Cafferty Calls Gore 'Pompous Jerk,' But Nets Value Bashing of U.S.

At a UN conference in Bali, Al Gore blamed the U.S. for “obstructing progress” on global warming, an attack on his own nation which led CNN's Jack Cafferty, who usually slams Republicans and Democrats from the left, to castigate Gore as “a pompous jerk.” But Thursday's ABC and CBS evening newscasts favorably passed along Gore's agreement with European criticism of the U.S. With Gore's words on screen, ABC's Charles Gibson reported that “European nations threaten to boycott a U.S.-led climate summit because the Bush administration is opposing specific cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Al Gore joined the criticism saying: 'My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here.'”

On CBS, fill-in anchor Harry Smith highlighted how “at a world conference in Bali, European nations threatened today to boycott upcoming U.S.-sponsored climate talks unless the Bush administration commits to deep cuts in greenhouse gases. Former Vice President Al Gore agreed action is needed now.”

The MRC's Brad Wilmouth caught Cafferty's chastising of Gore during the 6pm EST hour of the December 13 The Situation Room:

WOLF BLITZER: I want all of you to listen to the former Vice President, Al Gore. He was speaking at an international conference at Bali in Indonesia earlier today. The whole world, representatives of a lot of the countries around the world were there, and he, and he pinned the blame, most of the blame, on the global warming, on the United States. Listen to this.

AL GORE: My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali. We all know that.

BLITZER: All right, now, that may or may not be true, but there's a sense that, you know, they used to say politics stopped at the water's edge, Jack. Was it appropriate or inappropriate for Gore to make that comment?

JACK CAFFERTY: What a pompous jerk. Does he, I mean, it's time for Al Gore to get over himself. Does he think there's anybody at that conference in Bali that's unaware of the U.S. opposition to the Kyoto protocols? I mean, ever since he won the Oscar, he thinks he's some movie star, so I'm tired of Al Gore, and I think he's out of line doing that.

The short item on ABC's World News:

CHARLES GIBSON: Overseas, in Indonesia, an international conference on climate change is ending on a contentious note. European nations threaten to boycott a U.S.-led climate summit because the Bush administration is opposing specific cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Al Gore joined the criticism saying, "My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here."

The CBS Evening News report:

HARRY SMITH: A showdown is coming over climate change. At a world conference in Bali, European nations threatened today to boycott upcoming U.S.-sponsored climate talks unless the Bush administration commits to deep cuts in greenhouse gases. Former Vice President Al Gore agreed action is needed now.

AL GORE, IN BALI: My own country, the United States, is principally responsible for obstructing progress here in Bali. We all know that. We all know that.

SMITH: Gore predicted the next U.S. President will be more likely to support an agreement on greenhouse gases.