Tag Archives: Al Gore

Nine Scientific Errors In Gore’s Film?

Posted on by

You may have been hearing that a British court ruled that there are “nine scientific errors in Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth”
Nope. Of course not. Just more of the usual right-wing propaganda.
Deltoid: An ‘error’ is not the same thing as an error,

A UK High Court judge has rejected a lawsuit by political activist Stuart Dimmock to ban the showing of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth in British schools. Justice Burton agreed that

“Al Gore’s presentation of the causes and likely effects of climate change in the film was broadly accurate.”

There were nine points where Burton decided that AIT differed from the IPCC and that this should be addressed in the Guidance Notes for teachers to be sent out with the movie.

GO read the rest.

Al Gore WILL Be Smeared

Posted on by

If Al Gore Is awarded the Nobel Prize he WILL be smeared. There is no question about it.
On May 15, 2007, we wrote a post titled, We Guarantee Al Gore Will Be Attacked Next Week, We Absolutely Guarantee It. We wrote,

Al Gore has a new book coming out next week, titled, The Assault On Reason.
Because he is standing up, telling the truth and because he simply is a Democrat and progressive leader, Al Gore will be smeared mercilessly by the right-wing smear machine. He will be ridiculed, made fun of and mocked. They will tease and make fun of him.
They will rush to say that he is bitter about 2000, crazy, insane, pontificating and out of touch.
They will bring up his utility bills and the boards he is a member of.
They will talk about his kiss with Tipper, her crusade against vulgar rap lyrics.
They will bring up his weight and the beard. And say it’s all about 2008.

Continue reading →

Gore

Posted on by

James Boyce says the country needs Al Gore to run for President.

Al Gore thinks he is a lousy politician, he’s right. He is. We need some lousy politicians who say what they mean and mean what they say. We need some lousy politicians who can’t stop themselves from rolling their eyes when a member of the press asks a moronic question. We need someone who points out how stupid the captions are on t.v. shows. We need Al Gore.

Op-Ed Or Op-Lie?

Posted on by

By Dave Johnson and James Boyce of Smoking Politics
What could be more important than dealing with the threat of global warming? Exposing the companies and groups that continue to try and distort the issue for financial gain and holding the media accountable for their role and complicity in the continuing distortion of the truth.
Let’s be perfectly clear. Global warming is a scientific fact – it is not a political issue. But a few corporations are bringing in incredibly high profit margins from the status quo. These profits depend on Americans and people worldwide burning more and more oil instead of working to put less carbon into the air. So they pollute the “marketplace of ideas,” deceiving people by spreading the lie of doubt that global warming is a real problem.
Just as Big Tobacco was willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars denying for decades that cigarettes caused cancer while hundreds of thousands died from their product each year — spreading the same lie that the science was not clear — so too is Big Oil willing to invest heavily in the global warming deniers.
“Doubt is our product” said the tobacco companies, and citizens continued to die. Now doubt is the product again – and the planet continues to grow hotter.

Continue reading →

Gore Accused Of Scaring Children

Posted on by

Shorter version – Conservatives tried to soothe people, telling them not to be afraid after 9/11, but Al Gore is scaring people about global warming, which scientists don’t even agree is real. No, this is not a joke.
Emily Yoffe – Gloom and Doom in A Sunny Day,

It doesn’t seem sustainable to expect people to remain terrified by such a disinterested, often benign — it was so nice eating out on the patio! — and even unpredictable enemy. (I understand we’re the enemy, but the executioner is the weather.) Recall that the experts told us last year would be a record-setting hurricane season, but the series of Katrinas never materialized.
… It’s also hard to believe assertions that the science on the future of our climate is settled when climate scientists can’t agree about the present — or the past (there is contention about the dates, causes and even the existence of the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age that followed). Now, Gore and others say that Katrina was a product of global warming and that we can expect more and bigger storms. But there is actually brisk scientific debate over the role global warming plays — if any — in the creation of hurricanes.

OK, we know that Exxon is paying $10K a pop for stories that spread doubt about global warming. And here it is in the Washington Post.

Messiah-Candidate Thinking

Posted on by

I hear lots of people express the sentiment, “If only Gore would enter the race (or if only Obama took the lead, etc.), everything would be OK and progressives would win again.” This is what I call “Messiah-Candidate Thinking.” The example that got me thinking about this was a DailyKos diary today: An Inconvenient Truth: Mr. Gore You HAVE to run in 2008,

Mr. Gore, you are the person best suited to rescue us from the assaults on reason, our Constitution, our environment, our security, and our domestic infrastructure perpetrated on us by the Busheviks and their allies.

I am not faulting the sentiment here. I love Gore and he would be a great President. I think most of the candidates would make great Presidents. But I don’t think that one person or one election is going to lead us out of the wilderness. I think there is a lot of work required before progressives can win again and turn America in a progressive direction.
Do the conservatives run great candidates? Is that what has worked for them? Was Bush a great candidate? Or was it something else?

Continue reading →

As Al Gore’s Book Hits Number One, ExxonMobil’s Front Group Attacks.

Posted on by

By Dave Johnson and James Boyce
Last week Al Gore released a very thought-provoking book The Assault On Reason. Vice President Gore’s book has been very well-received and it quickly reached Number 1 on Amazon’s best-seller list and now theNew York Times best-seller list.
The Assault On Reason is a remarkable look at where we are as a country, and where we might end up if we don’t alter course. It also is remarkable for this day and age because it was written entirely by Mr. Gore, without the aid of a ghostwriter – something that has not been noted much.
“The Assault On Reason” is an important book that examines how decisions are made in American politics in our day and age. It discusses how changes in our world have made us less reliant on reason and logic and this, in turn, has that led to serious policy mistakes like ignoring global warming, and the Iraq war and occupation.

Continue reading →

Gore on Fire

Posted on by

I saw Al Gore talk at a book signing for his book, The Assault On Reason, in Marin County (north of San Francisco) this evening. He was supposed to talk for a short time, take questions and sign books, but he just got going an gave one of the most inspired, intelligent and I think historically important articulations of the current threat to the American experiment and our democracy that I have heard. He was just on fire.
Gore says our country’s problems go beyond the manipulations and corruptions of Bush and Cheney. He talks about what has happened to this country that we could have ever allow a Bush and Cheney and their lies and evasions and incuriosity to take the reigns of our government – and allowed them to stay there after it became clear what they are about. And he has some very insightful things to say about the historical forces that brought us where we are, and how they might guide us through this.
At times he sounded like a guru, talking about “truthforce,” about how honesty enables us to see clearly without the distortions and distractions that come from constant TV exposure to trivia like gossip about Paris Hilton and Britney and work to push deadly situations like the Iraq war and global warming from our discourse. This is a man who has thought about what is happening to us, and who has the vision and experience to come up with some answers.
He asked how could not just the President, but the Congress, the media and the rest of our system of checks and balances and watchdogs have let Iraq – which he called the worst strategic blunder in our history – happen? How could he public have been fooled into thinking that Iraq had anything to do with 9/11? It’s not just Bush who did that – it’s all of us. Bush is just a symptom. We are ALL responsible for the decisions our country makes. So we all have to get involved and start fixing this broken system. Democracy is not a spectator sport.
I have only had time to read excerpts from Gore’s book, The Assault On Reason, but I predict that the conversation it fuels will be fundamentally and historically important. Buy this book! And listen for news of Gore coming to your area, or appearing on TV, to talk about this subject. The guy is just on fire and I think that fire could catch and spread and help bring about the changes we need.
It’s late or I would write more. I am inspired. (does it show?) I hope that a video of this evening’s talk surfaces soon. I’ll post about it if I learn of one.

Notes From A Call With Al Gore

Posted on by

I participated in a call between a few bloggers and Al Gore today, talking about his new book, “The Assault On Reason“.. Following are a few of my notes.
The rule of reason is the balancing wheel at the center of self government.
Without reason at the center of public discussion we fall back on repetition and propagandistic messaging techniques.
—
Asked if maybe he is saying that reason was used in the past more than it really was, he responded that there was never a golden age of reason but for all the faults in the past we did have a larger role for reason and the truth. The relative role of reason has been diminished.
Today, a determined well-funded special interest can be so successful in distorting the public’s understanding.
—
Bloggers are in the vanguard. What you are doing represents the new wave. How many times have you written about a mistake in the media, until a brush fire starts and the media is forced to correct their story?
—
On torture: George Washington prohibited torture during the revolutionary war. He said no to this because part of the “new way” represented by the United States included a new respect for the individual. This has been America’s policy since. It has never been condoned much less promoted by the executive branch before now. It violates these ideas at the core of the new idea called America.
Torture is one symptom of decay of the core values that led to the creation of America.
—
On the Internet. When information is more than a one-way flow, when individuals can join the conversation and challenge conventional wisdoms and present facts as they see them from their unique situation in life, and share their point of view, this changes the conversation. If what they are saying resonates with others who have reached the same conclusions but have not been able to articulate or frame their insight, this is what inspires changes.
We must protect the freedom of the the Internet from those who would control the flow of information.
Update – Taylor Marsh was on the call and writes about it here and includes a recording of the entire call.

Gore Responds to White House

Posted on by

I am on a call with Al Gore. Gore just responded to White House press secretary Tony Snow, who said, “I don’t know if they’re going to do a reprinting of the book to try to get the facts straight. The fact-checkers may have to take a look at it.”
Gore said,

“This book, unlike the President’s State of the Union Address, has been fact-checked.”

Back to the call now…
My call notes are here and a comment here.
Taylor Marsh was on the call and writes about it here and includes a recording of the entire call.
Jerome Armstrong writes here.

And Away We Go: As Al Gore’s Book Gathers Steam, So Does The Smearing.

Posted on by

On Thursday, Time magazine put up on its website an advance article of its cover story on Al Gore’s new book, with excerpts.
Immediately the right started the character assassination. Just like we predicted, there’s not a word about the merits of Gore’s arguments. Not a word. Why do you think that is?
MacsMind, Al Gore’s assault on our intelligence:

But perhaps the greatest fraud is that Al Gore is being presented as some sort of intellectual when in fact even his ex-boss knew him to be an uninformed and downright ignorant boob.

Continue reading →

Al Gore Stands Up: Time Cover Story On The Assault On Reason Is Out

Posted on by

By Dave Johnson and James Boyce of Smoking Politics
This morning, thanks to our friends at “Time” we have just seen a glimpse into what we believe is one of the most important political books of the year, Al Gore’s, “The Assault On Reason.”
This cover story article is fair, balanced and great insight into both Al Gore and the new book.
Of course, this will also start the attacks – but what you see is a man who knows what’s right, what to do and how to fight – not to mention what he is fighting far.
It will be interesting to watch the attacks, because they have to make him an object of ridicule.
Why? Well, here’s a quote from a tobacco executive:
“Our offensive strategy is to shoot the messenger.”
And here’s the perfect example from this morning.
John Edwards wants to end the war in Iraq. Mike Huckabee wants to make fun of his haircut. That’s pathetic.