[James Traub of The New York Times Magazine] said that, as he followed the ex-vice president around, the Goracle was “eating like a maniac: I watched him inhale the clam dip at a reception like a man who doesn’t know when his next meal will be coming.”Does that mean he has no plans to run? According to Dowd:
If Al Gore is really unplugged and uncensored, as Tipper and his fans say, then he is no longer bound by the opinions of gurus, mercenaries and focus groups. He can be himself, and inhale away and still run if he wants....So, go ahead and be fat if you must, Al. It makes it harder for you scold us about about overconsumption and global warming, but actually, my read of "An Inconvenient Truth" is that you're just telling everyone to take global warming seriously and do some things that we can do. Some people can do some things and some can do others. If you can't stop overeating, you're like an awful lot of us. There are millions of Americans who can empathize about fat. And for that matter: hypocrisy. If you've got to be fat, try to be good fat, zest-for-life fat. If you've got to be a hypocrite... well, aren't we all?
Doug Brinkley, the presidential historian, said that even though the fashion now is for fit candidates, after the Civil War, there was a series of overweight presidents. “It showed you had a zest for life,” he said. (The excess baggage may make Bill Clinton and Bill Richardson look roguish, but unfortunately, too many cheeseburgers and ice cream sundaes make Mr. Gore look puffy and waxy.) “Maybe,” Mr. Brinkley suggested, “Gore can sit in Tennessee and do it via high-definition satellite — like McKinley, just eat and sit on the porch.”
As for the front-porch strategy, go ahead! Not only is it a good idea in these days when we have no time to go to campaign events because we're too busy hanging out on the web and because of the insanely front-loaded primary schedule. It's environmentally friendly. As you do lots of web-based campaigning, you could put up a nice web page that keeps a running tabulation of the fossil fuel burnt by each of your opponents as they jet and bus all over the place.
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28 comments:
Even better: liposuck and render Gore's fat periodically for use as an alternate, bio-friendly fuel. Two birds wih one stone...
Off topic, but where did the 9 millionth visitor come from?
If he's going to run, he'll start hitting the Grecian Formula again, too. His hair's all grey now.
It would certainly reduce the indentation his carbon footprint leaves.
At least he's got a passionate base, unlike any of the present GOP candidates....
Can you imagine Gore v. Thompson, both Tennesseans?
One thing's for sure, if Gore gets in, the Dem. race between Clinton, Obama, and Gore will be exciting. Good for our country, regardless of one's political beliefs.
Why does anyone need three computer monitors?
Not just three, but three 30" monitors. Sheesh. A perk for being on Apples board I suppose. :-)
He seems conflicted. Obviously he believes, without a doubt, that he should have been president in 2001 and that it is his destiny. Bigger than his stomach and not subject to a diet, is his ego, which would love the adulation and power that he saw Bil Clinton obtain.
But the ego also loves hanging out with Laurie, Sheryl and Leo and the relative freestyle of being a psuedo religious, global warming alarmist celebrity, clam dip and all.
The former is a higher calling but subjects him to accountability. Where do you go from here Al?
Palladian: I would love to have 3 monitors to spread out the windows that are all piled up at any given time. I've used two in the past, and I usually had my writing project open on one, and the page I was reading on the internet open on the other. But I'm usually working with more than one reading at a time, not to mention email and alternate things that I'm writing. But three would be great for a writing window and two reading windows. Look at how you'd use a real desktop and spread things out so you could see them simulaneously. Another use Gore might have is videoconferencing, which he might do with more than one person... and which can save traveling.
MM: The 9 millionth visitor was from the Netherlands:
http://www.sitemeter.com/?a=stats&s=s17althouse&v=2&r=9&vlr=8&pg=601
Some search. Too bad! The nine-million-and-first visitor was a local reader.
"But three would be great for a writing window and two reading windows. Look at how you'd use a real desktop and spread things out so you could see them simulaneously."
Yes, but that applies a paper-based concept to a technology that doesn't need to rely on that old model. One of the great things about the computer desktop is that one can cycle through documents with just a key command far more easily than one can shuffle through papers. I think two monitors could be justified in certain kinds of work, but unless you're monitoring a nuclear reactor, three monitors is simply inefficient use of the inherent advantages of the computer.
On another note, if one's physical desktop is an accurate mirror of the state of one's mind, Al sure does have a lot of junk upstairs. He needs a paper diet as well as perhaps a nutritional one.
Off topic-- Your post about non-fiction in the classroom:
There's nothing that can spark the imagination like novels. They are, by definition....novel, innovative.
Movies are nice, but they are passive. With fiction, your imagination does the work. We need more imagination in the classroom, not less.
This blog, for instance, doesn't seem very imaginative---(according to what I've heard in the chatrooms, mind you).
What they are saying is that Althouse is always quoting someone else, or relying to heavily on other material...always citing others.
Citations---just like a lawyer!
I don't see Algore running this time. Yes, he believes he should have won in 2000, and always expected to be president. But running is a huge commitment, and life is just too good for him without that. He just doesn't have the fire in his belly any more that it would take to either get the nomination or to win.
Besides, I suspect that his global warming credentials might come back to bite him. The other Democratic candidates can keep the heat on the Republicans for Iraq, Bush, etc. But Gore's book, etc. open him up to a charge of gross hypocarcy.
Besides, it also opens up a comparison with the Clinton Administration. Yes, it was pre-9/11, so we could pretend that Islamic terrorism was not an issue. But that Administration was also far more corrupt than the present one, with Algore doing his part with illegal fundraising in Buddist temples.
So, in the end, I don't see him running. Rather, I see him figuring that he can do more for his Global Warming movement from right where he is, the darling of Hollywood, etc. And that is a lot less stressful of a lifestyle than being president.
Al Gore is the classic case of hypocrisy. Do as I say, not as I do. His thinly veiled and highly transparent attempts at minimizing his carbon footprint(s) are just another in his long line of his hypocrisy and he's nothing more than a laughing stock while his acolytes gloss over if not completely ignore his environmental misbehavior.
I agree with the previous commenters. I do, however, feel that if he runs, the nomination is his. Anybody else feel that way?
AllenS said...
I agree with the previous commenters. I do, however, feel that if he runs, the nomination is his. Anybody else feel that way?
I agree. If he runs, the presidency will be his--unless he does something really stupid along the way.
btw, I am a Republican and won't be happy about it.
dbp
Ann, I read this post three times because I liked it so much. I don't know exactly why, but I just enjoyed the tone, the generosity of it. I'd venture that this ably exemplifies "moderate," which is what I believe you consider yourself.
And I'd love to see Al, fat and happy, running a digital presidential campaign. How cool would that be?!
Maureen Dowd? Who is she?
Seriously, I haven't read any of the writers behind Times-Select in ages.
It must be that their influence is significantly waning.
Doug Brinkley, the presidential historian, said that even though the fashion now is for fit candidates, after the Civil War, there was a series of overweight presidents. “It showed you had a zest for life,” he said.
For this era, being overweight is only the first clue. If we want our presidential candidates to show how plugged in they are, they should be photographed wearing pajamas and a robe, sitting hunched over a laptop at the breakfast table, writing a blog post.
Palladian,
It's not uncommon among programmers, which Al Gore--well he's got nothing but news open, looks like, but I'm remembering him being credited with a program called "Al Gore Rhythms" or something back in the early '90s.
One window to write code, one to test the output, and a third for reference (or blogs) while you're waiting for compiles/running tests/whatever.
And what's really great, probably not for many here, is that...if he runs...he'll win.
Then the whining will REALLY start.
methadras,
Geeeee, did you transcribe that from one of Rush or Sean's latest shows?
Luckyoldson said...
methadras,
Geeeee, did you transcribe that from one of Rush or Sean's latest shows?
DUH!
Steve,
Did he?
Sure sounds like something one would hear from either of them.
Same ol, same ol'.
Luckyoldson said...
And what's really great, probably not for many here, is that...if he runs...he'll win.
Then the whining will REALLY start.
4:00 PM
I will make a deal: I won't start whining about the Gore presidency until he wins if you can hold off on the gloating 'till then.
dbp
dpb,
That's a good deal; anyone should take you up on it. In fact, I'd be happy if this whole year-early campaign just stopped right now and didn't rematerialize until spring of 2008.
dbp,
I don't know if I can do that.
beth,
Too late.
Luckyoldson said...
Then the whining will REALLY start.
Do you mean in addition to the stolen election whining we've been hearing for the last six years?
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