I can’t take any more. Not without saying something.
From my very first blog, I have tried, not always successfully, to keep this from being political. I thought there was enough of that out there, I’m not informed enough, I don’t want to be involved in the sort of flame wars and crap that breaks out, besides, my readers are smart people (if they’re MY readers 😉 and they can figure it out for themselves.
But I have a daughter I love more than life, and I see her future in danger. I would hope I would speak up for all daughters, all children, even if she didn’t exist. But this is for her.
Meet the man who I think should be our president. Not because he is necessarily the best man for the job, but because he is most certainly the better of the two we had to choose from.
“…there was a time when America’s public discourse was consistently much more vivid, focused and clear. Our Founders, probably the most literate generation in all of history, used words with astonishing precision and believed in the Rule of Reason.
“Their faith in the viability of Representative Democracy rested on their trust in the wisdom of a well-informed citizenry. But they placed particular emphasis on insuring that the public could be well-informed. And they took great care to protect the openness of the marketplace of ideas in order to ensure the free-flow of knowledge.” Al Gore, in the prepared text of the speech he delivered to the The Media Center’s We Media conference on October 5, 2005 in New York City.
Here’s the man we elected instead. Though I’m told there is some debate about that.
“I glance at the headlines just to kind of (get) a flavor of what’s moving,” Bush said. “I rarely read the stories,” he said. Instead, the president continued, he gets “briefed by people who have probably read the news themselves.” —seattle pi
More from Mr. Gore “In fact, our first self-expression as a nation – “We the People” – made it clear where the ultimate source of authority lay. It was universally understood that the ultimate check and balance for American government was its accountability to the people. And the public forum was the place where the people held the government accountable. That is why it was so important that the marketplace of ideas operated independent from and beyond the authority of government.”
And from our current president “I do not need to explain why I say things. — That’s the interesting thing about being the President. — Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don’t feel like I owe anybody an explanation.” —cbs news (link removed because the page no longer exists.)
Right now you’re probably thinking, “Sure, she’s using quotes out of context to prove her point.” At least, I hope you are thinking that! Question what I say. PLEASE!!! Go look it up for yourself. And while you’re at it, question other people.
Below is the link to the complete Al Gore speech. I’ve included the links to Bush’s statements above. I could have done the same for Mr. Kerry (forgive me if I leave out proper titles, I am aware both men were Senators, but as I said I am not as informed as I should be, and I couldn’t say if either/both still are, or if the title stays with them.) but it was Mr. Gore’s speech that got my attention. Because he’s right on far too many points for me to remain comfortably silent.
And if you’re wondering why I’m speaking up when I don’t even know the proper titles folks, people a lot less informed than I, are making the decisions right now. I can’t wait until I’m up to speed. If you want to obsess over that and ignore my meaning, please go read someone’s knitting blog.
tompaine.com
Read the whole thing, please. And if you don’t think you have the time “In fact, according to an authoritative global study, Americans now watch television an average of four hours and 28 minutes every day 90 minutes more than the world average.” –Mr. Gore’s speech
Believe it or not, guys, the thing has an off switch. On the set as well as the remote. Go ahead. Look for yourself. Please?