Amidst all the speculation about whether or not Al Gore will be a candidate in 2008 are a number of clues. One of them is in the abbreviated promotional blurb on the front of the just released book by David Sirota, Hostile Takeover: "Every politically engaged citizen should read this book." ~ Al Gore.
On the back of the cover the list of praise for the book has Al Gore's comment first on the list. "Hostile Takeover makes a strong case that American democracy is under attack. Every politically engaged citizen who wants to know what challenges we face and how we can rebuild our country's democracy should read this book" - Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States.
Inside the book Sirota takes on the corrupt political establishment and pulls no punches. He exposes the flagrant lies, the perpetrators and those that profit from them - both Republicans and Democrats. In this compendium of political and corporate corruption Sirota attacks and exposes the underlying motives of legislation being sold as good for the American workers and taxpayers but in truth serves only corporations, the wealthy and the powerful. He exposes the depth of the corruption and the hypocrisy of those who twist and spin the issues in favor of corporations while hiding the truth, that their legislative action comes at the expense of the working class, low and middle income Americans, those Americans all politicians swear are their main interest. Sirota names names and among those he names and calls to task are prominent Democrats, some being considered as presidential hopefuls in 2008.
What has this got to do with Al Gore and a possible run in 2008?
Recently, while I was hyping Gore as a possible candidate, someone pointed out that Al Gore was a free trader and that it was the Clinton-Gore administration that pushed NAFTA and set the stage for CAFTA. Knowing my position on the free trade agreements and an apparent conflict in my support of Gore, they asked, "why do you think Al Gore has changed his mind?".
I'll explain.
In his book, Sirota takes on NAFTA and CAFTA and the public's opposition to these "free" trade agreements and their effect on American workers, wages, job losses, the environment, etc. My point is, I can't believe Al Gore would recommend this book if he first didn't read it, and second if he was in complete disagreement with any of the salient points, many which expose Democratic sins including those of the Clinton-Gore administration..
It is true that Gore supported NAFTA but he was in favor of agreements that were primarily "fair" trade agreements that are linked to labor and environmental standards, not what we ended up with. And, while I can't speak for Gore's position regarding free trade at this time, I'm sure he has altered his position after seeing the results of NAFTA and I arrive at that conclusion by simply looking at the progressive groups he now stands with and those that support him. I can't imagine Gore is out of sync with these groups on the issue of free trade and other progressive positions.
Besides, one of the most important characteristics of any great leader would be the intellectual ability to process new information, admit mistakes, make adjustments and change directions rather than stubbornly hold a course that was harmful to our nation and its people, and one which the majority of Americans are against. In stark contrast to the current occupant of the oval office, I believe Gore possesses that ability and much more. I feel Gore has had several come-to-the alter experiences beginning in 2000 and since. One of the first was evident in his painfully delivered, courageous and brilliant concession speech, "no matter how hard the loss, defeat might serve as well as victory to shape the soul and let the glory out."
Keep in mind that Al Gore gave his full support to Howard Dean in 2004 and a former Gore staffer, Roy Neel, took the helm of the Dean campaign after Trippi stepped down. Here was Dean's position on free trade at the time.
"NAFTA and the WTO only globalized the rights of multinational corporations, but they did not globalize the rights of workers. They are not going to globalize human rights, environmental rights, the right to organize. That needs to happen. And if it doesn't happen, NAFTA and the WTO simply aren't going to work. Right now, we're exporting jobs.
Globalization is here to stay whether we like it or not, but the rules for globalization are not. Both NAFTA and the WTO help large multinational corporations but ignore the needs for the people who work for them. In order to make globalization work we also have to globalize worker protection, labor rights, environmental rights and human rights. Free trade won't work under the present circumstances.
I supported NAFTA, I supported the WTO. We benefited in Vermont from trade. But in the Midwest, our manufacturing jobs are hemorrhaging. We have to go back and revise every single trade agreement that we have to include labor standards, environmental standards & human rights standards. If we don't, the trade policy that we seek to help globalize and help workers around the country & the world is going to fail."
Either Gore or Dean was exactly what we needed in 2000 and 2004, but we got neither and our country has been in a nose dive ever since, debt going through the roof, massive theft of tax dollars, jobs being eliminated and shipped offshore by corrupt corporations, political corruption on a scale never before witnessed, our constitution shredded, our freedoms trampled, stolen elections and democracy in it's death throes.
But, David Sirota is right, as he states below, there is hope and a reason for optimism. All is not lost. The progressive movement is real and is growing more power each and every day. Howard Dean showed the way in 2004 and Americans are slowly waking up to the hostile takeover of our government by those whose self-serving interests are destroying a nation.
I devoutly believe Al Gore has seen the light and is prepared to accept the mantle of the gallant knight who will lead us toward it. All we have to do is follow Gore's advice, read Sirota's book and come-to-the -alter together in our effort to save our nation.
Also, in his http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/algore2000concessionspeech.html>concession speechon December 13, 2000 , Al Gore said to all Americans but especially those who voted for him, "Some have asked whether I have any regrets and I do have one regret: that I didn't get the chance to stay and fight for the American people over the next four years, especially for those who need burdens lifted and barriers removed, especially for those who feel their voices have not been heard. I heard you and I will not forget."
I don't believe Gore has forgotten. Not for a moment.
Gary
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http://www.workingforchange.com/blog/index.cfm?mode=entry&entry=58F35103-C702-1D69-C3944D8C17C34CBDThe'>">2006: The Year the Progressive Movement Became a Movement
By David Sirota
There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic these days if you are a progressive. A look accross 2006's campaign landscape shows that our movement is no longer theoretical - it is very real, and increasing in power every single day. But as the Denver Post today notes in a piece about our growing movement (attached below), progressives also face stiff opposition in the form of a corrupt political Establishment desperate to preserve the status quo.
The confrontation brewing between this new movement and the Establishment is not to be downplayed - it is escalating, and it will have profound results that go far beyond just one election.The Denver Post notes that those defending the status quo are, to be sure, entrenched. "Political corruption comes in two varieties," the Post notes. "There are brazen payoffs, and then there is a kind of gooey rot: the venal abandonment of principles, spurred by the favors of corporate lobbyists and the need for campaign cash." Ultimately, "All but the toughest pols and pundits get seduced, and over time, the party establishment starts to stipulate: globalization is a blessing, free trade is sacred, billionaires need tax breaks, job loss is inevitable, workers are expendable, wages will decline, the war in Iraq is necessary."
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