I remember having mixed feelings about Al Gore well before Bill Clinton chose him as his running mate in the 1992 presidential election. While I liked and admired Gore in some ways, particularly in relation to his concerns and work with environmental concerns, it seems troubling to me that his wife was the head of the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC).
My impressions of Gore, like with Clinton himself, basically only lowered over the course of the eight years when they were in power. In time, I became skeptical of them both. In fact, I credit the Clinton-Gore years with turning away from the Democrats, no longer able to identify myself as one of them. Indeed, by the year 2000, I was one of those people itching for another option than either of the two main parties, and voted accordingly. Yes, that means that I voted for Ralph Nader. If you believe that means that I threw away my vote, or perhaps even cost Gore and the Democrats the 2000 election, than so be it.
If anything, my skepticism of the Democrats, and of Gore specifically, has only grown since then. What I once viewed as noble work in an effort to increase awareness of serious environmental concerns began to feel like a money grab over a popular issue which Gore and company hoped to cash in on.
Yet, like with Clinton himself, I sometimes found myself sliding back and being impressed with some of what Al Gore had to say. I watched and was impressed by "An Inconvenient Truth." Also, I attended the local Live Earth part of the international concert at Giants Stadium, and felt good about what it represented. In fact, Al Gore was there, making a couple of appearance (as well as other celebrities, like Leonardo DiCaprio, Kevin Bacon, and Jane Goodall). That good feeling started to sour quite a bit shortly after leaving the concert itself, when I found the parking lot, if anything, paradoxically more filled with litter and beer bottles and empty boxes of cartons of beer than I had ever seen it. It was more than a little disappointing, and I felt it almost heartbreaking. In time, however, I came to view it as symbolic of this nation's approach to environmental issues, and even of Gore's own environmental position.
So yeah, some mixed emotions remain when I see or hear from Al Gore.
That said, the corruption and inadequacies - and my disillusionment - of the Clinton years feels almost quaint to me now. After all, we are living in Trump's America. Dear Leader just illegally and immorally accepted a $400 million luxury jet as a "gift" from Qatar, which he claims is not a sign of corruption but one "of love."
Right.
Recently, I found this clip of Al Gore, forcefully speaking out against Trump and condemning all that Trump represents. Once again, despite my own differences with Gore, I found myself siding with him, being impressed with the points which he was making, and the seeming passion with which he was making them.
So it seemed to me worth sharing this particular clip, where Gore warns that there are indeed some parallels between the Trumpism of today and the move towards fascism of early Nazi Germany. He says that the Constitution was addressing and trying to prevent precisely the kind of threat which Trump and his cult following now pose to the country. On that, I largely agree, and so it seemed worth sharing here.
Take a look:
Al Gore draws parallels between Trump and early Nazi Germany
No comments:
Post a Comment