Al Gore Addresses We Media

[Bravo411]

Al Gore addresses The Media Center's We Media conference at AP headquarters in NY.

<Snip>
Remarks by Al Gore as prepared
Associated Press / The Media Center
October 5, 2005

I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger. It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse . I know that I am not the only one who feels that something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions.

How many of you, I wonder, have heard a friend or a family member in the last few years remark that it's almost as if America has entered "an alternate universe"?

I thought maybe it was an aberration when three-quarters of Americans said they believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on September 11, 2001. But more than four years later, between a third and a half still believe Saddam was personally responsible for planning and supporting the attack.

At first I thought the exhaustive, non-stop coverage of the O.J. trial was just an unfortunate excess that marked an unwelcome departure from the normal good sense and judgment of our television news media. But now we know that it was merely an early example of a new pattern of serial obsessions that periodically take over the airwaves for weeks at a time.
<Snip>


Full Text at TPM Cafe: http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/5/14301/6133

MP3 Found Here: http://mediacenter.blogs.com/morph/2005/10/al_gore_address.html

Posted by Bravo411
http://bravo411.blogspot.com

On edit: Just added full text to my blog as well

[forintegrity]

1. Way to go Al!

Way to put it to 'em!

[PatrioticLeftie]

2. Dang it...

Why isn't he in office RIGHT NOW? (Rhetorical question)

[Kelvin Mace]

3. Where was this Al Gore in 2000?

Well, better late than never. Maybe he'll run again.

[AlGore-08.com]

7. Offering publicly funded campaigns & free air time to candidates

And promising to hold town hall meetings all through his Presidency and put up an Oval Office webcam so folks could keep an eye on what he and his admin were doing...

I'm just sayin'...

[JNelson6563]

13. Amen!

Apparently some only read the stories about Gore wearing earth-tones and various other nonsense from the corporate media.

Julie

[Kelvin Mace]

17. That's not what I meant

This Al Gore, the one who stands up and speaks the truth and calls people DIRECTLY on their lies and hypocrisy. He seems to have fallen into theat category of politician who now feel free to say what they think instead of what they are told people want to hear.

This is the kind of speech Gore should have given against the press when they were attacking him.

[AlGore-08.com]

25. I disagree - - IMNSHO that would not have worked in 2000

The press was insane in 2000 - - as was the country. It was a moment of cultural madness on par with the McCarthy Era or the Salem witch trials. When Gore or his surrogates or just regular folks called the media on all their inaccuracies and biased coverage, if the debunking made it into the press at all, the media would report the debunking as the opposite.

Clinton used to challenge the White House Press Corps to report the truth about Whitewater - - to their faces, during press conferences. He'd wave around the Pillsbury report and the other two reports that cleared him. To this day, Whitewater is reported as a Clinton scandal.

IMNSHO, if Gore had gone ballistic at the press, all that would have happened is they would have wasted even more time comparing him to Dracula (as he was portrayed on the cover of the July 2000 "Atlantic") or claiming Gore would "lick the bathroom floor to become President" (as Chris Matthews charged).

[brainshrub]

26. He fought back, unlike Kerry. No shame in losing a fight.

I agree that Gore should have demanded a state-wide recount from the beginning, but at least he fought back.

IMHO, Gore had DLC advisers who only knew how to lose.

I'm not sure I would vote for Gore in a 2008 primary, but he would be a welcome candidate.

[AlGore-08.com]

27. Actually, Gore did try to get Smirk to agree to a statewide recount twice

Gore's legal team was of the opinion that they would not be able to win a statewide recount in the opening rounds of the legal battle - - that they would only be able to successfully argue one was needed to the Florida State Supreme Court. It appears that they were correct in this assessment - - they lost some lower court cases, but the FSSC did rule for a statewide recount of all the under votes, and if the SCOTUS hadn't intervened, they would have expanded that to a full statewide recount of over and under votes.

On the political side, Gore did propose to Smirk that if they have one statewide recount, which neither one would challenge. Gore made the offer twice during the recount. Of course, Smirk turned him down both times.

[brainshrub]

29. Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks for the reminder.

I'm disappointed that Gore lost that fight, but I understand that hindsight is 20/20. I don't blame him for what happened.

Like I said, no shame is losing a fight. It's when you don't even show up that's disgraceful.

[Mythsaje]

4. One word...wow. n/t

[Geo55]

5. Read the whole thing earlier

It just made me sad....what the hell kind of bizzaro world am I in ?
Why is this man not my president ?....I know , I know....nevermind.

[ms liberty]

6. Must Read! Awesome speech as usual...

I say it yet again: This is the man we need in 08.

Recommended

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

8. Recommended!

[rfkrfk]

9. a good speech, he seems to be more 'presidential', as time passes

kinda sad that the most important
thing in Al Gore's life is GUN CONTROL.

If Al Gore had run on a platform of national unity,
instead of GUN CONTROL,in 2000,
he would be president today.

[sweetladybug]

10. rfkrfk, GORE WON THE ELECTION IN 2000

So I guess more people in the USA want gun control than don't want gun control(that DOES NOT mean that the majority wants to outlaw guns though)

[AlGore-08.com]

15. Gun control was an issue in 2000, but it wasn't the focus of the campaign

The NRA and other gun rights groups did spend a record amount of money to attack Gore:

http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.asp?Ind=Q13

Gun Rights:
Long-Term Contribution Trends

Total Contributions:

2004
$1,322,174

2000
$3,967,560

1996
$1,938,177


Contributions from PACs

2004
$1,282,774

2000
$1,752,776

1996
$1,731,956


Soft money contribtions

2004
N/A

2000
$1,824,522

1996
$87,725

Donations to Republicans

2004
$1,160,405 (88%)


2000
$3,694,060 (93%)

1996
$1,658,087 (86%)

[stlsaxman]

11. One of his best speeches to date.

Any and all of his speeches are amazing, but this one in particular is spot on. He is a true patriot and humanitarian. His love for this country and the promise it (still) holds has always been inspirational to me.

A must-read. The mp3 is a great listen!

[Lisa]

23. he probably wrote it himself ...

I know he's been thinking about these issues since he was doing his undergraduate degree at Harvard.

[stlsaxman]

24. He writes every one of his speeches.

Al Gore uses no speechwriters, he's just that good!

Could you imagine if we had a president that wrote his/her own speeches like they did in olden days?

[TomClash]

12. And intellectual tour de force

[FULL_METAL_HAT]

14. 1 hour of commercial advertising / day = 1 year of your life

In his speech, Gore points out that americans now watch on average 4.5 hours or so of television per day.

With today's 15 minutes/hour of commercials, that's over an hour a day.

An hour a day of your life, spent in reception of repeated and repeated messages designed to get into your head.

And for what? 4 hours of "quality" television programming? I doubt that.

Another way to look at is how much SOMEONE is getting paid for your eyeballs to be glued to the tv for 4.5 hours/day? The commercial advertisers will pony up to $12 / 1000 viewers of their advertisment. That's a whopping $0.012 that the advertiser is paying the broadcaster for your eyes. 1.2 cents for 30 seconds of your life. So you can watch the tv show you enjoy. 30 seconds times 30 commercials / hour (15 minutes out of every 60 is commercials) leaves you getting paid an incredible $0.36 for your time. I should note, that's below minimum wage.

36 cents is what the broadcaster gets so they can buy the program from the producer, and have all the machines, buildings, and people to do it.

Imagine if you could pay your own way and throw the bums a dime instead?

Imagine if you could take that hour and work it at your job, making somewhere above minimum wage, but for argument's sake, let's say $10/hour. You would make an extra $70 / week AND STILL have enough money to pay the "tv fee" of $2.52 / week ...

You might even say to heck with an hour a day of extra work, and just bite the bullet and sacrifice $2.52 from something else you buy during the week, like a single danish and a coffee.

What would you do with an extra hour per day in your life? Spend it on family? Friends? Career? Charity?

Over your lifetime, an hour a day is after all only a year or so, dedicated to the commercials.

Think about it.

Go Gore!

[AlGore-08.com]

16. This morning, CNN reported that 363,000 lost their jobs due to Katrina

But it was a throw away stat in the middle of the stock market update. More air time was spent covering the first live musical performance on the Daily Show.

As Gore said, we're now living in an alternate universe.

[Uncle Joe]

18. Yes, I think a combination of "Network" and "Pottersville" n/t

[nickgutierrez]

19. Al, run in '08, please.

But only if you promise to speak like this for your entire campaign. You'll win, and it won't even be close.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. "Al Gore Addresses Us Media," not "Al Gore Addresses We Media"

You wouldn't say "Al Gore Addresses We."

[Bravo411]

21. It's the title of the event ...

The Media Center's We Media conference at AP headquarters in NY.

[Lisa]

22. that was my first reaction too ...

But here's their logo.



http://www.mediacenter.org/

[Jim__]

28. Thanks for posting that. - n/t