Al Gore Should Start Leading

by: Matt Stoller

Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 19:00

Here are statements from Al Gore at the Clinton Global Initiative.

This is a crisis that is happening NOW. Scientists around the world are practically screaming from the rooftops to stop it.
"If you're a young person, I believe we've reached a point of civil disobedience" ...to do things like take down coal plants.

Civil disobedience from young people doesn't just happen, it requires leadership from older people willing to put their ass on the line. the US is now assigning the military directly on US soil "to help with civil unrest and crowd control". Does he think that young people are just out and out stupid? The other side has the guns and the authority to use them.

Matt Stoller :: Al Gore Should Start Leading

If Al Gore actually thought that civil disobedience were worthwhile, he would actually lead some of it himself. And that would be magnificent. Direct action, led by Gore, against the construction of a coal plant would legitimize civil disobedience in the name of taking back our democracy and rescuing our civilization. Young people would form the mass of the force, as young people always do, but someone's got to lead, and almost no one else has the status to do it except someone like Gore. He asked for the iconic status, and he's got it. He can take that somewhere or live in his green mansion.

Ghandi and Martin Luther King didn't decide to stop engaging in direct action when they hit a certain age limit.

Tags: Al Gore, Ghandi, global warming, (All Tags)

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Al Gore Should Start Leading | 25 comments

As a "young person", (4.00 / 2)

I'm not sure I would want to go up against the military-industrial complex after what went down in St. Paul. Protest is healthy, but so is breathing :)

To be fair, I have friends who did some hardcore sit-ins and organizing in Southern Ohio to stop more plants from going up, and it worked. So all hope isn't lost, we just have to be a little more creative and choose our battles carefully.

by: nautilus1700 @ Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 23:30:33 PM UTC

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Do you think that the StP cops would have shoved Al Gore's face into the street? (4.00 / 1)

Gore, or anyone else exhorting others to civil disobedience had better be ready to lead by example.

"It sounds wrong...
...but its right."

by: SpitBall @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:05:47 AM UTC

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As another young person (4.00 / 3)

I wish Gore would step up. He's got incredible credibility from the past 20 years, without any significant Clinton baggage. He should be out there playing good cop bad cop with Obama. He could be out there really doing things - the things he says he wants me to do, but I have to worry about finishing my degree and getting a job that pays a decent wage with health insurance.

Al, the bailout for me and my friends never came, even though it was "substandard credit" that prevented MEFA from giving me a student loan. You don't need student loans and don't need the bailout (and will probably benefit, as will most of the extremely wealthy, from the bailout), so please, step up. Set the example, carry the standard you proclaim your own. Rhetoric only gets us so far.

by: expatriatedjerseyan @ Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 23:34:58 PM UTC

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Are you serious? (4.00 / 1)

Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States. Who by all rights ought to have been President, and in a very conceivable world would be President at this very moment...

This guy gives a major speech encouraging civil disobedience to take down coal plants.

And your response is that...he's not radical enough?

by: Baldrick @ Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 23:51:40 PM UTC

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that wasn't the response (4.00 / 6)

it was that he needs to lead by example. i.e. lead.

by: dr anonymous @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 00:01:37 AM UTC

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I cannot say it any better than dr anonymous (0.00 / 0)

I'll just add that Mr. Gore's stature is a significant "force multiplier" when it comes to such protests.

"It sounds wrong...
...but its right."

by: SpitBall @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:07:44 AM UTC

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for god's sake (4.00 / 2)

really? Nothing is ever good enough. Never. Dear god I hope I never hear the word "leeeeedarship" again.

by: taylormattd @ Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 23:57:56 PM UTC

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amy goodman got arrested in st. paul (4.00 / 1)

that was more than good enough. and she went to harvard too.

;)

by: dr anonymous @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 00:02:34 AM UTC

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You don't plan on walking the walk (4.00 / 1)

Don't talk the talk.

Its not like Gore needs to make outlandish statements to get attention, you know.

"It sounds wrong...
...but its right."

by: SpitBall @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:08:58 AM UTC

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ridiculous (0.00 / 0)

You'd rather he say nothing? Showing no solidarity for those who would engage in civil disobedience is actually better than expressing support for civil disobedience? Logical.

by: taylormattd @ Sat Sep 27, 2008 at 21:37:02 PM UTC

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Define "Lead"... (4.00 / 1)

And point to 5 examples of politicians who have "lead" at some point - in your opinion.

by: Elise @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 00:04:03 AM UTC

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Matt gave two (0.00 / 0)

Read the last sentence

by: RapsodiaStellare @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 00:18:18 AM UTC

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Oh okay (4.00 / 3)

So if our political leaders are not up to the standard of MLK and Gandhi (neither of whom were politicians, and both of whom were assassinated BTW), they are failing to lead.

I think that might be a asking a little bit too much, don't you?

by: Baldrick @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 00:58:35 AM UTC

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Yer right, no one had to ask those two. (0.00 / 0)

"It sounds wrong...
...but its right."

by: SpitBall @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:10:08 AM UTC

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Unfortunately yes (4.00 / 2)

Especially on the left, leadership does involve putting something at risk. As some have already pointed out, the risk to Al Gore is significantly lower than to some anonymous brave kid. Al Gore doesn't have to be an MLK or Gandhi (or Medgar Evers) but he needs to do more than urge others to indulge in civil disobedience. No? Nelson Mandela is still alive, btw.

The point is not to trash Al Gore but to point out the error in his call to young people to act in a particular way, especially when he is better qualified to perform that same action exactly in order to enable young people to follow suit.

Also, Al Gore is not a politician any longer, is he?

by: ravi @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:29:29 AM UTC

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Gandhi... (0.00 / 0)

(as Baldrick writes) is the correct spelling of his name. Not "Ghandi".

by: ravi @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:30:47 AM UTC

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Yawn. nt (4.00 / 1)

by: Elise @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 01:59:05 AM UTC

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Sorry no names (0.00 / 0)

But I know that in the 1980s a number of Democratic congresspeople got arrested protesting apartheid. I also recall an event where congresspeople spent a winter night on the street to highlight the plight of the homeless.

by: Cat Servant @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 01:33:32 AM UTC

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Really? (4.00 / 2)

So Al Gore is a blowhard or something unless he gets arrested? God.

by: taylormattd @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:00:04 AM UTC

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He ain't a god either (0.00 / 0)

I'll question him when warranted, thank you very much.

"It sounds wrong...
...but its right."

by: SpitBall @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 02:11:12 AM UTC

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yeah (0.00 / 0)

and "warranted" is the key word of your comment. He supports acts of civil disobedience, and it isn't good enough for some people. In fact, his very support of civil disobedience is now evidence that he is a loser. Just amazing.

by: taylormattd @ Sat Sep 27, 2008 at 21:34:28 PM UTC

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It's annoying (4.00 / 1)

It's annoying in the same way that Friedmans harping is annoying. I think it mistakes the effectiveness of conventional civil disobedience (e.g. a big obstructive protest) both tactically and strategically.

If the point is to have a media event, you have to have the media on board and stage it very carefully. Having Gore lead that might work, but it certainly wouldn't work to have a bunch of random students pull some stunt. They'd get the shit beat out of them and it would be a local news story at best.

On the other hand, if the point is to have the disobedience accomplish something directly, you have to figure out what you can actually do that will make an impact via strike, lockout, blockade, etc.

For instance, if someone wants to cut down on the amount of coal that gets burned in the US, there are a very small number of freight rail lines to tear up (and 1000s of miles to tear them up along) that would make a pretty huge impact. Would also get you labeled a terrorist and thrown in jail, possible PR nightmare, etc, but just sayin'.

Me | My Work | Future Majority

by: Josh Koenig @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 00:35:33 AM UTC

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if someone with as much leverage and influence as Gore joined me (0.00 / 0)

I would engage in civil disobedience anywhere in the U.S.

But without him, it's a fart in a windstorm. Just asking to get swept away.

by: danthrax @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 03:48:58 AM UTC

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Talk about elitism, Matt. (4.00 / 2)

"Civil disobedience from young people doesn't just happen, it requires leadership from older people willing to put their ass on the line... Young people would form the mass of the force, as young people always do, but someone's got to lead..."

What a load! I'd talk to the tons of young people who are actually out there engaging in civil disobedience, Matt. Ask them if they feel they need a leader for their campaigns and struggles to work.

Join the fight to give students a real voice on campus: Forstudentpower.org.

by: Liberaltarian @ Thu Sep 25, 2008 at 04:18:49 AM UTC

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civil disobediance is a job for young people (4.00 / 1)