Al Gore's fiction show continues

* * See the update below * *

Albert Gore, Jr., is counting on you and I to forget what he did in Congress for years. Gore was the tobacco agriculture and industry's defender. But he tells audiences that after his sister Nancy dies of lung cancer his family turned away from tobacco.

But he is lying. And counting on us to forget. Debra Saunders reports:

Just 10 years ago, Gore told the Democratic National Convention that after his sister Nancy's needless death in 1984 from lung cancer, he committed himself "heart and soul into the cause of protecting our children from the dangers of smoking." In his new film, Gore again dredges up his sister's death and how it led his once tobacco-growing family to turn away from tobacco.

After the DNC speech, reporters with memories intervened. America learned that contrary to his rhetoric, in 1988 Gore campaigned as a tobacco farmer who told his brethren that "all of my life," I hoed it, chopped it, shredded it, "put it in the barn and stripped it and sold it." The year his sister died, Gore helped the industry by fighting efforts to put the words "death" and "addiction" on cigarette-warning labels. For years, Gore supported Big Tobacco in other ways.

Is he totally dishonest? Or just in far, far over his head? It looks like both.

When he took office as Vice President of the United States one of his first projects was to streamline government - not to make it smaller, but so it could take on more. He set hundreds of civil servants, I mean, bureaucrats, to scurrying around brainstorming, writing memos, having meetings and getting awards for doing their jobs faster with fewer resources.

One his fist big announcements of a way to improve his government had already been discovered by every 4th level file clerk:

When the budget process takes away funding that is not spent at the end of the budget year you buy anything - anything - because if you don't spend the money you get less the next year. Because you obviously didn't need it; you didn't spend it.

Albert Gore, Jr., proudly and sincerely announced his big discovery around the country. A high school sophomore could have done his job.

Saunders continues but it's not so much fun. His main problem is not lack of work experience, but being able to separate the facts from the fiction he weaves.

- Gore signed the Kyoto protocol despite a prior vote by the US Senate 95-0 against its provisions. Because of that vote Clinton never asked for the Senate vote that was required to put it in force.

- "Average automobile fuel-efficiency hit a 19-year low under Clinton/Gore -- it was worse than under Ronald Reagan. President Bush has raised fuel standards more than Clinton/Gore."

One of my favorite Albert Gore, Jr., -isms was when he debated Vice President Dan Quayle. I rushed home from work to watch that, because I knew Quayle was a match for Gore. Quayle intended to make easy points by quoting from Albert Gore, Jr.'s book The Earth in the Balance. He had the decency to contact Albert Gore, Jr's office to tell him he was going to bring the book to the debate. Albert Gore, Jr's office told Quayle not to bring the book that Gore is so proud of. Is he proud of it?

Gore had to hide from what he had written when his political future was on the line. That is the kind of man he is.

* * Update 7/8/06 * *

Albert Gore, Jr's movie is a "success." "An Inconvenient Truth" has grossed $13.8 million in only 6 weeks. That's more than $2 million a week, while currently playing only 562 screens. SF Gate.com

"It's been very impressive, especially for a documentary that is essentially a slide show," Dergarabedian said.

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Also. The Oklahoma University College Republicans gave out free snow cones to students for an event they called "Global Cooling Day."