All posts welcome!
Book sections:
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Politics of Fear
Chapter 2: Blinding the Faithful
Chapter 3: The Politics of Wealth
Chapter 4: Convenient Untruths
Chapter 5: The Assault on the Individual
Chapter 6: National Insecurity
Chapter 7: The Carbon Crisis
Chapter 8: Democracy in the Balance
Chapter 9: A Well-Connected Citizenry
Conclusion: The Rebirth of Democracy
I am going to start with Gore's post to Amazon.com readers provides an interesting "in" to the book. It explains why it is dedicated to his father. I'll have another comment about this just below the text box...
I've dedicated my book, The Assault on Reason, to my father, Senator Albert Gore Sr., the bravest politician I've ever known. In the 1970 mid-term elections, President Richard Nixon relied on a campaign of fear to consolidate his power. I was in the military at the time, on my way to Vietnam as an army journalist, and I watched as my father was accused of being unpatriotic because he was steadfast in his opposition to the War--and as he was labeled an atheist because he dared to oppose a constitutional amendment to foster government-sponsored prayer in the public schools. The 1970 campaign is now regarded by political historians as a watershed, marking a sharp decline in the tone of our national discourse--a decline that has only worsened in recent years as fear has become a more powerful political tool than trust, public consumption of entertainment has dramatically surpassed that of serious news, and blind faith has proven more potent than truth.
We are at a pivotal moment in American democracy. The persistent and sustained reliance on falsehoods as the basis of policy, even in the face of evidence to the contrary, has reached levels that were previously unimaginable. It's too easy and too partisan to simply place the blame on the policies of President George W. Bush. We are all responsible for the decisions our country makes.
Reasoned, focused discourse is vital to our democracy to ensure a well-informed citizenry. But this is difficult in an environment in which we are experiencing a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time--from the O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson trials to Paris Hilton and Anna Nicole Smith.
Never has it been more vital for us to face the reality of our long-term challenges, from the climate crisis to the war in Iraq to the deficits and health and social welfare. Today, reason is under assault by forces using sophisticated techniques such as propaganda, psychology, and electronic mass media. Yet, democracy's advocates are beginning to use their own sophisticated techniques: the Internet, online organizing, blogs, and wikis. Although the challenges we face are great, I am more confident than ever before that democracy will prevail and that the American people are rising to the challenge of reinvigorating self-government. It is my great hope that those who read my book will choose to become part of a new movement to rekindle the true spirit of America.
http://www.amazon.com/Assault-Reason-Al-Gore/dp/1594201226If you haven't seen it before,
Spike Jonze' 2000 Campaign Video "Unseen Al Gore" includes Al saying that, as a young man, he was as disillusioned about politics as anyone you could meet. He said that it was as a result of covering politics as a journalist. His comment above reveals that it was also a result of witnessing what happened to his father in the 1970 election. "The Assault on Reason" has clearly been a long time - nearly 40 years - in the making.