I know, I know. It’s been seven long years already. I should be over it. But I am not. This picture twisted the knife wedged in my heart since January 2001. It is sweet irony nevertheless to see Al Gore, now a man of stature and serenity, in the White House standing next to Bush who is scrambling to slap together a "legacy" out of a bloody political tenure that is deep into Chapter 11. The report here.
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Accidental Blogger 
5 responses to “The Prez and The Pretender”
In the surreal world of Dubya, he feels he’s the ‘injured’ party (probably because he didn’t win the Nobel), as per this NYT report:
“But the president did personally telephone Mr. Gore to extend the invitation, and the White House changed the date of the event so Mr. Gore could attend. Mr. Bush’s press secretary, Dana Perino, told reporters the president is willing to let bygones be bygones.
“This president does not harbor any resentments,” she said. “He never has.””
I suppose the American people might, though. To think of what might have happened had the US Supreme Court not shilled for Bush…
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Mr. Bush’s sanctimonious posturing just keeps opening the wound, doesn’t it?
The whole affair just boggles the mind, confounds the spirit, and chills the heart….
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I’m with ya Ruchira. One wonders if the ideologues who foisted Bush upon us instead of Gore (who got the most votes, in Florida and the nation as a whole) are happy with what they’ve done. Were enormous tax cuts for the rich really worth the blood and treasure in Iraq, the failure to get bin Laden, massive deficits, opposition to global warming curtailment, the sullying of the United States with Abu Gharib and the legalization of waterboarding, the loss of N’awlins, etc?
But on a slightly less dispiriting note, I can recommend this review of new Clarence Thomas books by Jon Wiener in the Nation. As will probably come as little surprise to anyone here, Thomas is one of the biggest hacks in the history of the court. I hadn’t realized that when he was nominated by Bush I, Thomas had published no articles or books, and had only been a judge for only 1 year. 1 year!
The book also delves into the details of the Florida recount and the Court a bit, with the situation exacerbating every justice’s worst instincts. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071126/wiener
The one silver lining in Florida 2000 is that, according to the review, the recount 5-4 vote actually alienated O’Connor and Kennedy from the Thomas/Scalia/Rehnquist axis. But of course O’Connor is now gone and…vote Democratic in 2008!
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Sandra Day O’Connor did experience some buyer’s remorse.
Clarence Thomas is another matter altogether. The man still seethes with resentment. Anger guides all his decisions. But he is not alone.
“This president does not harbor any resentments,” she said. “He never has.” : Spokesperson Dana Perino.
Really? I thought everything Bush did was based on resentment. He wanted to avenge the anti-establishement 1960s (when he was an outsider by avoiding both Vietnam and the protests) with his reactionary measures. The Iraq war may have been fueled by his anger at Saddam Hussein for insulting his dad. Some have even suggested that Black Sheep Dubya’s presidency is an exercise in one-upmanship over his more accomplished dad’s Yankee sensibilities (read wimpy) with Junior’s Texas toughness. The man is childishly petulant and resentful.
I was struck by the fact that Bush so wanted Gore to visit the White House that he even changed the date of the ceremony to accomodate Gore’s schedule. I wonder why. To bask in reflected glory while appearing magnanimous? Or as Usha said, it provided a perfect photo-op for his “sanctimonious posturing?” And he discussed global warming with Gore? Why? Probably asked Gore to to cut his Big Oil friends some slack. How many crows can a man eat and still keep smiling?
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Andrew: I don’t agree that Thomas is one of the biggest hacks in the history of the Court — not even in recent memory. Certainly the biggest hack on the Court in recent memory, in my mind, would be Rehnquist, and it’s not even close (with the caveat that I would not be at all surprised if Alito gets there… but he’s still too much of an unknown for me to judge). Thomas isn’t even the most intellectually unimpressive member of the current Court, and you have to give him credit for consistency compared to many of them.
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