Dakota

We might not be at war in Iraq, but we would be no closer to finding Osama. We might have had a lot of other terrorist attacks in our country also. Al Gore is not as great a leader as you think. National Security is at stake here. I disagree with your comments. Seniors will get their medicine and these problems are in the administration of a program like this which would have happened whether a democrat or republican was in office. My concern would be how much more would we have been taxed to pay for all these social programs that Al would have put in place. It is easy to dream of helping everyone with pure socialism but reality there is not enough money to go around.

John (the first poster) was apparently responding to the blog comments and did not read the speech. I agree with John in that we don't know how 9/11 would have played out under a Gore administration.

HOWEVER I hope John and others go read Gore's speech and think very carefully about what he is saying rather than killing the messenger. Maybe Albert Gore IS the leader this country needs right now, NOT as president, but as a highly visible person who can kick some congressional butt and get them to ACT rather than just letting unconstitutional criminal acts slide past.

And if it turns out the citizens of the US want to scrap the constitution, so be it... Let's put it up to a vote. Just don't give us any more presidents who claim they can do whatever they want regardless of what the congress and the constitution say. That's not what this country is about, even during a so-called "war."

Hi John --

Thanks for stopping by and leaving a note.

If you look at the figures in The National Priorities Project , you can get a sense of how much this war is costing. There are those who estimate that, if lifetime services to those who have sustained brain injuries and amputations are included, the cost of this war will top two trillion dollars. I think it is delusional to think that you are not going to pay for this.

In addition, by invading Iraq, destroying its intrastructure and killing thousands of Iraqis, we have created a fierce resistance that did not exist before the invasion. Poverty and disenfranchisement are breeding grounds for terrorism. We destroyed many futures and provided many young men and women with what they now believe to be a higher purpose -- our defeat and destruction.

I do not believe that Al Gore would have gone to war in response to 9/11. Let us first remember that 9/11 and Saddam Hussein have NO CONNECTION. The fervor for revenge by invading Iraq was completely fired and fabricated by this administration for their own purposes. Second, Gore would have taken counsel from all of our traditional allies and the United Nations, rather than ignoring them. Third Gore is an environmentalist, long concerned about global warming. Creating alternative energy sources, rather than fighting a war for a limited amount of fossil fuels that do no belong to us, would be more up his alley.

I got a $400 rebate three years ago. It wasn't worth it.

Best Dakota

Hi Tommy-

Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments.

I hope that the citizens of this country are sufficiently informed about what they are scrapping, or seeing scrapped. Gore said it so clearly in his speech.

Best, Dakota

For John and numerous other Americans:

I love America, and believe me or not, it was my first choice to emigrate to either one of the New England states or somewhere in or near the Four Corners. Fate however had other ideas and from an overpopulated Netherlands we choose at the end for South Africa (in a way very much American but you have to live here to experience). What I want to let you know is that Americans should travel more abroad, get in real contact with people (instead of taking videos, photo's, etc. and "See Europe in 3 days", as advertised by an American travel organisation a couple of years ago, etc. ). Get involved, communicate and find out what people abroad think about the USA. In general this is not very positive, merely due to the fact that 'corporate America' is protecting their 'capital' abroad via the Bush administration. If, for example, the Dutch and the English should decide to withdraw their capital from the USA (would be stupid in a way) the USA could become a Second World country like South Africa is nowadays..... To use arms and armies in whatever way can never ever be justified. Maybe I'm to idealistic???

Hi Herman -

Thanks for dropping by. It looks to you on the outside, just like it looks to me on the inside.

America, or the neoconservative power mongers that are currently in charge in America, have done much to alienate the rest of the world.

I hope the public will wake up in the face of all the recent scandals, and see the destruction that has been done to Iraq, to good international relations, to democracy and to human decency by these people.