Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Oprah Out, Al Gore In for 2008 / A Poem / A Blog Cartoon



(P1) Political

Ed Says, Bye Oprah and Hi Al - 2008


Al Gore is my choice for President in 2008. What happened to my campaign for Oprah? Let me explain.

Even before she told her TV audience "never, never, never (public office)!" this past week, she'd already demonstrated a "gullibility factor" that rubbed me the wrong way. While I can understand her espousal of James Frey even in the face of the fictions in his "memoir" (after all the book seemed to be doing some good) what was with her fawning over Tom Cruise and perpertrating the sofa-jumping event"? But, I let that all go. I thought her good works and powerbase could bring about a change in politics. I realized it was a long shot. The more I watched her show, I knew she was in the right place. With her "never, never, never" response to a question about political office, Oprah gave me the out I realize I had been seeking.

At approximately the same time, Al Gore leaped back into my consciousness with his impassioned and well-reasoned speech calling George Bush to task for "breaking the law" with the literally un-warranted wiretapping as well as the conduct of the war, torture, unjustified interments, and the management of Katrina.

But is one speech enough? Of course not. I've also strongly considered two other men of the people, John Edwards and Barack Obama. The latter needs more seasoning. The former will be a great ticket-booster as VP candidate. But Al Gore is a proven WINNER! He won the popular vote against Bush in 2000! He probably also won the electoral vote but for Florida, Jeb Bush, Katherine Harris, and the debacle of the courts.

So, why not also consider Hillary Clinton? Because Hillary and her husband have always pandered to the center which wasn't so bad when we weren't caught up in a constitutional crisis at a time of maximum government corruption and decisions which must be brought down. A striking example during the Clinton administration was the sell out on healthcare and the establishment of the "managed care" mess we have now. But perhaps Hillary has emerged from her battles ready to lead the progressive charge? Hardly....

...Read Molly Ivins wonderful Sunday 1-22 column titled "Looking For One Brave Democrat" in which she writes, "I'd like to make it clear to the people who run the Democratic Party that I will not support Hillary Clinton for president...Sen. Clinton is apparently incapable of taking a clear stand on the war in Iraq, and that alone is enough to disqualify her. Her failure to speak out on Terri Schiavo, not to mention that gross pandering on flag-burning, are just contemptible little dodges."

Then Ivins discusses the courage of Eugene McCarthy in the past and wonders what sort of "courage" it would take now to speak out for what the public "wants." In other words, why would Hillary Clinton dodge the big issues when the majority of the public believe the war was a mistake, that single-payer health coverage makes sense, raising the minimum wage is the right thing to do, reducing the deficit by reducing corrupt defense spending and raising taxes instead of reducing domestic spending is the way to go, and repealing Bush's transparent tax cuts for the wealthy must happen. With the people on her side, who is Hillary going after? Not only won't she get the religious right or any appreciable number of votes from the right in general, but her candidacy would be a lightening rod for the worst forms of personal attack and ignoring the issues.

Al Gore, on the other hand has always been issues-oriented. He is a good man. He is experienced. He is speaking out with passion. Oh, and let's no forget his environmentalism. He is my candidate for 2008!

(P2) Poetical

unheeding

a stooped little man beside the unhearing pillar

a white tea rose beside the black marble pillar

a bug-eyed child’s distended belly against the iced-white pillar

a voice of reason echoes off the density of pillar

a shard of moonlight snaps in half against the bonelike pillar

a tiny repulsive mongrel blithely pisses on the pillar

- Edward Coletti - Jan '06 -

Please Post Your Comments Here about any of the above and/or Read the Comments of Others. You can sign in as "blogger" or "other" but add your name to your text. Or email me at edcoletti@sbcglobal.net. We need your feedback.


(P3) Philosophical


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry, Eddie, I don't see your choice, Al Gore, winning the presidency for the Dems. No. 1 negative: no charisma. No. 2: No matter that all the Dems say he really won in 2000, the record books and the last 8 years say differently. No. 3: He doesn't have, in my opinion, that courage you spoke about. No. 4: Where has he been for the last 8 years? Not in the news.
No, I think the Dems need something else and I haven't seen it yet.
John McCain might run and he could win easily. I personally like him, with the uneasy feeling that he sold out to Bush in 2000 in order to get the support in '08. He's also a little soft on the NSA deal.
My candidate will do all you mentioned plus shut down our borders and seriously fine all companies who source their products overseas.
All this is, of course, coffee shop talk. What is really going to happen is the revolt that develops when gasoline hits $5.00 a gallon. Some predict that to happen by end of this summer.

Ed Coletti said...

It's only been around 5 yrs actually, and, after laying low and doing some academic things, regrouping, etc, Gore increasingly has been speaking out. That culminated in last week's very brave and leaderly speech.

As to McCain. Decent guy. But he's a conservative Republican, who occasionally strays to follow his conscience but who almost always comes back to lick the boots which brung him.

Besides, who was the last senate incumbent elected president. Wasn't it JFK way back in 1960!

Anonymous said...

I have a lot of respect for Al Gore, unfortunately it seems as though the country is even more politically polarized than when he won in 2000 and he probably wouldn't have a chance. If only we could find someone with his intelligence but a little less vulnerable to attack. The Democrats better find someone quick and it better be someone that is not afraid to take a stand on issues related to the debt and the environment or we aren't going to have anything left to leave the generations that follow ours.

Anonymous said...

I'd like to see the Clinton's heads bopped together by MO!

Anonymous said...

What can I say. I cried as I read.

Anonymous said...

As I said about McCain, he may have sold out to Bush, but let's not forget one has to get elected to become a president.
And, therein lies the problem - getting elected.
Some of you speak of Gore's intelligence, frankly I haven't seen it, but assuming it is there, it's not needed to get elected, e.g. G. W. Bush. Anyway, most college graduates today can't even make change or figure how to compare costs of products.
I know I always sound so negative, but someone must ask the question, "Is our government and system too corrupt to fix?" If the key to political success is compromise, what kind of politicians do you expect to have?

Anonymous said...

If you are considering Al Gore because of his speech berating President Bush for this wiretapping activities, you might want to have Al explain his silence during these outrages.

Echelon - progam that scans Internet email traffic looking for keywords that indicate a possible threat to US. Administered by the NSA.

Phil Zimmerman - sued by Clinton Administration for writing an industiral strength encryption program called PGP and releasing it to the public for free to protect privacy.

Clipper Chip - a government mandated encryption chip that had a backdoor for government use. The proposal was pitched as needed to decrypt encrypted email sent by drug dealers and child pornographers. It would have made any other encryption illegal.

Pretty disturbing pattern, huh?

I am as hungry as you for real leadership in Washington. Al Gore isn't it. What's worse is neither party seems to have any real leaders queued up for 2008.

Paul

Anonymous said...

I must admit that I was very sad to see you desert the "cause." However,
when I went to your site to read your reasons, I was positively horrified.You shifted your allegiance from Oprah to AL GORE! The man who invented theInternet? Oh, wait, he didn't really say that or mean that orsomething...he sort of mumbled when he gave his apologia. Of course, unlike
Oprah...who went on national TV within a week of her error, admit hermistake and apologized to the AMERICAN PEOPLE...telling us that WE wereright, she was wrong. How quaint. She obviously is not qualified to be a politician, at least in your eyes. Dear me, I guess I too am cursed with a
"gullibility factor" that doesn't understand...as Dubya and Old Al and Willy Clinton and now Ed Coletti...know so well...NEVER, NEVER, NEVER admit mistakes and always tell lies in such a way as to allow deniability. "Ah
mean, ah didn't inhale...and ah never had sexual relations with that woman!"

And here I was thinking that Oprah's openess and ability to admit error were among her strengths, characteristics that give her an outside chance of actually doing some good for the future of the American Dream. Poor dumb me
and the hundreds of others who have found that by simply entering "Oprah" and "president" in Google, they can find a place where the gullible gatherand join up!

In disgust,
Willy Chaplin

Ed Coletti said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Ed Coletti said...

Say Hey, Willy,

I wrote that about Tom Cruise and James Frey BEFORE Oprah did her apology to the American People! So take a deep breath and give me permission to publish your comment on the blog as a "commentary" (He did), and I'll also include both this reply. If not, that's fine too, keep up the good work. I don't know if you saw our Xmas card with Joyce, Lady, and I wearing your "Oprah For President" tee shirts." But unlike Dubya and certain unnamed others, I can change my opinion and allegiance. Actually, the entire "internet" thing about Al Gore has been way overblown and taken way out of context. Finally, although I believe in Gore, I am beginning to realize that he doesn't carry the cachet that would interest you and the majority of the American people even though he carried the majority of the American people previously in 2000. How quickly we forget.

Peace and Love and Certainly No Disgust,

Ed