The new cult leader
Did you watch it last night?
The fawning, the bootlicking, the sycophancy.
I hope DiCaprio was acting. He's a good actor. If he was acting on stage with Gore last night, he deserves an Oscar. I expected him to fall to his knees and kiss Gore's... feet... at any moment.
It was a most uncomfortable sight. Seriously. What I really don't understand is how people can't see the disingenuity in Al Gore. To me, it's written all over his rather bloated face. That smile is the most dishonest of all. I expect him to break out in that evil laugh heard in every B grade scary movie at any moment. And yet... he's seen as America's next savior by far too many people. And that's A grade scary.
You think I'm kidding? Check out David Remnick at The New Yorker:
In increasing numbers, poll results imply, Americans are disheartened by the real and existing Presidency, and no small number also feel regret that Gore — the winner in 2000 of the popular vote by more than half a million ballots, the almost certain winner of any reasonable or consistent count in the state of Florida — ended up the target of what it is not an exaggeration to call a judicial coup d’état.
...
Gore’s critiques of the Administration’s rush to war in Iraq and of the deceptions used to justify it were early, brave, and correct. On the issue of climate change, of course, he has exercised visionary leadership. With humor and intelligence, and negligible self-pity, he dispensed with the temptations of political martyrdom and became a global Jeremiah.
Remnick's nearly orgasmic here. It's more than a little discomforting. Didn't Jim Jones preach about a coming armageddon at some point? It's vaguely familiar. If Gore starts talking about heading for Guyana...
Drudge had a link to this story up earlier today, a story that will have folks like me wondering why others aren't seeing Gore for what he is:
Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”Gore’s home uses more than 20 times the national averageLast night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
"It is to this desire of being talked about, and this unremitting rage of distinguishing ourselves, that we owe the best and the worst things we possess, both our virtues and our vices, our science and our errors, our conquerors and our philosophers; that is to say, a great many bad things, and a very few good ones. In a word, I could prove that, if we have a few rich and powerful men on the pinnacle of fortune and grandeur, while the crowd grovels in want and obscurity, it is because the former prize what they enjoy only in so far as others are destitute of it; and because, without changing their condition, they would cease to be happy the moment the people ceased to be wretched." -- Rousseau, "On the Origin of Inequality"
...compare this to President Bush's comparatively modest home in Crawford, Texas, which is a model of an environmental friendliness:The 4,000-square-foot house is a model of environmental rectitude
Geothermal heat pumps located in a central closet circulate water through pipes buried 300 feet deep in the ground where the temperature is a constant 67 degrees; the water heats the house in the winter and cools it in the summer. Systems such as the one in this "eco-friendly" dwelling use about 25% of the electricity that traditional heating and cooling systems utilize.
A 25,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater gathered from roof runs; wastewater from sinks, toilets and showers goes into underground purifying tanks and is also funneled into the cistern. The water from the cistern is used to irrigate the landscaping surrounding the four-bedroom home. Plants and flowers native to the high prairie area blend the structure into the surrounding ecosystem.
No, this is not the home of some eccentrically wealthy eco-freak trying to shame his fellow citizens into following the pristineness of his self-righteous example. And no, it is not the wilderness retreat of the Sierra Club or the Natural Resources Defense Council, a haven where tree-huggers plot political strategy.
This is President George W. Bush's "Texas White House" outside the small town of Crawford.
Keep in mind that this piece by Rob Sullivan was first published in the Chicago Tribune in 2001, so the fact that President Bush's home was ecology friendly was not unknown in the media. They just chose to ignore it while they heaped praise on Gore.
And take a look at this piece from TreeHugger:
Only your dispassionate Canadian correspondent could write this without colour or favour, but is it possible that George Bush is a secret Green? Evidently his Crawford Winter White House has 25,000 gallons of rainwater storage, gray water collection from sinks and showers for irrigation, passive solar, geothermal heating and cooling. "By marketplace standards, the house is startlingly small," says David Heymann, the architect of the 4,000-square-foot home. "Clients of similar ilk are building 16-to-20,000-square-foot houses." Furthermore for thermal mass the walls are clad in "discards of a local stone called Leuders limestone, which is quarried in the area. The 12-to-18-inch-thick stone has a mix of colors on the top and bottom, with a cream- colored center that most people want. "They cut the top and bottom of it off because nobody really wants it," Heymann says. "So we bought all this throwaway stone. It's fabulous. It's got great color and it is relatively inexpensive." Hmm, back to that vote about the Greenest President?
George Bush lives environmentalism whereas Al Gore only gives it lip service, yet he's hailed as God's greatest gift to the environment.
Enough of these whacktoid leftists!
I have come here to spread good news of great joy!
A new political party is being offered to the tens of millions of Americans who feel that the Republican party and the DemocRAT party have NOT led them to achieve what they really want our government to do for them.
They want their borders secured and their immigration laws ENFORCED NOW! They want tax reform-and they want it ASAP! They want much more efficient, innovative and effective SMALLER government that gives them more bang for their hard-earned buck. They want Senate rules that do not allow an up or down vote for all executive appointment to the federal judiciary changed to allow a constitutional up or down vote. They want their second amendment right to keep and BEAR arms VIGILANTLY protected! They believe America’s best and brightest days are YET to come! They yearn for REAL change that PRODUCES real results that truly satisfies their good desires for their families, America’s future and their posterity. And, they want it all RIGHT NOW!
The new party is called the ‘New Republican Party’ and can be further studied at my website. This party is what we, and millions of others like us, have all been searching for…but it has never existed before…until NOW!
Posted by: Denny | Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 04:07 AM
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Posted by: Morgan K Freeberg | Tuesday, February 27, 2007 at 09:27 PM