On NPR's Diane Rehm show Friday, Time political reporter Karen Tumulty touted Al Gore's latest prize as part of a "remarkable story" about his "remarkable career," and how he's won just about every award you can win. Tumulty says all the "moral authority" he has gained from denouncing the Iraq war before it began could make a difference if he decided to endorse one of the Democratic presidential contenders.
It’s a quite remarkable story that you know, the Vice President after coming out of this traumatic election has built just a remarkable career for himself and really made a difference. But I’m sitting here trying to figure out what award he hasn’t won at this point. We have the Academy Award, the Emmy award, the Grammy award, the Webby award, and now this one.
After the other guests had a turn -- Jim Angle of Fox News and Paul Glastris of the liberal Washington Monthly -- Tumulty underlined Gore's new clout:
The Gore endorsement in 2004 didn’t do a whole lot for Howard Dean but create a lot of buzz for about a week. But I think that a lot has happened since then, and in particular what has happened is the fact that a lot of the Democratic base look at Al Gore, look at where he was on the war, and when. I mean, he gave one of the most forceful and passionate speeches of his life on the eve of the Iraq war and you know, overwhelming opinion in the country right now is that he was right. So I think that in a lot of ways, it would almost carry more of a moral authority even than it did four years ago.
Who would have thought Mr. "No Controlling Legal Authority" would be a man with massive "moral authority," at least in adoring liberal-media eyes?
This is nothing new for Tumulty, who previously puffed the Lord of the Lockbox as a "laptop-wielding ninja" against "the forces of greed and indifference."
—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center
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Kind of reminds me of those
October 12, 2007 - 19:01 ET by drillanwrKind of reminds me of those old movies/TV shows that showed the over-eager stage mother carrying around and rolling out the portable dance floor and cuing her obnoxious and near talentless kid to jump on and begin an annoying tap-dance ...
What's the meaning ...
October 12, 2007 - 19:03 ET by 10ksnookerOf moral authority that must come with a warning label depicting the work as a work of fiction?
Provable fact: The first thing the court in the UK said was CO2 does not cause global warming, it is a result of global warming. Simple meaning change, but the obvious is the whole foundation of man caused global warming by excess CO2 emissions is false. CO2 is a lagging indicator, by 800-2000 years, not a forcing function.
I bet the media will be the first to point that out to the public.
I wonder when the Oscars decides to revoke his fiction award to preserve their integrety, as if they cared about integrety.
Reports of these Gore
October 12, 2007 - 19:12 ET by Chris NormanReports of these Gore groupies are really beginning to get to me. I'm going to go home and immediately initiate a total news blackout on all things Gore. It's this or I snap...
Al Gore Monthly
October 12, 2007 - 19:48 ET by third eyeAre you tired of the Bush controlled media that never gives air time to humble Al Gore? Are your panties in a bunch that Dick Cheney and the neocons have control of our earth's fragile upper atmosphere? Not any longer my little peasants, you can now empower yourself with "Al Gore Monthly" and raise your Al Gore Awareness to levels previously non exsistant in man. Yes thats right, his own magazine dedicated to doing what he loves, promoting Al Gore Awareness.
Moral authority
October 12, 2007 - 21:39 ET by KC MulvilleLiberals think that Gore has won awards (all bestowed by liberals, by the way) and therefore he carries legitimacy. But at this point, these awards have all the moral weight as the diploma, medal, and testimonial bestowed by the Wizard of Oz.
Frankly, I'm fed up with the liberal tactic of declaring "moral authority." To them, a moral authority is a person who can speak without being criticized on the merits of what they say.
This is just another version of their usual tactic. We just had the recent ruckus over the Democrats sending a 12 year old to make their case for the SCHIP program. When the criticism started, the Democrats wailed in horror that anyone would criticize a 12 year old. But the reason they sent a 12 year old to do their dirty work was because they expected (and wanted) the GOP to criticize the program, so they could spin the criticism of the program as a slam against a defenseless kid.
The Democrats constantly prove Ann Coulter's point -- they can't win on the merits of their ideas, so they look for people like Cindy Sheehan and the Jersey Girls, hoping that our natural sympathy for their miseries will prevent us from criticizing what they say. Instead of a legitimate argument on the merits, they play on sympathies, and exploit the media's willingness to paint conservatives as mean and intolerant. They want a spokesman who can deliver their message without having to withstand criticism.
They want to win without playing. They want the champion's belt without fighting. They can't win on their own, so they just stomp their feet and demand that the other side give up. This routine is getting tired.
Gore's Moral Authority
October 12, 2007 - 23:12 ET by pbthinkerThe Liberals, in this country, will try and push Gore's moral authority so it looks like the Brits and the Australians will have to lead, as they have been on this issue, to begin putting the fear monger in his place.
Democrats: Specializing in "high tech lynching" since 1987.
The Australians. With all
October 12, 2007 - 23:24 ET by danboThe Australians. With all the hype about the poor Polar Bears. The Aussie warmers are pushing that people start killing and eating kangeroos.
What was the cartoon Kangeroo that was always giving Tom and Daffy Duck trouble? Hippety Hopper? They want us to eat him.
"There is a clear attempt to establish truth not by scientific methods but by perpetual repetition."
- Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology, MIT
Al Gore's moral
October 12, 2007 - 22:54 ET by danboAl Gore's moral authority?
You mean the Al gore who offered to vote for the Gulf War Iresolution provided he got more speaking time in prime time. And threatened to vote against it if the republicans didn't give that to him.
Al Gore who talks about AGW yet prodices more CO2 in one month than many of us will produce in 10 years.
That's one heck of a moal authority.
Let's give Hitler the peace prize for creating the VW and building the autobaun. And reducing europes over population.
"There is a clear attempt to establish truth not by scientific methods but by perpetual repetition."
- Richard S. Lindzen, Ph.D. Professor of Meteorology, MIT