Al Gore Unglued

NYT — Citing A ‘Shamed America,’ Gore Calls For Rumsfeld, Rice, Tenet And 3 Others To Resign [RSS]

Declaring that the Bush administration “shamed America” with its policy on Iraq, former Vice President Al Gore yesterday called for the resignations of six high-ranking officials, including the secretary of defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld; the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet; and the national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

In an hourlong speech to 900 people at New York University that was interrupted by applause more than a dozen times, Mr. Gore also accused President Bush of “utter incompetence” on Iraq, adding that the president had “made the world a far more dangerous place and dramatically increased the threat of terrorism against the United States.”

Mr. Gore’s appearance, which was sponsored by New York University College Democrats, a student organization, and MoveOn.org PAC, an offshoot of an online organization that has run advertisements criticizing the president and his administration, amounted to a broad-gauge attack on the man who defeated Mr. Gore in 2000.

“The president convinced a majority of the country that Saddam Hussein was responsible for attacking us on Sept. 11, when in truth he had nothing whatsoever to do with it,” Mr. Gore said. “The president convinced the country with a mixture of documents that turned out to be forged and blatantly false assertions that Saddam was in league with Al Qaeda.”

Unfortunately, the NYT account doesn’t adequately capture the absolutely deranged tone of Gore’s address. Even the selections chosen by NPR–hardly an unsympathetic venue–of the speech were positively frightening. I don’t know whether the bitterness of his narrow defeat in 2000 finally pushed him over the edge or if this is just the latest iteration of Gore’s never-ending quest for a personality, but I’m thankful this loon isn’t in charge of our nuclear arsenal.

MoveOn has the full transcript of the prepared remarks. Imagine that speech as performed by Jesse Jackon on crack. C-SPAN has the entire 70 minute video feed.

Update: John Podhoretz agrees that “Gore is insane” and calls the speechl “the single craziest political performance of my lifetime.” I nonetheless stand by my position.

FILED UNDER: Iraq War, Terrorism, , , , , , , , , , , , ,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. bryan says:

    Or Howard Dean.

    I notice that he didn’t mention Colin Powell, despite the fact that Powell addressed the security council to make the case for war.

  2. Professor Kaos says:

    Kerry needs to have Gore by his side at every campaign stop, and Gore needs to play a prominent role at the DNC convention in July. This is too good to be true.

  3. Brainster says:

    Gore’s speech was necessary from his standpoint. He’s staking his 2008 claim to the barking moonbat brigade–i.e., the Deaniacs. It seems stupid because it will hurt him in the general, but it helps him in the primaries. And unless you win the primaries, you don’t get the shot at the general.

  4. 42nd SSD says:

    Mr. Gore has almost certainly gone insane, but he’s no match for either Dennis K. or Lyndon LaRouche for sheer wackiness value…

    But the photo is awesome. “WE! SHALL! OVERCOME! OUR! DALMATIAN! ALIEN! MASTERS!” Khrushchev, look out… here comes “Battlin’ Al” Gore and his Arabian Ant Army!

    Perhaps he’s been using a mercury-based “hair product” in an effort to filter out the CIA mind-control satellites?

  5. Clement says:

    I’m glad that Gore has finally decided to address the real issue: Bush is a dictator-wannabe who has ignored his sworn oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States”.

  6. DefeatBush says:

    Bush lost the popular vote. His administration has failed middle-class Americans miserably. Our military’s blood is being shed for a secure source of oil. This administration promotes “business as usual” while American men and women die in Iraq, and that country and its people are destroyed. Dissent is called a threat to the Iraqi mission, which has fallen apart as a result of the administration’s own failures. Altogether, Bush suffers from an inability to sacrifice his own ego for a little Christian humility. Not all good-hearted people deserve to be President of the United States. W. falls into that category.

  7. Blue Stater says:

    Well, if he had been that engaged in 2000 we wouldn’t have the current administration. And it is good to see that someone is telling what they think, not what focus groups say they want to hear, or what certain Texans fantasize. One of the reasons voter turnout is continuing to decrease is due to the bland “saynothingness” of both parties.

    Passion about the direction of the country, not blind jinoistic rot is a hell of an improvement.

  8. mmmm ... sultry says:

    wow … John Podhoretz thinks a Dem is insane … what next? the sun is going to rise in the east? Either Al is criticized for being too cardboard or he’s criticized for being too emotional. Fact is, this speach (and his timbre therein) reflected the outrage most Americans feel about where this morally bankrupt administration has taken the country. This is no longer the America that believes in due process. This is no longer the America that values human rights. This is no longer the America that believes in free speech (the minute someone questions the motives of the president, they’re accused of aiding/abetting al quaeda). The best the wingnuts have come up with is comparing MoveOn to the Klan (Hannity) and calling Al insane … god forbid we actually have an intelligent discussion on what was actually SAID.

  9. leftykeith says:

    Amazing…a buncha reactionaries recognizing deranged anger. Have the truly disturbing performances of Coulter and O’Reilly escaped their notice?

  10. Clawed says:

    Gore’s speech was magnificent and every word of it was true.

  11. Mike says:

    Was Gore defeated in 2000 by other than a Supreme Court 5-4 vote?
    Did Gore not poll more votes than Bush?
    Is Bush more trustworthy than Gore with nukes? Given the appalling mess in Iraq, how can any rational person believe Gore a lesser man than Bush?

  12. Goose says:

    As soon as someone speaks the truth the Republicans are all over it, labeling the guy insane.

    But there’s nothing quite as insane as the policies of this administration.

    Gore is angry about it and everyone ought to be.

  13. OfficeEnnui says:

    Note the utter absence of intelligent rebuttal to Gore’s accusations here. The substance-free ad hominem attack is about all the Bushies have to answer with given W’s laughably embarrassing performance.

  14. Anonymous says:

    Yeah — Gore must be insane; how could anyone say something like this??

    “What makes the United States special in the history of nations is our commitment to the rule of law and our carefully constructed system of checks and balances. Our natural distrust of concentrated power and our devotion to openness and democracy are what have led us as a people to consistently choose good over evil in our collective aspirations, more than the people of any other nation.”

  15. pissant says:

    i felt sick to my stomach when i watched gore’s speech on C-SPAN. can a political party scare the american people into voting for their candidate? that’s what it seems like the dems are trying to do, yet kerry’s iraq strategy is the same as bush’s. what a weird election this is going to be.

  16. Anonymous says:

    “can a political party scare the american people into voting for their candidate?”

    I dunno, is the color coded threat system working on you yet?

  17. Bonnie says:

    I though that Gore’s remarks about Miami County Mayor Alex Paneles were TOTALLY disgusting, coming from a man who was Vice-President of this United States. I believe he has lost it completely. Would ANYONE in their RIGHT MIND vote for a complete incompetent like Gore? His last two speeches show the degree to which he will stoop just to win an election and regret not the loyal people he steps on in the process. I believe he’s ready for the “assisted living” complex where he will receive help for his “goreisms” and learn how to tell the difference between truth and lies. Thereby, he will be able to give a speech of reason and logic.
    “Bush/Cheney in 2004” has made a major step in the right direction because of Gore’s speech on Alex Peneles, as has Mr. Peneles. The tables have turned on you, Mr. Gore. Time to think before you speak! (That is if you hope to save face and save the Democratic Party). Maybe they should kick you out of the “party” until you are well again!