The Return Of The Lock Box

You have got to be fucking kidding me. I remember Al Gore being roundly mocked for his “lock box” mantra -- to the point where he parodied himself on Saturday Night Live. And now we have Sharon Angle bringing it back:

"The real Social Security solutions are to stop Harry Reid from raiding the Social Security trust fund," Angle said in the ad.

"I'd like to save Social Security by locking the lock box, putting the money back into the trust fund so the government can no longer raid our retirement," she says, echoing former Vice President Al Gore's "lock box" comments that earned him ridicule in 2000.

Let me guess: in 10 years you guys will be in favor of carbon offsets to battle the crisis that is global climate change, right?

Jeebus.

TNGOP Petty Party V.2

So we finally have the reason why Republican legislators voted against locating privately-funded statues of Al Gore and Cordell Hull, our state’s two Nobel Peace Prize winners, on state capitol grounds: it’s because Gore’s not dead yet:

On largely party lines, the Senate voted Tuesday not to support a proposal to erect statues depicting Gore and fellow Nobel laureate Cordell Hull, on the basis that recipients of Capitol Hill honors should be dead. Hull died in 1955.

This, of course, is silly. Republicans named every square inch of public space after Ronald Reagan while he was still alive; here in Nashville there’s a statue of Billy Graham in front of the Southern Baptist Convention just up the street from the state capitol, and last I checked he’s still alive.

But I realize these are not the state capitol grounds and didn’t require legislative approval. Yada yada. Fine.

From The Tennessean:

Few references to Hull were made during the debate. A bust of Hull — who served as Secretary of State during World War II under Franklin D. Roosevelt and helped establish the United Nations — sits directly across the hall from the Senate chamber, and a government building near the Capitol has been named in his honor. Rather it was the idea of honoring Gore that seemed to make lawmakers balk.

Since we’re talking state capitol statues, I wonder if we will ever get around to removing the statue of devout racist Edward W. Carmack? Carmack was a former U.S. Congressman, Senator, newspaper editor and racist who was killed on the streets of Nashville after advocating the repeal of the 15th Amendment in his newspaper:

"I don't think anyone knows who he is or why he's there," said attorney and professor Lewis Laska. "Edward Ward Carmack was one of the most racist politicians in Tennessee history." Laska feels the statue should come down because of what Carmack stood for.

"He wanted the 15th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution repealed. That's the amendment that gave black men the right to vote. He thought that lynching was a good idea because it kept black people 'in their place,'" said Laska.

Well by all means let’s keep the statue of Carmack on the state capitol grounds, then. And let’s make sure no Republican legislator has to gaze upon the visage of Al Gore on his or her way into work. That would be just too awful.

Meanwhile, I suggest we find another place for the Gore and Hull statues. How about dedicating a Nobel Peace Park? Yesterday I suggested the traffic circle in front of the new convention center, but any place prominent will do. Perhaps the new Riverfront Park? The Nobel Peace Prize is an international achievement; recognition of Tennessee’s honorees should be located where our city’s visitors can learn about the achievements of Tennessee’s native sons and daughters. The State Capitol? Feh. We can do better.

And as for the statue of Edward W. Carmack let me suggest a dark closet deep in the bowels of the state legislature where the rest of Tennessee’s racists remain.

TNGOP: Petty Party

Tennessee Senate Republicans have just said no to locating statues honoring Al Gore and Cordell Hull on capitol grounds.

From Pith:

Senate Republicans have defeated a resolution urging the state to raise private money to build a statue of Al Gore and another famous Tennessee Democrat, Cordell Hull, on the Capitol grounds. Gore and Hull are Tennessee's only Nobel peace prize winners. So what? Republicans hate Gore. They didn't even take the trouble to explain why they're against the statues. The 15-14 vote in favor of the resolution fell two votes short of a majority. Does this make Senate Republicans look petty and ridiculously partisan? You bet.

Yup, sure does.

I say fuck ‘em. Let’s locate the statues somewhere else, say, off capitol grounds yet somewhere prominent, perhaps the new convention center roundabout. Take that, assholes.

We Understand Exactly What You’re Doing Marsha

I love Republican politicians who have no problem investing in companies from which they will profit handsomely while they are in public service (Dick Cheney and Halliburton, Donald Rumsfeld and Tamiflu, Kenneth Blackwell and Diebold ... the list goes on), but they love to pretend like it's a bad thing when Democrats do it.

Al Gore is no longer a member of Congress, a member of any administration's cabinet, or even our vice president or president. He thinks transitioning to a green economy is good business--and so do I. If he weren't putting his money where his mouth is, people like Blackburn would be saying he's obviously a snake oil salesman when he won't even invest his own money in it!

And while we’re clarifying relationships, Marsha, maybe you need to clarify a few of your own.

Were You There When They Misquoted Al Gore

Of all the low-down, dirty, rat-dog, cheap shots, this takes the cake:

Right-wing echo chamber promotes doctored and deceptive audio clip of Al Gore.

Earlier this week, the Business & Media Institute (BMI) – a right-wing front group founded by Brent Bozell – spliced and doctored an NPR interview of Al Gore in order to allege that Gore said something which he did not. The organization published a false headline which blared that Gore called the Myanmar cyclone a “consequence” of global warming. Drudge promoted it on his site.

[...]

But in the NPR interview, Gore asserted that melting polar ice caps — not cyclones — were a “consequence” of global warming (which is unequivocally due to global warming). BMI inverted Gore’s comments to make it seem like his remarks about the cyclones followed from his remarks about “the consequences of global warming.” Yesterday, Fox News promoted the doctored clip to make the same false allegations about what Gore actually said.

Indeed, the truth-challenged folks at Faux News offer us this blaring headline:

Al Gore Blames Global Warming for Myanmar Cyclone

Brent Bozell is a smear campaign veteran (for more on Bozell, read here). But Gore has been a target of all sorts of smear campaigns: remember when the Tennessee Center for Policy Research made the shocking allegation that the Gores actually use electricity? Bring the fainting couch!

I really don’t get this antipathy toward Al Gore from the right. Yes, I know his anti-global warming crusade has challenged the power structure and Big Oil. But the right has been gunning for Gore since before the 2000 election. They’ve been acting like he’s some kind of major threat to their plan for world domination since forever.

Maybe he is. All I know is, I'm sick of these kind of smears. If you have something real to slam Gore on, then do it. But don't doctor and edit the soundbite. That just proves you've got nothing. It's evidence that your motivation is the smear. We're all just tired of it.

I Told You So

Al Gore's not running. So give it up, people:

Gore has no plans to seek presidency

OSLO, Norway - Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore says winning the Nobel Peace Prize has not pushed him into entering the 2008 presidential race.

"I don't have plans to be a candidate again, so I don't really see it in that context at all," Gore told Norwegian state broadcaster NRK in an interview broadcast Wednesday. "I'm involved in a different kind of campaign. It's a global campaign. It's a campaign to change the way people think about the climate crisis."

NRK said it interviewed Gore in Nashville, Tenn.

Pick a candidate, liberals. Gore's not running.

Congratulations, Al Gore!

Al Gore shares Nobel Peace Prize with UN climate change panel:

"..for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change."

An Oscar, an Emmy and the Nobel Peace Prize? This not-being-president thing has worked out rather well for him, hasn’t it?

Other famous Tennesseans who have won the Nobel Peace Prize: Cordell Hull, who won in 1945, and Muhammad Yunus, who won in 2006.

Perhaps some folks can look beyond politics and marvel at the number of Nobel Laureates coming from our state.

Maybe He Should’ve Swam There

Here’s a tasty bit of speculation about Al Gore that is bound to piss certain people off:

”... the San Francisco Chronicle's Carla Marinucci is reporting that Gore cancelled an appearance today at a fundraiser for Sen. Barbara Boxer in San Francisco. Boxer explained why in an email to supporters: "I just got a call from Vice President Al Gore. He told me that he needs to travel abroad tomorrow for an exciting and urgent mission that could result in a major breakthrough in the fight against global warming."

What happens tomorrow? The Nobel Peace Prize is announced in Oslo! Of course, the award is actually presented in December, not tomorrow, so Gore's trip is likely purely coincidental. Still, it’s fun to imagine the fits of apoplexy this will generate among the “Al Gore is a hypocrite because he doesn’t churn his own butter” crowd.

Wingnuts On Kool-Aid

Eighteen years ago Yusuf Islam (aka Cat Stevens) said something stupid, therefore Al Gore is unfit to protect Merka from terriss.

Right. Got it.

Carbon Dating

I’m not a big fan of "carbon offsets." They always struck me as a "guilt balm," where a bunch of rich white Westerners could soothe their conscience for living like a bunch of, well, rich white Westerners. They pay their offset and feel they can enjoy their Hummer guilt-free. I don’t think you should be able to buy your way out of planetary responsibility.

This is Paris Hilton thinking--the kind of stuff you'd expect from some vapid blonde heiress who is too stupid to know better. The truth of the matter is, a lot of America’s super wealthy are Paris Hiltons: they just don’t give a shit. That’s what stuck in my craw about the whole “Don’t Give” campaign. Too many people already don’t give a shit in this world, and I don’t think that’s something which should be encouraged.

But I won't object to carbon offsets on the whole, especially for folks who are doing other things to reduce their energy consumption. For people like Al and Tipper Gore, who also have solar panels on their home, drive hybrid vehicles, buy green power shares, etc., it’s just another item on the green menu, not the whole enchilada. And I think criticism of the Gores--in particular, nonsense like this--is pretty disingenuous:

Gore's people tout his purchase of "carbon offsets" as evidence that he lives a "carbon-neutral" lifestyle, but the truth is Gore's home uses electricity that is, for the most part, derived from the burning of carbon fuels. His house gets its electricity from Nashville Electric Service, which gets its from the Tennessee Valley Authority, which produces most of its power from coal-burning power plants. Which means most of the power being consumed at the Gore mansion comes from carbon-emitting power sources.

Big fat duh. That's what the carbon offsets are for, ya nitwit.

As I’ve written on this blog before, unless you’re Jeremiah Johnson living in a deer-skin tent, you’re consuming carbon fuels. I can’t imagine the right wingers are surprised to learn that a former U.S. Vice President and Senator doesn’t, you know, churn his own butter. What a shocker.

So quit being hypocrites yourself. Just living in America, enjoying the cushy lifestyle we have here, has an impact on the planet. We all know it. That’s the point of carbon offsets. You can’t eat, live, work and raise a family in this country without consuming more carbon and creating more pollution than your grandfather did doing the same things. All you can do is try to minimize your personal impact, and try to spread the word and get others to do the same thing.

I'm tired of the “Al-Gore-is-a-hypocrite” BS. It’s stupid. Unless you’ve found a better way of doing it, shut up. It's not productive to the conversation (and of course it's not supposed to be), and it's the worst sort of partisan hackery.