Friday, October 12, 2007

Way to go, Al!

Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore
poses on a sofa in the "Abaton" cinema
during a promotion visit for
his movie "An Inconvenient Truth",
in Zurich, Switzerland 07 Oct 2006
Don't you feel like the cutline for that photo should've been something like "Gore. Al Gore."

Our should've-been-President Al Gore and a group of scientists working through the UN as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work studying and publicizing global warming.

I saw some rumblings on Fox Nazi Channel yesterday (thanks to the 24/7 channel-is-stuck-on-Fox tv in the cafeteria at my work). I'm sure they were less than enthusiastic, but I didn't pay enough attention to know for sure.
I think it's fitting that a man who's worked all his life for good causes should get this recognition. Let's hear it for the boy.
Now let's imagine that the Supreme Court awarded to Gore the presidency that he'd already won. Think hard with me, children; let's look at how different our country and our world would be. Why don't I throw out a few ideas, and then I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

The first difference is a gimme: There's no way we'd be in Iraq. Period.

Second, I wonder whether the events of 9/11/01 would even have happened. Some might say it was inevitable, but I think BushCo did more than a little bit to ensure it went as horribly bad as it did. Your thoughts?

Third, how different would the government's response to Katrina have been? Think of the bureaucratic bullshit created by BushCo, with all his idiot cronies and Heckuvajob Brownies in charge, that wouldn't exist under Gore. Would as many people have died? Would they have gotten better FEMA response before, during, and after the storms (I'll add Rita into the mix)? I daresay YES.

So--am I just looking through Gore-colored glasses? Would we still be in the shitter with Gore as president? Let me hear from ya.

6 comments:

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Well the main consequence of a Gore Presidency would have been that he would have built on the sucesses of Bill Clinton instead of tearing them down like Bush has.

dguzman said...

A great summary, Dr., and right on the money.

God I miss Bill.

vikkitikkitavi said...

You're right on all points, of course.

On the question of whether 9/11 would still have happened, well, Richard Clarke seemed to think there would've been a good chance to prevent it, and that's good enough for me.

dguzman said...

Too true, Vikki. Way back when we had INTELLIGENT people in the White House, it felt like a lot was possible. Now it just feels like the bar's set so fucking low that it'll all downhill from here.

I'd better get my passport in order....

Susan Gets Native said...

Well, at least there's something to look forward to. The Republicans will have a snowball's chance in Hell to win the presidency this time around. My Mom's an Old-School Republican, and she wants to vote for Obama!
I so wanted to move to Canada. Geoff and I actually talked about it.

dguzman said...

Susan, kat and I have already decided to leave the country if the repubs steal yet another election. Scary thought, but don't think that it can't happen.