Selfless Oracle (Al Gore!)

Newsweek ^ | 5/24/06 | Howard Fineman

[ricks_place]

Al Gore is at his most appealing when he isn't running for office. But that doesn't mean that the former veep has left politics for good.

In Washington the other day, I got a chance to tell Al Gore something I’d meant to say for a long time, which was that I thought his real strength, his real contribution, was as an observer—writer, explainer, outsider—and not as a politician.

The new movie about him was evidence of that, I said. He gave me a blank, dismissive look, and an “umm” for a verbal response.

I’ve known and covered Gore for decades, so maybe his reaction was inspired by Groucho Marx, who always said that he would never join a club that would have him as a member. But I think the brusque reply carried a different message: don’t assume that I’m ready to be put out to that pasture just yet.

Gore has a certain aura of nobility about him these days—a mixture of rue, acceptance and lofty goals that makes him almost, well, endearing. As I talked to him at the East Coast premiere of the documentary film about him (“An Inconvenient Truth”), I wondered whether his newfound sense of peace and purpose meant that he had given up the idea of ever running for president again—or whether that is precisely what, in an indirect, Zen-like way, he’s doing. My answer to my question: he’s available if fate decides to befriend him.

The premiere, at the headquarters of the National Geographic, had the aura of a Washington homecoming. But it was a nonpolitical political re-emergence after an (understandably) long, post-2000 convalescence. It didn’t feel like a fund-raiser or a campaign launch—just a chance to see an unusual film ...

[ricks_place]

This is disgusting.

• Gore ...most appealing. The appeal of a reptile.
• Gore...real strength..as...explainer. And inventor of the internet.
• Gore...nobility. Nobility of Chance the Gardener.
• Gore...endearing. Even Tipper must be tired of him.
• An Inconvenient Truth...running for president...Zen-like way. Gore as Carnac.
• Movie premiere...Washington homecoming. Gore grew up in a Washington hotel.
• Gore everyone...admired. NO.
• Gore’s famously apocalyptic slide show. How much science does a "C student" Government Undergrad take at Harvard? Maybe he just does not understand science.
• Young Gore's summers on the cattle farm. Spent battling bovine flatulence, no doubt.
• Gore exposed to environmentalist at Harvard Gore exposed...not going there.
• Gore despise the misuse of science in the name of commerce. But misuse of science in the name of politics is ok.
• itinerant preacher...repel the Forces of Doom. Gore as Frodo Baggins.
• Gore happy to be a selfless oracle. Gore as Matric Series Neo.
• Gore a very wealthy oracle with a ton of Google stock. Gore as Jeffery Skilling. How could Gore get pre IPO Google stock while his personal wealth is in a blind trust?
• Gore knows he’s right. Knew this guy in high school.
• "The reason people don’t like Gore is that he has been right so damn many times"-Carville. James Carville laughs at his own joke.

[Cincinatus]

This is the funniest piece Fineman has ever written.

[Ron in Acreage]

Shouldn't it be Bore-acle?

[The Great RJ]

Don't forget he is saving us all from manbearpig.

[CBart95]

That's it.
It's "thirty" for Gore.
No more Gore.

EVER.

[VRWCmember]

Fineman misspelled "oriface" in the title.

[mware]

When I first read this I thought they were calling Gore a killer whale.

[GoldenPup]

Poor Al Gore. Desperately seeking relevance. What a JERK!!!

[EQAndyBuzz]

"Don't forget he is saving us all from manbearpig."

Excelsior!!

[Falcon4.0]

Al Gore. The High Priest of Global Warming.

"Prepare the altar for the Sacrifice!"

[Beth528]

Al Gore the slum lord is going to make another try for Presidency..when will these idiots ever go away and know we don't want them?Al Gore is a hypocritical slime bucket in matters big and small...

[Tracy V.]

"I kinda feel sorry for Al Gore...I mean, I don't think he has any friends."

Stan Marsh

[Reaganesque]

...his newfound sense of peace and purpose...

If this is peaceful, I'd hate to see him angry.

[Waverunner]

Gore...nobility. Nobility of Chance the Gardener.

Please don't demean Peter Sellers this way. His portrayal of Chance makes 'Being There" is one of my favorite movies.
It takes swipes at all of our preconceptions of politics, and predicts how the media is now. Instant pundit anyone.
and remember - life is like a garden, not a box of chocolates. Forrest Gump before Forrest Gump.

[Ditter]

After reading this I think I am going to go and throw up.

[rock58seg]

I thought the "Left Behind" series was an Al Gore Biography.

[Rummyfan]

In Washington the other day, I got a chance to tell Al Gore something I’d meant to say for a long time, which was that I thought his real strength, his real contribution, was as an observer—writer, explainer, outsider—and not as a politician.

Fineman is smoking the same stuff Gore is!

[exDemMom]

Please don't demean Peter Sellers this way. His portrayal of Chance makes 'Being There" is one of my favorite movies.

Mine, too. Simple-minded Chance was the wisest person in the movie, all because he had no artifice, no facades. He was himself. Where Algore, who comes across as not much brighter than Chance, is phony and not very likeable.

[maggief]