I got a letter from my cousin who told me that a guy in St. Louis told her that his barber’s brother-in-law works for the guy who keeps poor old Al in a rubber room.
I only saw some excerpts, more on MTP today, and have been trying to see if it is scheduled to be shown on C-SPAN. He appeared to be very angry, was asking the “whole” US Government to resign and seemed a little bit out of control for him …
I don’t think his beard qualifies as either big or bushy. There are some great webpages about it, though.
Qualified, I should say.
Can someone offer a halfway beleivable reason for thinking this is something other than cheap Pubbie agitprop? Cause that sure is what it smells like.
If it is it will “peter out” ----- and I can say “peter out” because this is about Gore’s insanity - not Clinton’s.
Sandwich/Mop in 04! 
Hey, I was at that speech! Afterward I remarked, as did just about everyone else who was there, that old Al seemed decidedly more animated and passionate about his speech than he did during the days he was stumping. Yes, he did call for just about every Republican in the executive branch to resign, but it made sense in the context of his speech. Obviously (to me, in the audience), no one thought these people would really resign on Al Gore’s say-so, but the gist of the remarks was that they had done a piss poor job on 1. 9/11, 2. National Security in general, 3. the war in Iraq, and 4. the prison scandal.
If he was insane, it was in the Crazy Eddie sense (that’s a commerical where Eddie has prices SO LOW, they are INSANE, if memory serves). The most notable part was not what he said (what he said was pretty much what anyone would say if called upon to write a pro-Kerry, pro-Democratic party speech), but that he was surprisingly charismatic and enthusiastic, in contrast to his reputation.
Let’s clear some things up, here.
I’m certain Al Gore shows the fullest range of human emotions possible, to his family and close friends. However, his entire political life, he presented to the world the image of a dullish policy wonk.
That is why it is noteworthy to comment on things like the kiss at the convention and the speech a few days ago. They are wildly out of character for the man. Therefore, when he engages in behavior of this type, it shows that he is being stage managed or handled to a degree, or making a conscious effort to break with his old image.
In politics, that’s news. And, since Al Gore’s life is one of “reinvention”, it isn’t out of line to criticize it to a degree. I don’t thing he was insane, certainly. But his speech was way over the top, and wasn’t aiming for the political middle. One has to ask why.
I think he WAS aiming at the political middle, and his speech wasn’t over the top. Two thirds of Americans now think that America under the Bush Administration is headed in the wrong direction. The last time the numbers were that great, the Republicans gained control of Congress for the first time in 40 years.
Maybe the reason conservatives are crying “Insane!” is that they feel the ground shifting beneath their feet and don’t know what’s happening. It’s a crazy situation for them, so they project the craziness on to Dem politicians.
Because, looking at Bush’s continually declining poll numbers, the middle is going to vote for Kerry. If things continue on course, I see Kerry winning big.
And perhaps you would be interested in a little history…
Calling for resignations in the Bush Admin is crazy? Hell, half of 'em ought to be arrested.
With all the vitriol from the Fox/Bush channel, nothing of substance was given to counter Gore’s points.
OK, here’s the text of his speech.
Tell us which parts were “way over the top.” I’m waiting with bated breath.
I thought it was a helluva good speech, myself. He called for the resignations of Rumsfeld and three underlings (Wolfie, Feith, Cambone), whose fingerprints are all over either the failed war plan, the ‘torture lite’ orders that led to Abu Ghraib, or both. And he called for the resignation of Condi Rice, whose tenure as National Security Advisor has mostly been marked by inaction. Seems reasonable to me.
You might try reading the thread title
Is Al Gore really going insane since the '00 election was stolen from him?
In 2000, Gore needed to appear “presidential” and could not give such an impassioned speech. Just look at what happened to Dean this year, the voters do not want fiery speeches from their leaders. Now, Gore and other surrogates for Kerry can speak with all the fervor they want while Kerry stays above the fray. I think in Gore’s case, there’s a bit more going on. It must be very hard for Gore to watch Bush destroy the federal budget and march the army into the Iraqi quicksand. He likely feels a bit of guilt in that if he had run a better campaign in 2000, he could have spared the nation the incompetent leadership that it currently has. So after losing in a crooked election and watching Bush steer the ship of state into a reef, I believe Gore has every right to speak with passion.
I would also like to know what was over the top about that speech.
I’d be concerned about Mr. Gore’s metal health if the prognostications weren’t coming from the usual right-wing propaganda blowhards. If anyone deserves to be declared mentally insane, it’s that bunch.
Wow - what a speech. The word “scathing” comes to mind. No wonder the republicans are freaking out about it. So has anyone come up with anything in the speech that isn’t true? I liked this particular paragraph - I think this says it all:
Yes, RULE OF LAW. Not “we do what we want, when we want.”
I disagree. If anything, Gore lost points for being too “condescending” towards Bush. In the debates, Gore took an aggressive stance and clobbered Bush intellectually, yet Bush was declared the “winner” by many. I think a lot of people preferred the “good ol’ boy” over the “snooty guy with all his fancy talk”. Had Gore been even more aggressive, he probably would have fared even worse in the election. He did win the popular vote, after all. That’s nothing to sneeze at.
Unhappily, it turns out that it is and we have an incompetent bungler in office to prove that it is.