Subliminal View

About 10 years ago, I remember thinking that there might be a hand full of Democrats that I might vote for. Al Gore was one of them. Gore, at the time, seemed like a moderate of the Democratic Leadership Council variety as opposed to a radical of the Left-wing Democratic National Committee sort. Gore appeared to be genuinely interested in public service as opposed to partisanship. He, with Joseph Lieberman, was one of few Democrats who actually supported President Bush's military action against Iraq. No Democrat in the Congressional leadership of either house of Congress showed the same strength.

Since that time however, Gore has mortgaged his integrity and his seriousness for political advantage. He has radically altered his positions on abortion, tobacco and on excessive violence and sex in entertainment marketed at children. It is certainly possible for positions to really evolve over time. Thoughtful people can and should reconsider and question their own ideas. But intellectual integrity and disinterested honesty requires responsible people to explain how they changed and what motivated the evolution of their ideas. However, Gore does not even admit such changes. He disingenuously argues that he has always strongly supported a woman's right to choose, anti-tobacco legislation, and holding Hollywood accountable for their marketing practices. To be unwilling to acknowledge that positions have changed is an act of moral and political cowardice.

Al Gore was once labeled ``Mr. Clean,'' a person whose personal integrity was above reproach. People used to believe he was as earnest as a Boy Scout before such an identification was considered a pejorative. After eight years of association, President Clinton's ethics of convenience has oozed onto Gore. Now when considering the ethical nature of an action, Gore asks not whether it is right or wrong, but whether there is any "controlling legal authority" to worry about. While at the same time, he is always certain to consume enough iced tea to maintain plausible deniability.

Gore has spent the last eight years, eroding a lifetime of moral authority to the point where he has lost the credibility expected of a national leader. Gore was groomed by his family to become a president, but many have done more with far less.

For the subliminally impaired:

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