January 04, 2006
Gore At Grover's??
It's true. Ex VP Al Gore stopped by Grover Norquist's Wednesday meeting today. Here's the skinny from a participant:
Indeed, the former Vice President did turn up at Grover's Wednesday Group meeting, apparently at his own request, to give an abbreviated version of his global warming presentation. As Grover's meetings are off-the-record, I won't relay any of Gore specific remarks (beyond repeating what I think he'd want Cornerites to hear--that global warming and the potential harm it may do to the planet should be recognized as a moral challenge by everyone, especially conservatives). But I think I can stay within the rules to make a few general observations about the experience.First, Gore was funny, relaxed, and self-effacing, and he was received by the Group with the utmost politeness and courtesy, as it should be. John Miller is right to praise the guy for seeking to meet with a group of people not one of whom likely voted for him. His Powerpoint presentation on global warming was superbly done--the best I have ever seen either on this or any topic. (He has some dazzling graphics, and uses Powerpoint as it ought to be used.)
Gore took on all comers for about 25 minutes after the speech, and I thought most of his responses were not strong. He graciously acknowledged the merits of good points and some challenges put to him (including two from me, if I can boast a bit). But most of his answers, I thought, sounded like canned bits of the rest of his speech that he left out, and he didn't, with few exceptions, join the fundamental premises at the heart of the questions. He also is not up to date on a few aspects of the climate change debate, but this is entirely forgiveable in my mind because it is almost impossible to keep up with this fast-moving scene.
Above all, Gore the practical politician may have come to realize something the environmental movement is resolutely clueless about: there can be no serious progress on any environmental issues without the participation of conservatives, for the obvious reason that the conservative movement is a potent force that is not going away any time soon. And with most other foreign conservative parties having joined the green/global warming bandwagon to some extent, this leaves the American conservative movement as the most significant remaining holdout. Most environmentalists want to demonize conservatives; Gore says he wants to talk to us. Good for him.
One final observation: I got the impression, simply from body language and maybe even a facial tic, that Gore doesn't much like Hillary Clinton.
Posted at 02:12 PM
Comments
This could have been written by Jonah Goldberg. What a bunch of slimy, self centered masturbation.
"there can be no serious progress on any environmental issues without the participation of conservatives, for the obvious reason that the conservative movement is a potent force that is not going away any time soon"
Who cares, many will be in jail soon, including Grover.
"He also is not up to date on a few aspects of the climate change debate, but this is entirely forgiveable in my mind because it is almost impossible to keep up with this fast-moving scene."
WTF?? Does someone get paid per word?
"this leaves the American conservative movement as the most significant remaining holdout",
no, it makes them look like the most obstinant non-believers in science. Refusing to believe because you don't want to does not win respect from anybody but fellow travellers in the echo chamber.
F*cker Karlson | 01.04.06 02:36 PM
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Actually, with Al Gore on the board at Apple, he was likely using Keynote for his presentation. It's a great app.
http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/
MasonMcD | 01.04.06 03:21 PM
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There are two kinds of conservatives in America. The Bush conservatives, who put their heads in the sand and refuse to create legislation that encourages industries to make changes in the way they earn their profits -- profits, mind you, that are made off of America's environment. And then there are the McCain conservatives who see the vital need for American society to make changes in the way we do business -- not only for the environment and for our children, but for our future economic strength.
Fortunately one day the Bush conservatives will be gone, and then America can get about the business of taking responsibility for our actions and making America the leader in fuel saving technology.
Lisa | 01.04.06 03:35 PM
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And one way for people to take responsibility for their actions is not to hide behind the wall of corporate personhood.
Or rather, if corporations are going to be people, too, then they need to be held as responsible as people are for any wrongdoing. I certainly hope this is the sort of environmental reform we're discussing. I wonder what "McCain conservatives" would say about that.
Though to be more personal, McCain didn't seem to have any problem supporting Bush in 2004. I wonder how far apart these two groups really are.
Aaron G. Stock | 01.04.06 03:48 PM
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"there can be no serious progress on any environmental issues without the participation of conservatives"
That's because conservatives are self-centered idiots. They refuse to back environmental stuff because liberals support it, no other reason. The world could be on fire, and if liberals called for a hose, conservatives would pretend the fire didn't exist. They're like children, pigheaded little children.
Sticker | 01.04.06 04:31 PM
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This is good news for the environment... the case for taking precautionary measures against the effects of global warming is at its heart conservative. It's simply reckless not to stem the damage while we still can. Hopefully Grover's cohort will start to realize this...
Kitten | 01.04.06 04:54 PM
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Gore had the courage to do something that the current ideologic duu of Bush-Cheney has never endeavored: to walk into the manin lion's den and among those who daresay all strongly oppose everything he stands for. Gore took questions, engaged in a polite give and take, and was well prepared. The participants probably felt the same way about his global warming science as they do about the 25 year old tobacco's companies' own internally "established science" regarding the deleterious effects of tobacco. We independents pray for the day that Bush and Cheney have to face a similar non-hand picked crowd of opponents who will have much more information, expertise and truth on their side to confront the true believing POTUS team with in a not so polite give and take - as liars, spies on the American public and deceivers are not suitable guardians of our republic. My congrats to Gore.
greenough | 01.04.06 05:46 PM
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This is for Karlson,
Dream on that all the neocons will be in jail. These people are ruthless power mongers and right now they have all the power in this country, because they don't care about the rule of law and they control most of the courts. Get it? So what if they broke the law big-time? That only matters if you care about the law or you face judges who are willing to convict you.
Liberals should be paying attention to Al Gore, a true liberal.
Terri Kionka | 01.04.06 06:11 PM
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His Powerpoint presentation on global warming was superbly done--the best I have ever seen either on this or any topic. (He has some dazzling graphics, and uses Powerpoint as it ought to be used.)
His "PowerPoint" presentation looked incredible because it was actually a Keynote presentation given on an Apple PowerBook. (Gore is on the Board at Apple and has used their machines for years.)
PowerPoint is a piece of crap - to wow people, Keynote is the best tool for presentations.
F'in Librul | 01.04.06 06:15 PM
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Mason beat me to it. I saw Gore's excellent presentation last month, and it was done on a Mac, not using PowerPoint.
You can't see this presentation without being moved. Global warming is extremely serious, and should transcend partisanship. It is for real. You can see that the climate is changing. Are you going to believe ExxonMobil's massive funding or your own lyin' eyes? Or is that a stupid question?
Dave Johnson | 01.04.06 06:57 PM
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"There can be no serious progress on any environmental issues without the participation of conservatives, for the obvious reason that the conservative movement is a potent force that is not going away any time soon."
No shit. Thanks for noticing that current conservatives are responsible for disastrous foot-dragging, indeed retrogression, on the issues of climate change, alternative energy, and environmental protection. They have no workable and effective ideas on these matters, and so it is no use for environmentalists to compromise with them. There is no realistic position to compromise with. When Big Oil, Big Coal, Big Nuclear, and Big Chemical get their cocks out of the elephant's orifices, then let's talk. I won't hold my breath.
YoloMike | 01.04.06 07:10 PM
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I just reiterate what I've been saying for years now: Al Gore for the Presidency of the United States in 2008.
Nicholas Smith | 01.06.06 12:10 AM
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