The President-in-Exile

The President-In-Exile Watch

Probably one of the most important recent political events was a speech given by President Gore at NYU in which he spells out some of the more egregious problems with our current administration, including its seemingly pathelogical problem with the truth. Here is an excerpt from the speech:

"Robust debate in a democracy will almost always involve occasional rhetorical excesses and leaps of faith, and we're all used to that. I've even been guilty of it myself on occasion. But there is a big difference between that and a systematic effort to manipulate facts in service to a totalistic ideology that is felt to be more important than the mandates of basic honesty. Unfortunately, I think it is no longer possible to avoid the conclusion that what the country is dealing with in the Bush Presidency is the latter. That is really the nub of the problem -- the common source for most of the false impressions that have been frustrating the normal and healthy workings of our democracy."

The full text of this articulate, moving speech.

In response to the speech, the press immediately made fun of the venue as a hotbed of liberalism, wondered why Gore "acts like such a loser", and then psychoanalyzed Gore, trying to figure out why he would make such a speech - as if that were the most important issue, instead of his accusing Bush of lying to us all. This is documented by the incredible media critic Bob Somerby at The Daily Howler, in these three articles.

Tin Foil Hat Watch

From what we are told, we still don't know what caused the huge blackout last week in the northeast. On the otherhand, Ridge and Bush announced almost immediately, and repeatedly, that it wasn't "terrorism". How did they know? Maybe some disgruntled employee flipped a switch somewhere. If the guy's name was Saleem, wouldn't that count in this government's xenophobic eyes?

Conservative Idiots Watch

It's Monday, so be sure to check out this week's Top Ten Conservative Idiots