Uh oh, tarnishing St. Al's halo is going to get you guys in trouble with the enviro-fundamentalists.

But it does get to the heart of some matters. Like why Mr. Gore laces all of his speeches with gloom, doom, and guilt. We all get to hear what kind of otherworldly "leader" he is, but i've never felt any leadership beyond guiding us towards changes that he prearranged his investments to benefit from.

The man has been sitting on a unique position from which he could instigate serious change, but does not advocate it. And at least some, at least me, who would be very open to hearing him, begin to close our ears when it sounds like self-aggrandizing and hypocrisy.

Is it giving people too much credit to just say they're forgetful?

Just more proof that Democrats aren't to be trusted with the AGW issues.

I applaud Gore for bringing it to the fore, because honestly the significance of the headlines has much more meaning today that it did in 2000 or even back in 1993 when St. Bill and St. Al could have done more if the will was there.

St. Bill used his eight years to crush the working class while pandering to business and making the Democrats more, uhm... mainstream and business friendly.

No freaking way that AGW will be addressed without some sort of disruptive social upheaval, and even then it will be tamped down/muffled with the desire to minimize local economic impact.

Meet the new boss, same as the old boss... -- We'll Be Fooled Again

AS LONG AS George is in office questions like CO2 sequestering will go unresolved. IMPEACHMENT IS THE ANSWER. Call Nancy Pelosi @1-202-225-0100 and DEMAND IMPEACHMENT.

This is incredibly dispiriting. You say Gore is egoistic and hypocritical, and I'm willing to concede the latter, despite all the good I think he's done in raising the debate.

But isn't waiting for the ideal spokesperson just making the perfect the enemy of the good?

waiting for the ideal spokesperson is the national sport.

I think the best answer to that is another aphorism: those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

some politicos stab you in the back. others... die in office, before the chance presents itself.

1) Treaties require the approval of congress, and negotiating for a treaty without your legislature's approval is enormously useless. It has just crumpled India's prime minister. (You can argue the merits of the case one way or the other, but the point is he's lost a huge amount of leverage.) Not to mention the fact that vice presidents don't always have the most leverage, especially when they've slightly alienated themselves from the president. Sitting ducks have even less ability to move away from pre-stated policies.
2) I personally know more people moved to do more personal energy conservation by AG's various propagandas than by any single other source. Who's the competition? Who's even trying? What's wrong with him making speeches?
3) Replacing payroll taxes with carbon tax seems like a pretty big proposal to me.
http://www.grist.org/news/muck/2006/07/19/gore-walmart/index.html

I mean seriously, so fucking what? He says plenty of times in every forum that he didn't do enough. He hasn't endorsed any candidates and no candidate is running on his plans. I don't think any liberal has any illusion that this election is about global warming, even though it should be--it's about the economy and economic hardships and people's warped perceptions of the war.

prearranged his investments to benefit from.
uh what? his gloom and doom is making us all watch an obscure cable tv channel?

I just wish he'd set aside his own ego and interests when he does it,

What does this actually mean? What do you actually want him to say or do differently?

those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

This is absolutely true. But those who spend all their time in history class and none of their time in working on understanding how things work now or trying to change them may end up with a whole new very bleak future indeed.

Sorry to be so incredibly cranky after such a long absence; I've been very sick for over a week and I'm tired of reading things that make me want to shoot myself even more. Please, just someone come up with a plan. . .