Neck Deep Secret: Gore Was Right

[babsbunny]

http://consortiumnews.com/2007/082607.html

By Robert Parry
August 27, 2007


Having written several books that span periods of years, I’m often surprised how patterns emerge that aren’t apparent to me in day-to-day news coverage. In Neck Deep, our new book about George W. Bush’s presidency, one of those surprises was how often former Vice President Al Gore turned up making tragically prescient comments.



Gore, whose admirers sometimes call him “the Goracle,” comes across more as a Cassandra, warning the nation of looming disasters and finding himself either ignored or mocked by the dominant politicians and media pundits.

Time and again – from Campaign 2000 to the post-9/11 “war on terror” to the invasion of Iraq to Bush’s expansion of presidential powers – Gore pointed to grave dangers when nearly all other national political leaders and media bigwigs were either running with the herd or keeping silent.

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

1. His immediate, principled opposition to the invasion of Iraq comes to mind

Where is this kind of spine in our elected officials.

[Mnemosyne]

2. Transcript: Former Vice President Gore's Speech on Constitutional Issues

I ended up sobbing when I listened to him give this speech on cspan:


"And on this particular Martin Luther King Day it is especially important to recall for that for the last several years of his life Dr. King was illegally wiretapped, one of hundreds of thousands of Americans whose private communications were intercepted by the U.S. government during that period."

snip>

An executive who arrogates to himself the power to ignore the legitimate legislative directives of the Congress or to act free of the check of the judiciary becomes the central threat that the founders sought to nullify in the Constitution, an all-powerful executive; too reminiscent of the king from whom they had broken free.

(APPLAUSE)

In the words of James Madison, the accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed or elected, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.

(APPLAUSE)

snip>

Vigilant adherence to the rule of law actually strengthens our democracy, of course, and strengthens America. It ensures that those who govern us operate within our constitutional structure, which means that our democratic institutions play their indispensable role in shaping policy and determining the direction of our nation. It means that the people of this nation ultimately determine its course and not executive officials operating in secret without constraint under the rule of law.

(APPLAUSE)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/16/AR2006011600779.html

[mzmolly]

3. I've always considered him prophetic. But, "the Goracle?"

Well, ok ... The Goracle it is! ;)