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Al Gore: A User's Manual

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This is Al Gore as you've never seen him before: a prevaricator, a conniver, someone who exploits his sister's death and son's tragic accident for naked political advantage. Cockburn and St. Clair have presented an unsparing account, which cuts through the mythology and political spin to show the real man: the man who betrayed his father's liberal legacy on matters of war and peace, civil rights and the nuclear arms race. Gore has now taken to calling himself a populist; yet, Cockburn and St. Clair disclose the fact that time and again he has sold his services to big oil, telecom giants and the nuclear power industry. He calls himself a liberal, but he has referred to gays as "abnormal", has supported tax breaks for racist schools, has voted against federal funding for family planning for poor women and has tried to end affirmative action. If there's one book you read before you cast your vote in November, this is it. Don't say you haven't been warned.

Al Gore: A User's Manual By Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair Verso 2000 $23.00

He Really Will Say (and Do) Anything to Get Elected A Review By Michael Donnelly

Al Gore is on the cusp of becoming the first American president who grew up in a hotel suite (rent-free courtesy of a relative who owned the hotel), ordering breakfast from room service and riding a limo to his private school for the elite. Like everything else about Gore, this reality clashes with the public myth of the hard-working, pig shit-shoveling, mule team-plowing farm boy from Carthage, Tennessee.

Authors Cockburn and St. Clair's excellent dissection of Gore's public myth is a must read for any progressive - especially those who continue to bleat the fear-inflating nonsense that the wagons must be circled around Gore as George W. Bush is an oil-drenched, military thrall out to roll back worker's rights, environmental protections and a woman's right to choose. This, the first thorough examination of Gore's 25-year public career from a Left (or any for that matter) perspective shows that those very feared rollbacks have been the bases of the chameleon Gore's slimy rise.

In Al Gore: A User's Manual, we learn that Gore, himself, has been a major Defense department sycophant. After a politically-motivated short tour of Vietnam as an Army reporter complete with constant bodyguard (note to Creedence: he was a Senator's son), Gore, once in Congress (how he got there another great story) became one of the Pentagon's most trusted water carriers. The hawk Gore virtually invented the Midgetman missile, midwifed the MX missile, voted against every effort to cut the Defense budget, backed the invasion of Grenada, supported the contras and, then in what he called his "finest hour," voted for the Gulf War - only after shopping his vote on the very day of the debate to each side in order to secure the most favorable TV slot during the debate.

While in Congress, Al Gore was not only a hawk, but also a voice against homosexuals, whom he called "deviants." Gore also preposterously claims to have always "supported a woman's right to choose" when, in fact, he has an 84% pro-life rating from National Right to Life, even stating that he believes in "the fetus' right to life" and voting for the Hyde amendment AND Rep. Mark Siljander's effort to undercut Roe v Wade.

The authors relate tale after tale of Gore's use of personal epiphanies to explain his beliefs. The book exposes how Gore used the death of his sister, Nancy, from smoking-related cancer as a prop, saying in 1996, "that is why until I draw my last breath, I will pour my heart and soul into the cause of protecting our children from the dangers of smoking." Seven years after her death, Gore was still on the Big Tobacco dole - accepting tobacco money and accepting government subsidies for the tobacco he still grew on his Tennessee farm. Though Al and Tipper once smoked a lot of pot, Gore now opposes its use, even for medical purposes, ignoring how his sister got relief from chemo primarily from the beneficial effects of smoking marijuana!

Other family events become similar props. A pedestrian/auto accident where his son, Al III, was hit on the streets of Baltimore was similarly milked for political use. After lying that his son (who fully recovered) was down in the street unconscious on the verge of death (two nurses who happened by say Al III never lost consciousness), Gore claims that it became yet another of his epiphanies and dedicated himself to being a more present dad. In the end, however, he soon sequestered himself away from Tipper and kids in his family's old hotel suite to pen "Earth on the Balance."

It is here, in Gore's supposed reputation as an environmentalist, that his penchant for lying and double-dealing is most obvious. The man, who wrote that protection of the environment should be the "organizing principle" of government, in his political career, has done nothing of the sort. The authors point out that it was Green Al who first used opened the door to weakening the Nixon-signed Endangered Species Act by creating the "god squad" to in order to advance the Tellico Dam in his home state over concerns about the dam's effect on the Snail Darter. At the same time he was a foremost, even fanatical, proponent of the Clinch River breeder reactor.

In 1992, candidate Gore promised to oppose the WTI hazardous waste burner in East Liverpool, Ohio. Once elected, it became the first environmental promise, written at that, broken by the Clinton/Gore administration. Soon thereafter, Clinton and Gore came to the Pacific Northwest and forced the supine Big Greens, over the objections of local grassroots environmentalists, to drop an injunction against old growth logging that was issued by Reagan-appointee, Judge William Dwyer. Once Green Al left town, the ancient trees were again rolling down to the mills and the Northern spotted owl, the species the injunction was out to protect have now on the brink of extinction. The Gore-brokered Northwest Forest Plan calls for 50 years of continued cutting of the Ancient Forests. Not satisfied, Clinton, at Gore's urging, then, in 1995, signed the so-called "Salvage Rider" which delivered millions of acres to the chainsaws unfettered by any ability for citizens to challenge the destruction in court.

On and on it goes. Al Gore is a man of political expediency. The man who famously "reinvented" government, has been constantly reinventing himself. The rap that Gore is a man who will say anything to get elected is verified time after time by the authors. He has said famously that he "invented the Internet." He claims that he and Tipper (who comes off quite sympathetically in the book despite her censorship efforts) were the models for Erich Segal's book, "Love Story." He claims falsely to have "got a bunch of people indicted and sent to jail" when he unethically became part of a police sting while a reporter for the Tennessean. He claimed to have authored the earned income tax credit, which was enacted two years, before he was elected to Congress. He even claimed he did not know he was even "in a Buddhist temple" much less there to collect campaign cash.

Cockburn and St. Clair have done a service by exposing the Al Gore myth and providing the background information we'll all be looking for once the rhetoric and actions of a Gore administration, like those of the Clinton/Gore one, begin to not add up.

One can hope that the oily (yes, they delve deeply into the Gore family ties to Occidental petroleum and its shady head, Armand Hammer) Gore history will be looked at seriously BEFORE any vote casting, but, in the end, the fear inflation and collusion of the rudderless Democrat special interests will likely win out. Cockburn and St. Clair have earned the right to be first in line when it comes time to say, "I told you so."

The book Al Gore: A User's Manual, by Cockburn and St. Clair, illustrates the lies that have been the legacy of Al Gore. Throughout the book, the thin veneer of liberalism that Gore wears is stripped down and the reader sees the real Gore: a closet conservative whose record is anti-environment, anti-choice, and anti-labor. This book details the numerous "reinventions of Gore" and shows that if you side with him, he'll let you down. Just ask the people in East Liverpool Ohio, who now live next to the WTI Hazardous Waste Incinerator that Gore promised to shut down. This book is an important part of the literature that demystifies Gore and his treachery to the progressives of this country.

It's nice to see lefties like Cockburn and St. Clair and Sam Smith from the Progressive Review go after Clinton/Gore. It's heartening that right-wingers aren't the only people who recognize what a cynical and corrupt administration we're living under. My own views have strayed from some of the liberalism the authors espouse, and I think part of the reason for that has been watching a lot of people on the left blindly defend these crooks. I don't agree with everything Cockburn and St. Clair believe, but they're smart guys, and they recognize hypocrisy and corruption when they see it. AND IT'S SO BLATANT. I do agree with one of the other reviewers that there's a conspicuous lack of sources, but a great deal of what the authors discuss has been out there for a while (Elk Hills, Occidental, Armand Hammer, Buddhist Temple, uncountable fabrications, etc), and a lot of their attacks on Gore are based on his votes in Congress and as VP, not unsubstantiated rumors or accusations. I learned a great deal from this book, but most of it confirmed my intial beliefs...

I read this book with a sickening feeling inside of me. Liberals and progressives like me are compelled to support the Republican-lite wing of the modern right leaning Democratic party politicians. Clinton and Gore were not progressives or true men of the people. They did not promote the common good or enhance domestic welfare. The authors forget to mention in their very excellent book that Gore wrote to the airline industry executives and told them that his airline safety initiative would not harm their financial base. Proper airline safety,profiling, baggage checking and secured cockpits would have diminished the probability of Sept.11. Gore is a typical dixiecrat, son of the South, rich man's spoiled son who pandered to defense,nuclear and corporate interests who bankrolled him. The book is truthful,intelligent and compelling. We liberals must stop electing rightist Southern "democrats" who support militarism,intervention and the gutting of the social safety net. The liberal renaiisance of the Democratic party must develop and conservative social darwinism must decline in our nation. Gore is Bush without neoconservative advisors. Let us demand democratic politicians who promote health care,nursing home reform,consumer rights,affordable housing and safe environments. I want to thank the authors for their courage and integrity in writing this painful and troubling book.

It has been clear to many of us for some time that Al Gore is a Judas when it comes to the interests of American citizens and their living life-support system, the environment.

And just like with child abuse where 80 percent of the abuse is not at the hands of the "bad guys" but at the hands of trusted friends and family members - so too with Al Gore. Because he has been perceived as a friend of the environment, and still is by many as a "lesser evil," he has been able to engineer and get away with doing worse harm. Much of the Clinton/Gore illegal environmental destruction would never have been allowed under Reagan/Bush by those now supporting the most right-wing, conservative Democratic ticket in 50 years, Gore/Lieberman.

This book brings to light some of the irrefutable evidence and once again reveals that Gore has clearly and callously abandoned his principles, our citizens and our environment while fundraising for corporate cash. Yet many in the Democratic cult continue to support what is more accurately described as the New Republican wing of the Democratic Leadership Council's version of the Democrats.

This book is a must read for all non-voters and Democrats and hopefully we can then avoid being sheep to the slaughter.

Fellow conservationists & Democrats, where is the will to win? With so much of our Civil Liberties already lost; with less than five percent of our original native forests left, we must start fighting for what's right; saving what's left and restoring everything that has been lost. It's time we started fighting as if our lives (and the lives of our children) depended on it. Because, ultimately, they do.

(This is my personal opinion)

Tim Hermach, President Native Forest Council

zerocut1@forestcouncil.org

This book reveals Al Gore's pervasive dishonesty and rampant hypocrisy. Undermines his phony environmentalism by exposing his close ties with Occidental Petroleum and other polluters. Demolishes his credibility on civil liberties by recalling his actions on behalf of Tipper's PMRC. Attacks his credibility as a `War Hero' by revealing how he used his connections to keep out of danger. Shows his flip-flops even on guns and the choice issue. Clearly establishes Gore as a man who pretends to be everything to everyone while acting as toady for the corporate state. No one could support Gore for dogcatcher after reading this book. It will not be outdated by the election, however, since it serves as an example of the failure of the Democratic Party. Why are there now two big business parties? Because of Democrats like Al Gore. BUY IT.

Find out in this book how Al Gore while vice president helped companies loot millions of acres of our forests, fastened the extinction of the spotted owl, blocked efforts to make companies pay more than little or no royalty fees to loot taxpayer owned resources, helped increase contractor fraud at the Pentagon, helped strengthen the racist and civil liberties destroying criminal justice system, supported drilling off the coast of Mexico and in the National Petroleum reserve in Alaska, supported stripping mining, especially that of the mountain top removal variety, supported the setting of emissions standards well below that of the Kyoto protocol which were never met, helped George W. pollute Texas by his support of Nafta, helped strengthen fossil fuel producers, helped weaken Affirmative action in government, supported the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, supported what will perhaps one day be the destruction of the U'wa people in Colombia through his very extensive relationship with Occidental Petroleum and support for the death squad government there, supported Monsanto's crusade to dump genitically modified foods on Europe, presided over an economy of stagnant and declining wages and greater insecurity for American workers. The list can go on and on.

They give a good outline of Gore's congressional career. They portray him as pro-gun (not too different than Mr. Cockburn's views of course), pro-tabacoo, pro-Reaganite arms buildup (he was a prime mober for the midgetman missle), a consisten support of the Jesse Helms line on the homosexual question, someone who while occasionally roaring against the more blatant corporate criminals turned a blind eye to the radiation tests that gave children leukemia ( killing at least one) at the Oak Ridge nuclear lab in Tennesse and helped establish a precedent by getting a waiver on the Endagered species act against the snail darter species for a worthless dam that only benefited construction and cement magnates. In the 88' campaign he campaigned as right wing demagogue because that is what Patrick Caddell, the pollster, told him what the "silent majority" were looking for. Actually a not insubstantial part of that group was inclined to support Jesse Jackson and Gore did very badly in the primaries but not before travelling to New York for the party elite to help ruin Jackson's canidacy along with the demagogue Ed Koch.

The section on Tipper's crusade against obscene lyrics is rather amusing--the supposed Gore family encounter with the music of Prince which originally spurred Tipper on her crusade and Gore praising the music of Frank Zappa during a senate hearing.

The authors could have done a little less of the "tell-all stuff"==e.g. how policy was supposedly made and interactions in the white house e.g. Bob Woodward's account of Clinton's alleged reaction to having to break his campaign promises and support Alan Greenspan's neoliberalism--and expanded on some of the more important issues. They say absolutely nothing about a very important issue, about Gore's working to pressure African countries, paritcularly South Africa, into complying with drug company patents which block countries from producing genereic AIDs drugs at very substantially lower cost. They repeat the canard about Gore claiming he invented the internet, that he and Tipper were the inspiration for "Love Story" and so on.

But overall this book is so much more substantive than the book put out by Cockburn's former friend Christopher Hitchens. The latter's book was fawned over by the likes of Chris Mathews, David Horowitz and Larry Klayment of Judicial Watch. Rush Limbaugh called Hitchens, a self-declared hardcore socialist, "our favorite liberal." The authors have gotten no such attention and that is very telling.

Far from being a right-wing NRA-loving yellow journalist smear of Al Gore as claimed in another review, the primary author of this book is a radical leftist who writes a column for The Nation and has been a Village Voice contributor.

Look at the other books he has written, and perhaps do a web search for more information about him before deciding this book is right-wing fiction. I think it is all the more telling that prominent journalists of the LEFT such as Mr Cockburn and Christopher Hitchens have written such damning books about Clinton and Gore.

While being somewhat irrelevant given the results of the election, [it is a good buy] for someone who wants to understand the dirty reality behind the fictional images we are presented of leading politicians in the mass media (ie TV).

This fine book masterfully catalogs the awfulness that is Al Gore - every lie, every exaggeration, every rhetorical trick, every betrayal. If you already don't like Gore, this user's manual will remind you of why, and probably tell you a lot of things you didn't already know. If you're thinking of voting for him, it might change your mind, by showing that the "lesser evil" is still evil. If the Gore campaign were smart, they'd buy up every copy and pulp the lot of them, but fortunately they're not that smart.