The concensus seems to be, from the left side of the aisle, that this was a fine speech.
And, this is my answer to that (thanks for the opportunity, Jim):
It's a great speech, I admit. But it's also a great lie. Like any great lie, it sprinkles truths over falsehood and makes you look only in one direction.
He's absolutely wrong about America being so moral and good until George Bush came along. And it makes me realize that we were actually lucky that Gore didn't take the oval office, because he probably would have kept us in the mist and the fog of self-deception. The truth is that our foreign policy has been one of dominance from the beginning. And we have done cruel, inhumane and horrible things to people of other cultures all along. Particularly, but not only, in wars. And most of our wars were wars of dominance and control disguised as missions of mercy. Lucky that Mr. Gore didn't take the oval office, but our luck will not hold if we don't take the opportunity to change directions that Bush has given us by his inadvertently exposing the ugly underbelly of the dragon.
These amoral and imperial actions of our country are things I did not know until recent years. And I certainly was not the exceptional American in that regard. We allow ourselves to be told lies and have things hidden from us because it allows us to feel good about ourselves, and moral, and right.
We are not. And until we change our foreign policy and turn our military into a defense force and return our intelligence agencies back to collecting intelligence and prohibit them from interference in the politics of other countries, and stop them from participating in drug trade and other illegal activities to fund their secret operations, the most we can ever hope for is great speeches.
Update May 28, 6:45 am: I received two emails on this subject, and so I'll put them here.
Jay:
I still thought it pretty amazing Gore did that and I'm cheering our side. Gotta keep thinking, "Resist not evil for it will rise up against you, but persevere in the good" or something like that.
Maybe that's my problem - I didn't choose a side. And actually, I think, not just philosophically, but according to the laws of physics of this universe, that "resist not evil" statement is actually on the money. As we all learn in Physics 101, resistance creates drag. Or something like that. I'm not a passivist in the strict sense of the ideal, because there are times when I choose to resist. But, if we all took a step back from any situation and looked at it in terms of the laws of physics (to which we seem to be bound here on this planet), we might get a better picture of what we are creating.
Thank you for bringing up the point.
Jim:
But we must look in one direction at this juncture and at every other juncture in order to change direction.
Every significant change in in the direction of a whole nation requires, it seems to me, a pause and a gathering up of our skirts and valuables and values that we wish to retain and carry on with us in a new direction. It is not like we have forgotten how we acquired this land by the sword and deceit then nor how we butchered in Vietnam just yesterday and how we bullied and stole and are stealing the resources of of the world from those unable to protect and prosper from them themselves..... not at all, but we are talking here, as was Gore, about the future and about the further corruption of our ideals which as shredded as they are still guide us as a people even if not as a nation.
Gore addresses, I think, the corruptions that have happened under this administration taking us farther from the ideals he holds dear. He did not defend the past although he might have been bold enough to include it. But if his sin is one of omitting past transgressions it is a sin of look ahead which is his want as a politician. Holding his feet to the fire is our job.
As your last paragraph might imply, it is not a perfect world, nor can we expect perfection in our politics which is based in cement mixer blending money, ideals, morality and practical necessities seasoned with the nature of the individuals we elect to office. It is our job to nudge, push, and if necessary push our politicians toward the highest of ideals...... it is, after all, a process which we must preserve.
I unfortunately agree with your view. But I shall not succumb to it, nor shall you it seems, otherwise why do you do what you do with such passion?
Every significant change in in the direction of a whole nation requires, it seems to me, a pause and a gathering up of our skirts and valuables and values that we wish to retain and carry on with us in a new direction. It is not like we have forgotten how we acquired this land by the sword and deceit then nor how we butchered in Vietnam just yesterday and how we bullied and stole and are stealing the resources of of the world from those unable to protect and prosper from them themselves..... not at all, but we are talking here, as was Gore, about the future and about the further corruption of our ideals which as shredded as they are still guide us as a people even if not as a nation.
Gore addresses, I think, the corruptions that have happened under this administration taking us farther from the ideals he holds dear. He did not defend the past although he might have been bold enough to include it. But if his sin is one of omitting past transgressions it is a sin of look ahead which is his want as a politician. Holding his feet to the fire is our job.
As your last paragraph might imply, it is not a perfect world, nor can we expect perfection in our politics which is based in cement mixer blending money, ideals, morality and practical necessities seasoned with the nature of the individuals we elect to office. It is our job to nudge, push, and if necessary push our politicians toward the highest of ideals...... it is, after all, a process which we must preserve.
I unfortunately agree with your view. But I shall not succumb to it, nor shall you it seems, otherwise why do you do what you do with such passion?
Well, Jim, it's not passion. It's a lot of things. Maybe some obligation, some frustration, some filling in time until I hop dimensions, and because I was sending articles to individual people, and filling up their mailboxes. Eventually it struck me that the people who give a shit what's really going on will be looking for it, and I don't have to send them information, and the people who don't want to know are just deleting my emails before they open them. I may be slow, but I get there.
But you're right, just because I see it for what it is, that doesn't mean I quit. Maybe I will one day. But right now, until I figure out how to bend time and space at will, and recreate my universe without all the shit I don't like about this one, I guess I'll do what I'm doing.
Thanks for writing. Really.
