Three cheers for Al Gore and the UN! They blend for a Nobel Peace Prize. Last I heard, Vice-President Gore is not planning to be President. Maybe it’s a bit of reality check for us Americans. The man’s too big to think in terms of one mere nation, much as he is attached to it, much as he’s been hooked on politics. For someone who grew up a Beltway lad to parents who made their own mark on politics and stayed true to their Carthage, Tennessee roots, he knows better than most how a person can be lured to the Big Seat and still be skewered.
Is it the Enlightenment? He said as much in his most recent book, before his followers started salivating over “An Inconvenient Truth.” But forgive me. Doesn’t reasoning trump campaigning? Of course, it would be neat to have a person in the Oval Office who can think in world-wide terms. And such a person could carry influence with a like-minded electorate. So! Is it the Electoral College. That takes quite a bit of thinking but I’ll move on. Is it the Economy, Stupid! Old but still relevant. Or Education?
Without an enlightened population who understands that economy means more than the price of rice at WalMart, without an enlightened citizenry who understands that energy is more than CAFÉ standards, without voters who appreciate the meaning of empathy, where are we? Could it be said that Al Gore is becoming the Great Educator? Others have been president and were great communicators, great administrators, great obfuscators, great prevaricators, or whatever. The White House may be a bully pulpit, but preaching is not teaching.
As for Al Gore, he has made it clear by his actions and pronouncements that he sees the big picture. This morning I read a blog, recalling his help at Mercy Hospital during the Katrina disaster. That’s just one example of how someone who is not president can act presidential.