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Progressives for Al Gore
In Mr. Gore's magnificent treatise on government and the excesses of Presidential power on January 16 of this year, he used the phrase, "the consent of the governed." He called those of us who are the governed to seek within us the same spirit that streared our Forefathers through the tossed and stormy seas of great change to birth a nation, to now guide us to a new "golden age." His words were daring, bold, brave, visionary, and at the same time reminiscent of that very spirit that first saw Colonists fighting an empire and changing the course of history. They were words that made me proud for the first time in a long time to be an American, and made me proud to be a supporter of this Patriot. And it is that same spirit that is the other truth in his movie An Inconvenient Truth. He isn't just talking about climate change here, he is talking about saving our country from Fascism and renewing the spirit of true Democratic debate in this country.
More below...
My original review of this important film:
My Review Of An Inconvenient Truth
In Mr. Gore's magnificent treatise on government and the excesses of Presidential power on January 16 of this year, he used the phrase, "the consent of the governed." He called those of us who are the governed to seek within us the same spirit that streared our Forefathers through the tossed and stormy seas of great change to birth a nation, to now guide us to a new "golden age." His words were daring, bold, brave, visionary, and at the same time reminiscent of that very spirit that first saw Colonists fighting an empire and changing the course of history. They were words that made me proud for the first time in a long time to be an American, and made me proud to be a supporter of this Patriot. And it is that same spirit that is the other truth in his movie An Inconvenient Truth. He isn't just talking about climate change here, he is talking about saving our country from Fascism and renewing the spirit of true Democratic debate in this country.
Oh, it is subtle, but nevertheless it is there. The references to the 2000 coup which proves that the American people did not have that will.... him expressing that he has been trying to get this message out for thirty years which proves that the American people did not have that will... his references to political will being a renewable resource which shows that up to now it has not been... They are all statements that in my mind reflect another Inconvenient Truth: That Americans on the whole in this country don't care about their government, and unless we start doing so across the board we not only will close the window regarding the climate crisis, but we will close down the window on any last shred of Democracy we may have left in this country.
And if this government truly were a government that operated at the behest and consent of the governed, he would not have had to make this speech, and perhaps not even this movie. He would be sitting in the very house he was elected to by the "consent of the governed." And this is also then the message I took from Mr. Gore's words to the Congress to fulfill the oaths they took, and to the American people to fight for their Constitution. These wonderful and truthful words did not just tell us to heed this call in investigating the abuse of power by those who have sought and succeeded in attaining it. I believe it was also a clarion call to those of us who can read between his words, to investigate the nature of how these people hijacked our government to begin with.
This is now also his call to arms in An Inconvenient Truth regarding the climate crisis. In the opening to the movie he makes reference to people not wanting to admit that the climate crisis even exists, because by acknowledging it they would be morally responsible to do something about it. It's called plausible deniability. This same plausible deniability exists regarding the current state of our Democratic Republic, and that deniability spreads across party lines.
The fact that those who usurped power in 2000 were able to do so with no checks and balances in place has only led them to the abuses outlined in Mr. Gore's speech. Again, the same parallels can be drawn regarding the climate crisis as EXXON is still being allowed to amass great wealth at the expense of our planet and human and wildlife... And that is the greater message of this movie. Without standing up to the threat those we allowed to usurp our government pose, corporations like EXXON will be allowed to continue their destructive practices. It isn't only in regards to this environmental crisis.
We have been totally remiss when it comes to admitting our government is no longer the thriving Democracy it once was, (is that because if we did as a whole we would then be morally obligated to hold ourselves accountable?) and the denial to face that has only led to that window shutting down even more, just like the window on the climate crisis which may have only about 10 years before it closes completely. Political will does not only refer to politicians... it refers to Americans standing up as informed citizens to stop the abuses of our government to then enact the change that betters our country as a whole. And we haven't done that yet.
As he also stated, it is human nature to take more and more if you will be rewarded for it. The coup of 2000 was the turning point in the history of this nation. By the people and this Congress not rising up to put a stop to that abuse of power against the consent of the governed, it has now mushroomed into a string of abuses that as Mr. Gore rightfully claims may not need to be repeated, because they will be perpetual. And again, the parallels regarding perpetual abuses to our environment brought out in an Inconvenient Truth stem from this same lack of will by the people.
Therefore, from this speech of Mr. Gore's, I not only got from it the sense that our country is in grave danger the longer we allow these usurpations to continue, but we have put ourselves in that danger by not effectively and swiftly using the checks and balances at our disposal in the Constitution to keep those who would thwart our will from doing so... And the time has come for us to do exactly that. Once again, the parallels to the climate crisis in this regard are the same. We have done this to our own planet. How is it possible that we could be the victims and the victimizers if we have the will to stop it? It is no different with what we have allowed to take place in our government... In that respect, we too are the victims and the victimizers.
For me this speech was not just a clarion call to keep the feet of our legislative and judicial branches to the fire regarding investigating and prosecuting these crimes and abuses. It was also a clarion call for me and whoever else may feel the moral outrage at what took place in 2000 that led us here, to forge ahead in righting that wrong. It is the same outrage and enlightenment one should feel after watching An Inconvenient Truth. For it ties all of it together in one neat package in regard to our duty as citizens across the board.
Congress and we the American people have a long way to go in making up for what we have allowed to take place to so seriously damage our civil liberties and Constitutional safeguards. However, I believe we still have time to do so before it is too late if we put aside our petty differences and see the whole picture. Again, there is that same question of will in solving the climate crisis, as the will that is necessary to solve the Constitutional crisis we now find ourselves in. I believe that is what Mr. Gore meant when he stated on ABC's This Week last Sunday, that he could see no circumstance that would make him change his mind about not running for office. Perhaps he believes it has already gone too far. Based on the last six years, I totally agree.
I don't believe he meant by that statement that he wants five thousand draft sites springing up just donating money to use it to get people to beg him to run. I don't think he sees this as just about him. He meant that the will to admit these crises (both environmental and Constitutional) must be pulled out of our collective souls now to admit that our Democracy is broken and then to fix that first collectively, otherwise there is no hope for change on any other issue including the climate crisis no matter whose name you put on a ticket. We haven't admitted that in regards to 2000 which only gets swept under the rug... So does that mean the American people will now sweep this climate crisis under the rug as well as they collectively have every other abuse after the initial promotion of this movie is over? I surely hope not.
That golden age Mr. Gore spoke of can only happen if we make it happen. That means impeaching Bush and his entire gang of extremists. That means standing up collectively to companies like DIEBOLD that now count our votes. That means pooling resources for social change. We can't do that however, if we are going in a thousand different directions. If we don't have the strength to take back our Constitution ourselves in a concentrated collective effort, we won't have the strength to do anything else in moving this country forward.
And that is the Inconvenient Truth we must face as citizens of this country who have as a whole not only been remiss in facing this environmental crisis, but also in admitting our part in the Democratic crisis we also now face. The images of 2000 in An Inconvenient Truth were I believe Mr.Gore's way of telling the American people that we did not understand the urgency then of not letting that window on our Democracy close. On the issue of the climate crisis we then must not let that happen, but it will if we continue to fail to see our part in also saving this Democratic Republic.