# Naw, Al Gore's son would never do anything like that... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 21, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288 "2003-12-21T07:15:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/21 "2003-12-21T09:03:24Z")
Unless Al Gore gave the pot to his son, the “Al Gore is a family values hypocrite” charge doesn’t stick, IMO. Then again, I always thought that bashing George W. Bush for his daughters’ drinking was rather silly as well. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/22 "2003-12-21T10:29:41Z")
Oh, c’mon! It was a cheap shot when we were talking about Bush’s daughters, and it’s a cheap shot now. The fact that others engaged in it does not excuse turning it around on them. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/23 "2003-12-21T10:41:00Z")
Is Gore still buddies with the Phelpses? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/24 "2003-12-21T10:49:15Z")
:smack: Damn! I knew we shouldn’t have elected Gore! His son smokes pot! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/25 "2003-12-21T12:17:53Z")
Yeah, this changes everything. I wanted to party with the Bush girls, and now I want to party with Gore Jr – so long as he doesn’t try to drive me home. Other than that, does this thread have any impact for someone not interested in the continuing Republicans v. Democrats epic? ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/26 "2003-12-21T12:46:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joel \* > \*\*Besides the fact that it’s illegal? \*\* Well, yes. Besides the fact that it’s illegal, what actually is wrong with smoking pot? Which then logically leads to the question, why is it illegal? And for the record, I wouldn’t advise my kids (if I had any) to look to Bush or Gore as role models. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/27 "2003-12-21T12:48:11Z")
And did you see that photo on _Grudge_! Clearly, this is an utterly depraved young man! Either that, or one of those innocently annoying Mormon missionary kids. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/28 "2003-12-21T13:56:47Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Astroboy14 \* > \*\* It was a cheap shot when we were talking about Bush’s daughters, and it’s a cheap shot now._\* I’d have to agree with this, **Airman**. Whilst some of the assorted assholes, so-called “liberals” and fellow travellers on this board may have called out Bush on the behaviour and/or troubles of his relatives, to my knowledge Al Gore did not. There’s no need to stoop to the level of those guys, and no need to tar Gore with his kid’s troubles to get a “gotcha” on them. ---
**Author:** ![jacksen9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jacksen9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacksen9)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/29 "2003-12-21T14:03:25Z")
I do not think this incident reflects an accurate picture of the parenting or family values the Gore family practices or believes. There are thousands of great parents and great families that have a family member with a drug problem. Superb parenting reduces the risk of kids going down this path but there are no guarantees. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/30 "2003-12-21T14:19:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Valgard \* > \*\*Um, smoking pot has a number of effects that won’t help your driving such as reducing reaction time. Someone who gets high and gets behind the wheel is every bit as bad as someone who has a few drinks and goes for a drive. \*\* As someone who has done both in the past, I have to say ‘horsefeathers’. Being high and driving is to being drunk and driving as scratching your arm is to cutting your arm off. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/31 "2003-12-21T14:35:04Z")
**Airman Doors, USAF** , have you, or any of your siblings, if there are any, ever done anything that conflicts with “family values,” whatever they may be? If you are without sin, throw all the goddamned stones you wish; otherwise this thread is a cheapshot to end cheapshots. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/32 "2003-12-21T15:34:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > \*\*Well, yes. Besides the fact that it’s illegal, what actually is wrong with smoking pot? > > Which then logically leads to the question, why is it illegal? > And for the record, I wouldn’t advise my kids (if I had any) to look to Bush or Gore as role models. \*\* Besides the fact that it’s illegal, he shouldn’t have been driving while high, on a substance that American society has deemed improper to use for recreational purposes. And I’m interested in knowing why you wouldn’t advise your kids to look to Bush or Gore as role models. I mean, are you talking drug wise? I’m assuming so since this thread deals with drug and alcohol use. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/33 "2003-12-21T15:37:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LouisB \* > \*\ ***Airman Doors, USAF** , have you, or any of your siblings, if there are any, ever done anything that conflicts with “family values,” whatever they may be? If you are without sin, throw all the goddamned stones you wish; otherwise this thread is a cheapshot to end cheapshots. \*\* Of course I have, **LouisB** , and of course it was a cheapshot. If you read the thread that I linked to, you’ll see that right from the outset, I think it was the third or fourth post, that it is stupid to visit the sins of family members upon someone else and claim that it’s an example of bad family values. Yet that thread went to four pages, so clearly I’m in the minority. I also wasn’t the one using words like “sluts” or “killer”. I raised my meek little protest like you are doing here, and it went completely unnoticed because it was a standard “Bush is evil” masturbatory celebration. Well, I still believe that under no circumstances am I responsble for the sins of my family, but since people were casting stones in that thread, I thought I’d show them the kettle to their pot and watch them fall all over themselves trying to find a way to rationalize a guy who has been on three different occasions charged with moving violations that had it been me would have resulted in large fines and maybe jail time. I’ve not been disappointed. So far I’ve heard that an illegal substance is not only OK, but it actaully makes you drive _better_. Having used the stuff before I can state in my experience that that’s a bunch of crap. Weed does a very good job of impairing your judgment. Ask the Shippensburg cops how good my judgment was when I was walking down the middle of the street singing at the top of my lungs at 3 am. Gore III was so high he didn’t even turn his lights on. Either that or he was trying to avoid the cops. Either way, he knew exactly what he was doing. But we still have the apologist crowd in here. So that’s that. What’s that word used earlier? Ah, yes. _Schadenfreude_. How apropos. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/34 "2003-12-21T15:38:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*Um…nope…the studies don’t show any of that. Weed smoking does not have any appreciable effect on driving ability. As a matter of fact, people who are stoned tend to be a little more cautious. \*\* Dude! Accordoing that commercial on TV, it makes you run over little kids in fast-food drive-throughs! It was on TV, so it has to be true! And it was from the government, which never lies! ---
**Author:** ![Waverly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/57b2e6/32.png) [@Waverly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waverly)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/35 "2003-12-21T15:49:45Z")
Doors, do you really think it is clever to protest pettiness by wading yet further into the muck? Someone… anyone, find the higher road. ---
**Author:** ![magog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/fbc32d/32.png) [@magog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magog)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/36 "2003-12-21T16:00:36Z")
Slight hijack, but statements like > [@](#): > > I wonder if he told the cop that he invented the blunt? rates more of a :rolleyes: than a ;). Even in jest, promoting urban legends and half-truths as truth is just wrong, especially on a board that professes to stamp out ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/37 "2003-12-21T16:01:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Airman Doors, USAF \* > \*\* I also wasn’t the one using words like “sluts” or “killer”. I raised my meek little protest like you are doing here, and it went completely unnoticed because it was a standard “Bush is evil” masturbatory celebration. \*\* I’d suggest, then, that it would have been better to pit the hypocrites (Where’s the Pit Thread on Gore’s Kid, Diogenes?) than to pit Gore’s kid or Gore and make the hypocrites a collateral target. ---
**Author:** ![Creative\_Munster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/919ad9/32.png) [@Creative\_Munster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Creative_Munster)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/38 "2003-12-21T16:09:22Z")
I am not proud of it, but I have driven stoned. I was more cautious because my senses were impaired. Smoking a joint and getting behind the wheel is not a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Venoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c4cdca/32.png) [@Venoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Venoma)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/39 "2003-12-21T16:31:29Z")
The most recent experience I had with driving stoned was - second hand smoke. Yep! (I seriously didn’t inhale!) I found I was so distracted after driving for a couple of minutes that I requested that my younger brother drive. I can drive quite well after having -one- drink, but apparantly, even incidental marijuana smoke affects me adversely. Of course, YMMV, literally. ---
**Author:** ![Yumanite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/b487fb/32.png) [@Yumanite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yumanite)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288/40 "2003-12-21T16:45:49Z")
So, you’re protesting what you feel is a cheap shot, by returning it. Can you remind me why that’s a good thing? **Airman** , I’m a lurker of many political rants on this board. There are plenty of others like me, and I’m sure I don’t just speak for myself when I say that I weigh the remarks of those I **respect** as posters more than those I don’t. I agree that blasting Bush for the behavior of his daughters is a cheap shot, and believe me, I have no love for the man at all. When I see posters indulging in such tactics, I roll my eyes and move on. I lose respect for the poster. I’m less likely to seriously consider what he or she says in the future. I’m taking the time to tell you this because I value your political insight. This board has a number of conservative posters that I respect, even admire. They are important, because the board leans to the left overall. **You** are in an ideal position to make your arguments mean something to me and other people who are reading your threads. If you act immature, you will lose much of that advantage. This thread is childish, and not worthy of you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naw-al-gores-son-would-never-do-anything-like-that/220288.md?page=3)