August 10, 2003
Gore Speaks Out
MoveOn alerted everyone on its email list to a tremendous speech recently given by Al Gore, and it would be remiss not to mention it here. The following portions seemed simultaneously important and likely to be overlooked, emphasis mine:
...The administration has developed a highly effective propaganda machine to imbed in the public mind mythologies that grow out of the one central doctrine that all of the special interests agree on, which -- in its purest form -- is that government is very bad and should be done away with as much as possible -- except the parts of it that redirect money through big contracts to industries that have won their way into the inner circle.
For the same reasons they push the impression that government is bad, they also promote the myth that there really is no such thing as the public interest. What's important to them is private interests. And what they really mean is that those who have a lot of wealth should be left alone, rather than be called upon to reinvest in society through taxes.
Perhaps the biggest false impression of all lies in the hidden social objectives of this Administration that are advertised with the phrase "compassionate conservatism" -- which they claim is a new departure with substantive meaning. But in reality, to be compassionate is meaningless, if compassion is limited to the mere awareness of the suffering of others. The test of compassion is action. What the administration offers with one hand is the rhetoric of compassion; what it takes away with the other hand are the financial resources necessary to make compassion something more than an empty and fading impression.
...So I would say to those who have found the issue of honor and integrity so useful as a political tool, that the people are also looking for these virtues in the execution of public policy on their behalf, and will judge whether they are present or absent. ...
We have a responsibility as citizens to be paying attention to what politicians do, and not just what they say, or what is said about them. A responsibility not to be stirred by rhetoric, but to be motivated by it to find out what's really going on.
People always follow their own interests. As long as people decide that their interests are to be told comforting things, to be stirred to animosity against shadowy others, or to be convinced that they can get something for nothing, then politicians will continue to do those things. Because their interests are to get elected.
When we quit asking for carny barkers, maybe we'll stop getting them.
Some other blog commentary: Not Geniuses with a quip from Fox News' fair and balanced coverage, points to documentation from Jesse at Pandagon supporting Gore's claims. Kos favorably impressed.
Posted by natasha at August 10, 2003 03:49 PM | TrackBack