwwwww

he was spot on...

[YvonneCa]

65. Welcome to DU. n/t

[snappyturtle]

64. A big K&R ! nt

[Autumn]

67. This man will always be my President

K/R I'm so glad that he was the top one to speak out in support of OWS.:loveya:

[apocalypsehow]

68. If *this* Al Gore had run in 2000, Florida might not have mattered, despite Nader's selfishness and

Bush's smarmy legal tactics before a 5-4 partisan court.

How I wish!

[Uncle Joe]

71. There were a lot of ifs, if the *corporate media had decided not to betray the American Peoples'

best interests by waging a near two year war of slander and libel against Gore while giving Bush a free pass, if the Internet had been stronger then to counteract corporate media brainwashing propaganda, if Clinton had decided not to put Gore's reelection chances at risk by engaging in highly dubious behavior for a President bringing about a subsequent impeachment and putting Gore on the defensive.

*I'm convinced the corporate media waged this war precisely because Gore did champion the American People's best interests by magnifying their First Amendment power with his strong political advocacy of opening the Internet to the masses, this is what earned him their undying enmity as it threatened their monopolistic control on the distribution and dissemination of information.

In the Information Age, information is power and for the people to have it, meant the corporate media didn't.