You just have to see this!
Via kos diarist, archibaldtuttle This was filmed during the 2000 election by Spike Jonze, the director of Being John Malkovich, and is basically a home video of the Gore family. It makes me sick that the media only allowed the public to see a caracature of Gore, while they have spent the last several years propping Bush up in the face of every scandal. Just think what could have been accomplished.
posted by Eli @ 2:32 PM
13 Comments:
what could have been . . . .
I liked Gore before it was cool. The combination of the media and institutionalized assinity ruined Gore in 2000. As the sitting Vice President he wasn't seen as his own person and therefore didn't receive any credit for Clinton's accomplishments.
At the same time, every election is a referendum on the incumbent's weaknesses - even when the incumbent isn't running. Hence, Gore became the repository of blame for all of Clinton's faults. That's the game of course. But the media didn't have to pile on and portray him as some sort of weasel possessing no authenticity.
Gore is not a white knight. No politician is. They can't be. Relatively speaking however, Al Gore is far more intelligent and thoughtful then most politicians. Two things I'm certain of: 9/11 doesn't happen on Gore's watch and the U.S. would be leading the world today in proactively addressing global warming.
Great comments, Rob. I checked out your site and liked what I saw. I intend to add your link. We shouldn't forget Iraq either. Gore was one of the only Democrats I can remember giving a powerful speech against the war before it even began. I have been very impressed with almost every speech he has given in the last few years, especially his recent one on the NSA scandal. It is funny that in the American media/political culture, intelligence, experience, and actual knowledge and training are viewed as negatives. Really, not so funny.
Yes, quite true. Gore's warnings about Iraq were prescient. Even more impressive is that he was considering a run for the Presidency at the time. The nomination might well have been his for the asking. Another politician in his position might have opted to be expedient and support Bush on the war (like Kerry did) for general election positioning. But he took the principled stand instead.
Too bad we were denied the the slogan, "re-elect Gore in 2004."
I've read more of your blog and will add you to my blogroll as well. Your perspective is interesting and I'm sure I'll learn from regularly reading The Mandate of Heaven.
Regards,
Rob
Added! Thanks Rob, and more good points. I must say that at the time I was hoping Gore wouldn't run because I thought it would open the playing field, and I believed we needed a new face. Then, I hopped aboard the Dean train, as Gore eventually did as well. That everyone attacked him for not endorsing Lieberman was just more short-sighted judgements from the corporate media.
Now that I'm in Taiwan, Mandate of Heaven will not likely exclusively follow American politics, though I am still following it very closely, continuing to read and link to what I feel are good and important blog posts and articles, and occasionally writing about it. But, there is also a lot happening outside America, and it is healthy to escape the Platonic cave-like bubble evoked around the American public by the corporate media (if that makes sense). The myriad voices blooming on the internet are one antidote to that.
I look forward to reading about life and events outside the insulated bubble of the American media in Taiwan. Sadly, here in America I'm not sure any of us who follow the news can really be sure about what is happening outside our country. You try to peruse diverse sources of information, synthesize the commonalities that seem credible but simultaneously don't skip a beat fulfilling life's obligations. Which is why credible reporting is important to keep us informed during our busy lives. But the media no longer provides that service so it's up to bloggers like you to keep the rest of us informed!
Regards,
Rob
Rob,
I hope I didn't give the impression that I feel like I am in some special position in all of this; I strongly believe we all have a role to play. I also hope I didn't lead anyone to believe I think people in America are in general more in a bubble than anyone else in the world. It was more a statement about the current state of the media, and I know plenty of people in the states whose eyes are wide open. Lastly, I think there still is a place for the traditional or corporate media--there are lots of people in it working hard to bring the news to the people--but, in my view, the owners, managers, editors, and too many reporters are being moved by corporate motivations, the will to access, and the drive for profit. Ultimately, I agree with much that has been said about media criticism from the left and the right. Conservatives want the media to be representative--that is, to represent the will of those in power. Liberals/progressives just want the news media to do its job better, and to stop being the mouthpiece of the GOP.
Hi Wulingren -
I thought you might be interested in a blog called Breaking Ranks. The purpose of the blog is advocacy for individual dignity in a world that imposes "rankism" on society. The proprietor of the blog is Robert Fuller who has authored books on the subject. The person responsible for the daily postings is a good friend of mine named Elisa who is currently living in California. From having read your blog, I suspect you will find the perspective on this one interesting.
Regards,
Rob
Hi Again -
Just read your comment from yesterday. No worries. I didn't think you gave the impression of believing you're in a special position. Rather that you can provide a different perspective because of where you're currently residing. I may have overly expressed my frustration at not feeling confident in my current sources of information. I've been reading the New York Times since I was ten years old. It's unsettling to learn that I can't simply accept their reporting at face value anymore. But the Iraq War has certainly proven that we can't.
Regards,
Rob
I get your feelings about such media as the NYT. Although I haven't read it since I was little, I did grow up in a household where the NYT was a morning fixture on the table next to the coffee cup, and in which the nightly news was on, yes, nightly. I am struch by how the NYT presents itself--and is accepted as--nothing but the facts. At least three things in the last few years have solidified in my mind that it is more than that: there Judith Miller coverage in the lead up to Iraq; there coverage of the Democratic primaries; and editorials about Judith Miller when she was thrown in jail. Of course, they still have some excellent reporters, as evidenced in the NSA series, but again, why did the editors keep this on hold for a full year.
I will check out your friends site.
Eli
Interesting video. It is nice to see a politician who does not appear like a marionette.
Speaking about politicians - do they write a lot about Berlusconi in Taiwan? Since they were no communists. Berlusconi is far ahead his time - he must have read my article which is not published yet on the steamed children. And a friend pointed out that on the menu in a Chinese Restaurant around the corner you get 'beef dishes', 'pork dishes', 'fish dishes' and 'children dishes'.
Berlusconi is an all-encompassing thoughtful politican ;-)
I haven't heard much about Berlusconi in Taiwan, but I'll keep an ear out.
It is nice to see a politician who doesn't look like a marionette; too bad he was made to look like a marionette while the guy who really was (and still is) a marionette was made to look like the guy people would want to have a drink with.
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